By Esther Ngumbi Achieving and fulfilling the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) overwhelmingly depends on making progress in rural areas, where most of the hungry and poor live. This was the main conclusion of the new report “The State of Food and…
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While previous U.S. administrations have established signature foreign-policy initiatives in Africa, little news has emerged regarding the Trump administration’s staffing of Africa-related posts, much less its plans for engagement with the continent. World Policy Journal editor emeritus David A. Andelman…
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By Saaim W. Naame Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest school enrollment in the world. Yet even in this context, Liberia’s education indicators are shocking: Less than half of 15- to 24-year-olds are literate, less than half of young children attend…
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By Madeline de Figueiredo The prevalence of slavery in Mauritania is among the highest in the world. The efforts the nation has made in the past few decades to not only dismantle the institutionalized practice, but also criminalize it, remain largely…
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By George C. Lwanda Established by the 2007 Mining Act and inaugurated in 2013, the Nigeria Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) has struggled to take off, despite its noble intentions. The government’s goal is for the solid minerals sector to…
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By Amna Guellali On Sept. 13, the Tunisian parliament adopted a law that could threaten its hard-won fledgling democracy. The “administrative reconciliation law” will grant complete impunity to civil servants who were implicated in corruption under former dictator Zine El…
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By Ogo Maduewesi Skin conditions and diseases continue to be neglected, underestimated, and written off as problems that are not life-threatening. But this leaves the dangers of harmful skin-bleaching treatments—which are ubiquitous in Nigeria, across Africa, and among dark-skinned individuals…
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By Yvon Randriaharimalala Incidents of popular vindictiveness, or “people’s courts,” have become increasingly common in Madagascar. In 2016, 44 cases of popular vindictiveness were reported in the country, and this phenomenon continues into 2017. Judgments issued by the people are…
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By Esther Ngumbi All over Africa, countries are battling fall armyworms. These crop-eating larval caterpillars are ravaging food supplies and posing major geopolitical challenges on the continent. Because the worms feed on over 80 plant species and develop into moths that…
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By Amilcar Ryumeko As I have argued since February 2016, crimes against humanity are underway in Burundi. The country’s violent poitical crisis began in April 2015, sparked by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s announcement of his candidacy for an unconstitutional third term…
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