By Sefa Ikpa* LAGOS, Nigeria | 25 March 2025 (IDN) — Privatisation was once heralded as the key to Africa’s economic revitalisation, a promise that essential services would become more efficient, widely available and cost-effective under private ownership. Several decades later, the reality looks very different. Across the continent, the privatisation of electricity and water […]
Delcat Idinco: The Voice of The Congolese People
By Kate Janse Van Rensburg* GOMA, North Kivu, DR Congo | 15 March 2025 (IDN) — “Bunduki za Kwetu” [Our Guns] was the last song released by Congolese musician Delphin Katembo Vinywasiki, popularly known as Delcat Idinco or Idengo (31). Hours later, he was shot dead while filming the song’s music video on 13 February […]
African Union Peacekeepers in Somalia Accused of Widespread Abuse
By Mohamed Gabobe* MOGADISHU, Somalia | 14 March 2025 (IDN) — A new African Union peace enforcement mission, known by its acronym AUSSOM, was launched at the beginning of the year to support a fragile Somali government that has struggled against a jihadist insurgency entrenched in the countryside. AUSSOM is the third iteration of a multinational combat […]
Entrenched Patriarchal Structures Hindering Women’s Political Participation’
Joseph Kayira interviews Oxfam Malawi country director, Lingalireni Mihowa LILONGWE, Malawi | 9 March 2025 (IDN) — The persistent challenge in increasing women’s participation in politics, decision-making, and the broader economy in Malawi stems from deeply entrenched patriarchal structures that have not been effectively dismantled, despite the existence of progressive policies and legal frameworks, said […]
Africa Has Plenty of Lessons for Zelenskyy in Ukraine
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It. ABUJA, Nigeria | 6 Mach 2025 (IDN) — The live drama staged in the Oval Office on February 28 between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was such that Zelenskyy might never […]
Budget Crisis Exposes Contradictions in South Africa’s NU Government
By Pavan Kulkarni* NEW DELHI | 1 March 2025 (IDN) — South Africa’s two largest parties, allied in the Government of National Unity, disagree on how to resolve the budget crisis: The ANC wants to raise taxes on the poor to continue funding social programs, while the DA prefers to slash public expenditure. South Africa’s […]
Sudanese Refugees Imprisoned and Impoverished by Ethiopian Visa Policy
By Augustine Passilly* The writer is a freelance journalist based in Ethiopia, and previously in Sudan. This article is part of The New Humanitarian’s wider body of reporting on abuses against Sudanese refugees in Chad, Egypt, and South Sudan. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia | 21 February 2025 (IDN) — Sudanese refugees living in Ethiopian cities are […]
The Need for U.S. Action in the Democratic Republic of Congo
By Kate Hixon* WASHINGTON DC | 16 February 2025 (IDN) — On 18 January, the M23, a Congolese Tutsi-led, Rwandan-backed rebel military group, launched a military operation to expand the territory it had gained over the past three years. The operation violated an August 2024 ceasefire agreement between Rwanda and the DRC established through the […]
How a Moroccan NGO Provides Services Based on an Ancient Religious Connection
By Noah Schrott-Schubert* MARRAKECH, Morocco | 13 February 2025 (IDN) — On the 7th of January, Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir, president of the Moroccan NGO, High Atlas Foundation, published an essay in Johns Hopkins University’s The SAIS Review, which sheds light on how people’s needs in Morocco can be addressed through participatory interfaith dialogue. The story […]
Importance of the Indian Navy Frigate’s Visit to South Africa
By Guy Martin* The premier online African defence and security news publication defenceWeb issued this article. It is being republished with their permission. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa | 10 February 2025 (IDN) — The Indian Navy’s latest guided missile stealth frigate, INS Tushil, recenrly called in South Africa while on her maiden voyage home from Russia. […]