China: the special relationship Economic and political ties between Africa and China have led to infrastructural development on a monumental scale but their roots go back millennia No one knows exactly how long ago the...
Alain Tschudin
Altered states
Africa: the age of revolutions A broader view of history reveals Africans to have been decisive actors in shaping global changes, both inside and outside the continent One big difficulty historians of Africa face is...
The ‘door of the return’ to a new humanism
Gorée Island: memorial to slavery Visitors to Senegal’s notorious Gorée island learn about a 400-year old Slavery in Africa was one of the worst violations of human rights in history, extending over an entire continent...
A painful history
Africa: the transatlantic slave trade Slavery was virtually a universal institution in countries around the world for thousands of years It is safe to say that in the popular imagination slavery is seen as an evil,...
The ancient libraries of Africa
Africa: the written word Africa’s great libraries are stories of state formation and empires, and of people who thirsted for knowledge Reading and writing are miraculous activities; they transform the human condition,...
Troubled and ambiguous
Heritage: the long shadows of past and present Commemorating heritage in Africa is no longer the exclusive province of governments There was an interesting exchange between Thabo Mbeki and Constand Viljoen in the late...
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