It’s been over a week since King Mswati III of Eswatini ordered schools to be shut “indefinitely with immediate effect” in response to the ongoing pro-democracy protests. The country has experienced several weeks of...
Arab Spring
Reading between the lines of #UgandanLivesMatter and the effects of poor governance
Media Release Our continent has had its share of despots in the post-colonial era. There was a time when it looked like they were on their way out. Sadly, for the citizens of Uganda and a handful of...
Local heroes
The media: no place to hide Journalism is a high-risk job for African reporters, who are often not only undertrained and underpaid but also face jail, injury, even death A promising young journalist told me of covering...
How governments are ‘weaponising’ surveillance
Surveillance technology: used and abused African states have been deploying surveillance capabilities to spy on and intimidate youth movements and activists On 20 August, 2016, a group of mostly young social media...
Tumult in Tunis
Tunisian police have been cracking down on informal traders. In December 17, 2010 Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor aged 26, set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, in the centre of Tunisia. His act was a desperate protest...
EDITORIAL: The lifeboat of informality
African governments and their formal business sectors often hold up the informal sector as the nemesis of formalised growth and organised development – yet for many citizens on the continent (and elsewhere),...
