Africa | IPS Journal

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picture alliance / AP | Abubacar Queta

Foreign and security policy

Not every crisis needs a gun

ECOWAS must rethink its response to West Africa’s coups. Durable peace will not come from ultimatums, but from inclusion, reform and public trust

By Taofik Oyewo Hussain

picture alliance / Jürgen Bätz/dpa | Jürgen Bätz

Foreign and security policy

What should weigh on Europe’s consciousness

Europe cannot bring peace to eastern Congo, but it can choose action over inaction. Too long has the EU dodged responsibility for its involvement

By Constantin Grund

picture alliance / ASSOCIATED PRESS | Sunday Alamba

Foreign and security policy

Who gets to define Africa’s crises?

From Caracas to Nuuk, power is replacing law. Africa is no stranger to this game, having long sought ways to reclaim agency in a lawless world

By Atunde Ahmed Olarewaju

picture alliance/AP Photo | Ben Curtis

Democracy and society

What the African continent teaches us about democracy

The coups and crises are the breaking point of a flawed model, not the end of the democratic project

By Abubakar Sidiq Jaafar

picture alliance / NurPhoto | Oscar Brak

Foreign and security policy

Ignored, forgotten, Sudan

As the country descends further into apocalyptic chaos, the world finally seems to be waking up — far too late

By Achim Vogt, Talal Salih

picture alliance / Reuters | Sodiq Adelakun

Democracy and society

Decades of progress — undone

After years of steady gains against poverty and inequality, the recent funding cuts threaten Africa’s health systems. New, resilient funding is vital

By Michelle Kelly-Irving

picture alliance / Anadolu | Ihsaan Haffejee

Economy and ecology

What makes a just transition just?

An answer from African workers

By Rhoda Boateng, John Mark Mwanika

picture alliance / NurPhoto | Adekunle Ajayi

Foreign and security policy

Religion meets realpolitik

Trump threatens Nigeria with military action over alleged persecution of Christians. But the violence in the country has entirely different causes

By Lennart Oestergaard

Canva

Foreign and security policy

Africa in the age of many powers

As Africa broadens its partnerships across a multipolar world, new opportunities emerge. So do familiar risks of unequal exchange and external control

By Sefa Ikpa

picture alliance / Anadolu | Ozge Elif Kizil

Economy and ecology

Africa’s debt meets climate innovation

With COP30 around the corner, Africa’s debt crisis risks climate resilience — ‘debt-for-blue’ swaps could forge a new model of EU-Africa partnership

By Atunde Ahmed Olarewaju