Website, Podcast, Radio Show. Left politics & culture, useable pasts. http://africasacountry.com
Joseph O’Neill’s new novel follows a Pittsburgh writer chasing a West African wonderkid. It’s also a story about who profits every time the world goes looking for the next Eusébio. africasacountry.com/2026/08/the-...
The price of potentialJoseph O’Neill’s new novel follows a Pittsburgh writer chasing a West African wonderkid. It’s also a story about who profits every time the world goes looking for the next Eusébio.africasacountry.comFrom Eko Atlantic to the Niger Delta, elite enclaves have become the defining spatial expression of Nigeria’s political order. africasacountry.com/2026/08/sove...
Sovereign rotFrom Eko Atlantic to the Niger Delta, elite enclaves have become the defining spatial expression of Nigeria’s political order.africasacountry.comIf you're headed to the Durban International Film Fest this weekend, be sure to check out our documentary After Oil on Friday night. ccadiff.ukzn.ac.za/diff-47/afte...
Africa’s new AI factories promise digital sovereignty. Their electricity deals may instead create private power islands inside public systems. africasacountry.com/2026/07/the-...
The grid inside the gridAfrica’s new AI factories promise digital sovereignty. Their electricity deals may instead create private power islands inside public systems.africasacountry.comAlthough Nelson Mandela lacked the oratory of Nkrumah and the theory of Senghor, his contribution to the world of ideas was something rarer: pragmatism. africasacountry.com/2026/07/afri...
Africa’s last philosopher kingAlthough Nelson Mandela lacked the oratory of Nkrumah and the theory of Senghor, his contribution to the world of ideas was something rarer: pragmatism.africasacountry.comNigeria’s democracy has become dangerously fixated on capturing the presidency. Reviving regional politics may be the country’s best hope for rebuilding democratic accountability. africasacountry.com/2026/07/no-p...
No president will save NigeriaNigeria’s democracy has become dangerously fixated on capturing the presidency. Reviving regional politics may be the country’s best hope for rebuilding democratic accountability.africasacountry.comBehind Tunisia’s panicked headlines about falling birth rates is the darker demand that reproduction itself be policed in the name of racial purity. africasacountry.com/2026/07/the-...
The politics of demographyBehind Tunisia’s panicked headlines about falling birth rates is the darker demand that reproduction itself be policed in the name of racial purity.africasacountry.comA landmark housing ruling in Cape Town and anti-migrant marches in Durban look like opposite stories. But they are two extremes of the same colonial question: who is permitted to occupy space? africasacountry.com/2026/07/who-...
Who will pay to belong to South Africa?A landmark housing ruling in Cape Town and anti-migrant marches in Durban look like opposite stories. But they are two extremes of the same colonial question: who is permitted to occupy space?africasacountry.comFrom leapfrogging optimism to warnings of a new extraction economy, the frameworks now defining Africa’s AI moment will decide who gets to shape the future and who is shaped by it. africasacountry.com/2026/07/the-...
The stories shaping Africa’s AI futureFrom leapfrogging optimism to warnings of a new extraction economy, the frameworks now defining Africa’s AI moment will decide who gets to shape the future and who is shaped by itafricasacountry.comBacked by Moroccan state subsidies, Christopher Nolan’s decision to film The Odyssey in occupied Western Sahara is the latest and highest-profile chapter in a five-decade campaign to normalize colonial rule. africasacountry.com/2026/07/odys...
Odyssey to Africa’s last colonyBacked by Moroccan state subsidies, Christopher Nolan’s decision to film The Odyssey in occupied Western Sahara is the latest and highest-profile chapter in a five-decade campaign to normalize colonia...africasacountry.comFor a century, African musical heritage was recorded, boxed, and shipped to museums abroad. In Nairobi, a new generation of archives is bringing cultural memory home — and putting it online. africasacountry.com/2026/07/from...
From colonial storage to open accessFor a century, African musical heritage was recorded, boxed, and shipped to museums abroad. In Nairobi, a new generation of archives is bringing cultural memory home — and putting it online.africasacountry.comSuccessive debt regimes in Ethiopia have shown that external finance can protect sovereignty, finance coercion, or build development, sometimes all at once. africasacountry.com/2026/07/ethi...
Ethiopia’s debt problemSuccessive debt regimes in Ethiopia have shown that external finance can protect sovereignty, finance coercion, or build development, sometimes all at once.africasacountry.comIn apartheid South Africa, Drum magazine showed Black readers what it meant to be modern. But not everyone got to be modern in the same way. africasacountry.com/2026/07/meas...
Measured bodies and moving menIn apartheid South Africa, Drum magazine showed Black readers what it meant to be modern. But not everyone got to be modern in the same way.africasacountry.comCabo Verde’s historic run and the breakthrough performances of fellow African and Caribbean nations changed the conversation about visibility, opportunity, and the future of African football. africasacountry.com/2026/07/what...
What Cabo Verde’s World Cup debut means for African footballCabo Verde’s historic run and the breakthrough performances of fellow African and Caribbean nations changed the conversation about visibility, opportunity, and the future of African football.africasacountry.comEpisode 3 from our World Cup road trip stops off in Toronto for Ghana's last minute goal and a vibrant community celebration in Sankofa Square youtu.be/W74kqNl1F04?...
World Cup Road Trip: Episode 3 (Sankofa Square)YouTube video by Africa Is a Countryyoutu.beNo World Cup matches means, plenty of time to catch up on World Cup reading. Check out our series focusing on African perspectives at the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup. africasacountry.com/series/2026-...
The Kenyan government’s reaction to the present moment of necessary generational disobedience resembles the way colonial regimes used to respond to the question of the “detribalized native.” africasacountry.com/2026/07/ungo...
The ungovernable Gen-ZThe Kenyan government’s reaction to the present moment of necessary generational disobedience resembles the way colonial regimes used to respond to the question of the “detribalized native.”africasacountry.comKevin Cox’s NLR essay on South Africa claims to correct liberal and culturalist accounts through historical materialism. But it reproduces the very epistemic and analytical failures it sets out to overcome. africasacountry.com/2026/07/sout...
South Africa in history’s struggleKevin Cox’s NLR essay on South Africa claims to correct liberal and culturalist accounts through historical materialism. But it reproduces the very epistemic and analytical failures it sets out to ove...africasacountry.comThe Conference of the Left was not a solution to the crisis of the South African left, but an opening. What follows must be built differently from what came before. africasacountry.com/2026/07/no-s...
No shortcutsThe Conference of the Left was not a solution to the crisis of the South African left, but an opening. What follows must be built differently from what came before.africasacountry.comIn the wake of yesterday's World Cup results for DRC and Senegal, it's worth reflecting on the actual situation of African football from our 2nd print edition: africasacountry.com/2026/07/the-...
The globalization of African footballCan a continent dominate global football while losing control of its own game?africasacountry.com