Our new print issue, Africa’s Hustle Republics, is here! Subscribe for less than ₦1K/$1 a week for full access.

See Details

Southern Africa

Your guide to the essential ideas, trends, people and stories shaping Southern Africa.

Latest

A Bird in Flight
Novuyo Tshuma24 May 2026

A Bird in Flight

The father held the form four ZIMSEC results several months later, reading and re-reading the neat set of A’s and B’s with great deliberateness…‘If only you were a boy,’ said the father. ‘Good job. Whoever marries you had better be rich. This is no small investment.’

The Language of Violence
Kamaldeen Arasi20 April 2025

The Language of Violence

South African poet Qhali’s Crying in My Mother’s Tongue: Ukulila, is a searing meditation on language and identity, intergenerational trauma, sexual violence, healing, and the intimate ties of motherhood and family.
Will Africa See More Protests In 2025?
Pelumi Salako16 February 2025

Will Africa See More Protests In 2025?

The African continent was rife with different protests in 2024. With many of the triggers that caused the protests not attended to, 2025 may see these protests skyrocket.

Popular

The Restorative Genius of Zambian Women
The Restorative Genius of Zambian Women
Mwinji Siame9 February 2025
Zambian women are pioneering a new museum culture that is revolutionizing cultural preservation through a fusion of digital technology and indigenous knowledge systems, challenging Western colonial institutions’ claims to being rightful custodians of African heritage.
The Captive Democracy of South Africa’s Coalition Governance
The Captive Democracy of South Africa’s Coalition Governance
Rekgotsofetse Chikane2 February 2025
Coalition governance offers potential for enhancing democracy in theory; but the dominance of party-political funding and influence of elite and commercial interests from the minerals-energy-finance sectors risk exacerbating political and economic inequalities in South Africa.
Chidimma Adetshina and the Danger of Xenophobia
Chidimma Adetshina and the Danger of Xenophobia
Adenike Fapohunda27 October 2024
The rejection of Chidimma Adetshina by the South African public perhaps reflects a complex post-apartheid conception of Blackness—and more specifically, Black womanhood—that is rigid and unaccommodating to those who differ, whether by ethnicity or nationality.
Digging for Gold in Zimbabwe
Digging for Gold in Zimbabwe
Marie-Simone Kadurira11 August 2024
During Zimbabwe’s economic turmoil of the late 2000s, my sister and I navigated a land defined by scarcity and resilience as we experienced the collapse of Zimbabwe’s economy, our community and our family.

Explore by Topic

Climate Change
See More

No stories for this topic in Southern Africa yet.

Find more

Israel’s Uncertainty in Africa
Asher Lubotzky26 November 2023

Israel’s Uncertainty in Africa

Israel’s ongoing siege on Gaza, which followed Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, threatens to nullify several decades of concerted efforts from Israel to establish diplomatic ties with African nations.
Is a Single African Electricity Market Possible?
Tam Kemabonta1 September 2023

Is a Single African Electricity Market Possible?

There are over 560 million Africans without access to electricity in Africa. Could more private sector participation and a flexible regulatory structure across the continent be the solution?
What Endures in Borno Are the People
Imrana Buba22 March 2026

What Endures in Borno Are the People

Boko Haram terrorism fits into a longer pattern of insurgency in Borno. Civilians survive through collective resistance, negotiation and uneasy compliance, and ‘peace’ in wartime is often shaped by tragic trade-offs.

100 Years of Ladi Kwali
Wale Lawal22 March 2026

100 Years of Ladi Kwali

Our latest issue, 100 Years of Ladi Kwali: Stories from Another Nigeria, celebrates Kwali’s artistic legacy and shines a light on the Nigeria that often goes unseen and unheard. Spanning all six geopolitical zones, this magazine uncovers the deeper worlds that sustain Nigeria’s creativity, resilience and hope.

The Bombing That Changed Abuja Forever
lotanna ogbuefi22 March 2026

The Bombing That Changed Abuja Forever

In 2011, a Boko Haram bombing at the United Nations House in Abuja claimed the lives of 26 people. The incident changed Nigeria’s capital city and the lives of its residents forever.

FESTAC ‘77 and the New Search for Cultural Renaissance in Kaduna
Aisha Kabiru Mohammed22 March 2026

FESTAC ‘77 and the New Search for Cultural Renaissance in Kaduna

In 1977, the Nigerian government invested $625 million into the arts to host the Festival of Black Arts and Culture. Lagos and Kaduna housed the historic occasion. While Lagos has grown its arts ecosystem, Kaduna is only now starting to find its feet.

The Last Days of Abuja’s City of Metal
Terna Iwar22 March 2026

The Last Days of Abuja’s City of Metal

For decades, Apo Mechanic Village has kept Abuja’s cars running. Now, as demolition looms again, the mechanics and traders who built the Abuja’s informal engine confront another uncertain future.

‘Literature Teaches a Nation to Know Itself’
Ben Okri22 March 2026

‘Literature Teaches a Nation to Know Itself’

Nigerian poet, novelist and author of Madame Sosostris and the Festival for the Broken-Hearted, Ben Okri, argues that Nigerian literature doesn’t always have to be about Nigeria: ‘Nigerian literature limits itself to Nigeria and then limits even the ways in which the country can be written about. What we want is a vast literature, a great literature…that speaks to all humanity.’

‘Literature Is One of Our Most Powerful Archival Machines’
Bibi Bakare-Yusuf22 March 2026

‘Literature Is One of Our Most Powerful Archival Machines’

For the co-founder and publishing director, of Cassava Republic Press, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, it is telling that African literature is often pronounced dead in recent years, when more women and queer voices are becoming more prominent: ‘The loudest obituary writers about African literature tend to be men. These elegies seem to come from a tacit sense of personal or generational displacement rather than from the actual state of the field.’

Kidnapped From the House of God
Pelumi Salako22 March 2026

Kidnapped From the House of God

What began as a Tuesday evening service at Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, turned into a live-streamed kidnapping that dragged 38 worshippers into the forest and left three people dead. Nearly 40 days after the bandit attack, Pelumi Salako visits Eruku to speak with survivors.

Is the Spate of African Coups Affecting the French Economy?
Olayinka Ajala9 November 2025

Is the Spate of African Coups Affecting the French Economy?

Since 2021, France has witnessed a decline in economic growth. A key question is whether France’s ailing economy has any connection to the recent spate of coups and subsequent loss of key long-term allies in Francophone Africa.