Africa

Diego Garcia: The costs of defending an Indian Ocean outpost
Diego Garcia: The costs of defending an Indian Ocean outpost
On 22 November, the United Kingdom failed to comply with UN Resolution 73/295 passed in May, which demanded the UK “withdraw its colonial administration from the Chagos…
Russia’s southern strategy
Russia’s southern strategy
“Valiant breaks London–Cape record by 54 mins”, led the 9 July 1959 edition of the Cape Argus. The arrival of the sleek, white-painted, and still highly classified long-range…
How Africa is breaking China’s neo-colonial shackles
How Africa is breaking China’s neo-colonial shackles
If there’s any indication of how Africa is moving up on everyone’s agenda, look no further than the first edition of the Russia-Africa Summit, which saw 43 African heads of…
The withering of Robert Mugabe, as told by Australia’s Prime Ministers
The withering of Robert Mugabe, as told by Australia’s Prime Ministers
The way incessant talk of China’s rivalry with the United States dominates the present turbulent world, it’s hard to conceive of an earlier time when Australia’s prime ministers…
Can Japan catch up in the economic scramble for Africa?
Can Japan catch up in the economic scramble for Africa?
Recently, China entered the market as an exporter of used cars overseas. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce revealed the populous African nation of Nigeria as one of the…
Congo’s Ebola outbreak: sounding a global alarm
Congo’s Ebola outbreak: sounding a global alarm
As the one year anniversary of the ongoing Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province draws near, the World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom…
Belt and Road: colonialism with Chinese characteristics
Belt and Road: colonialism with Chinese characteristics
Although China’s top-ranking diplomat Yang Jiechi has repeatedly assured the world that his country’s supreme foreign policy project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), “does not…
Remembering Rwanda: small mercy from the horror of Kibeho
Remembering Rwanda: small mercy from the horror of Kibeho
What you don’t expect to see when you arrive at Kibeho are the eucalyptus trees. When Belgium ruled Rwanda, gum trees were planted across the colony to provide firewood. A small…
The strategic consequence of the Chagos Islands legal dispute
The strategic consequence of the Chagos Islands legal dispute
At the end of last month, the African archipelago nation of Mauritius secured an important legal victory in its territorial and maritime disputes against its former coloniser, the…
The new US Africa strategy is not about Africa. It’s about China
The new US Africa strategy is not about Africa. It’s about China
President Donald Trump’s national security advisor John Bolton outlined the US administration’s new Africa strategy in a speech last week at the Heritage Foundation, a…