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The spark that set off December’s mass protests against Omar al-Bashir’s regime in Sudan was a large hike in bread and petrol prices. Five months later demonstrators remain on the streets, determined to ensure the military doesn’t come out on top in ongoing negotiations with civilian parties. Another factor that continues to sustain the resistance is the dire condition of the country’s economy. Peter Robert Woodward unpacks Sudan’s
economic woes over the last few decades and plots a way forward.
Tomorrow South Africans go to the polls to vote in the country’s sixth national and provincial elections since the advent of democracy in 1994. But, argues Franz Kruger, voters have been badly served by the country’s mainstream media which has focused on national party leaders and opinion polls rather than on the issues pre-occupying people at a local level – a vacuum that’s been filled by community radio. And you can read more of our
election coverage here.
Four years ago today, The Conversation Africa posted its first articles with the support of a handful of universities, academics and a tiny team of editors in Johannesburg. Four years later, the team has tripled in size and we now have offices in Nairobi, Lagos, Dakar and hopefully Ghana soon. Over 2 700 academics have written 4 139 articles. Articles are being republished by over 460 media outlets, drawing in 1.3 million reads a month while the number of visits to the site has grown to 445 000 a month.
This is all thanks to the incredibly generous spirit of the academics who have written for The Conversation Africa, the support of funding universities – particularly the University of the Witwatersrand, the African Population Health and Research Centre and the National Academy of Sciences – that provide us with a roof over our heads. And the trust that donors have put into the project. All have contributed to helping us grow from strength to strength every year.
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