Some have suggested that China actively pushed for the recent regime change in Zimbabwe, and may have been an invisible hand behind the military-led uprising against Robert Mugabe. But, argue Cobus van Staden and Chris Alden - while there’s no doubt China has become a global political player, with enormous power beyond its own borders - there’s also no reason to believe what amounts to a conspiracy theory.

South Africa’s Communist Party is unhappy with the governing African National Congress and is considering contesting elections as a standalone party, rather than under the banner of the ruling tripartite alliance as it’s done in the past. Dirk Kotze explores the options available to the communists if they want to establish the political infrastructure of a real political party.

The past year has been marked down as the post-truth era for media across the globe. For every real news story there have been dozens of fake news articles. In Africa, the threat of alternative facts has been strongest in the coverage of political events, including a number of elections such as the poll in Kenya, explains George Ogola. He also looks at how African media houses have also had to contend with dwindling sales and oppressive governments that have sought to control the media through advertising. Below you can find additional articles in our special edition on Africa’s 2017 media evolution, featuring top read articles on the topic.