The Weekend Conversation

Editor's note

In 1994 South Africa’s democratic government faced the mammoth task of fundamentally transforming the country. One of its immediate tasks was to open the economy to black people. Karl von Holdt explains how it has failed, and that persistent patterns of inequality lie at the heart of endemic corruption in the country.

Kenya and Somalia can’t settle a protracted dispute about where the maritime boundary between them lies. At stake is control over a 100,000 square km triangle in the Indian Ocean that’s got large deposits of oil and gas as well as lots of tuna. Christopher R. Rossi explains why colonial boundaries are part of what’s complicating the disagreement.

Thabo Leshilo

Politics + Society Editor

Politics + Society

Why Buhari won even though he had little to show for first term

Leila Demarest, Leiden University

In the end, Buhari possibly won simply because the Peoples Democratic Party wasn't offering a viable alternative.

The four key factors that determined the outcome of the Nigeria poll

Olayinka Ajala, University of York

While the 2019 presidential election wasn't perfect, it showed that democracy is gradually being entrenched in Nigeria.

Letters reveal Africanist hero Robert Sobukwe’s moral courage, and pain

Derek Hook, Duquesne University

A collection of prison letters provides a peek into the suffering of South African liberation hero, Robert Sobukwe.

How Rwanda can do a better job of supporting refugees

Evan Easton-Calabria, University of Oxford

Helping refugees find avenues to generate income and live independently from aid can be positive for donors, agencies, and refugees alike.

Business + Economy

Somali piracy and countering other organised crimes at sea

Carina Bruwer, University of Cape Town

With the exception of Somali piracy, counter-measures have failed to stop transnational criminal networks from taking to the seas.

What Buhari has to do to take Nigeria’s economy to the next level

Stephen Onyeiwu, Allegheny College

Nigeria's high unemployment rate has created a bloated and unproductive informal sector.

Nigerian women entrepreneurs draw the short straw on education levels

Tolu Olarewaju, Staffordshire University

Nigeria, like many emerging countries, needs to educate its women at the same rate it does its men to enhance entrepreneurship.

What a failed Johannesburg project tells us about mega cities in Africa

Ricardo Reboredo, Trinity College Dublin; Frances Brill, UCL

What a failed megacity project in Johannesburg says about similar ambitious ideas across the continent.

Environment + Energy

How droughts will affect South Africa’s broader economy

Mmatlou Kalaba, University of Pretoria

If the pattern of drought continues in South Africa it's likely to affect the country's financial standing too.

Why Mount Kenya is burning and what can be done to stop the fires

Mary C. Henry, Miami University; Jessica McCarty, Miami University; John Maingi, Miami University

Detailed fire history information isn't available for Mount Kenya, satellite information can help fill the gaps.

Health + Medicine

Ebola in the DRC: the race is on between research and the virus

Yap Boum, Mbarara University of Science and Technology; Jean-Jacques Muyembe, University of Kinshasa ; Sabue Mulangu, University of Kinshasa ; Steve Mundeke Ahuka, University of Kinshasa

Four new Ebola treatments are being tried out in the DRC.