Eight months after he became US president, Donald Trump’s policy on Africa remains unclear. But, as John Stremlau argues, statements made by some of his senior officials provide useful hints at what its policy might look like. These include a surprising pragmatism about China’s growing role in Africa.

As Kenya prepares to re-run its annulled presidential election, observers are under intense pressure to make sure things go smoothly. But like many African democracies, Kenya has embraced new voting technologies that also demand new observation methods to keep the results honest. Stephen Chan explains what the African Union can do to make sure the effort doesn’t go to waste.

Gabon’s government, like several others across the African continent, has been using hip-hop as a tool to get young people on their side. Last month the country held a massive, free concert to celebrate its independence day, but as Alice Aterianus-Owanga writes, it didn’t make people forget about the shocking violence and repression of protest after last year’s contested electoral victory.