Tanzania has a new president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, the first woman to hold the position in the country. She was sworn in following the death of controversial John Magufuli. Nicodemus Minde writes that Samia is viewed as being candid and rational. These characteristics could be vital in moving Tanzania forward if she acts quickly to change the country’s stance on COVID-19 and reaches out to the opposition and others alienated by her predecessor.

To mark World Water Day authors look back at the history of the Nile, a gigantic water source that flows through 11 African countries and affects the lives of a quarter of Africa’s population. Projects like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia, have triggered major tensions since construction began a decade ago. But, as Mahemud Tekuya explains, this isn’t the first time relations have been strained by dam politics. For his part Mike Muller looks back even further to uncover how the Nile has been the inspiration for extraordinary engineering techniques.