SPECIAL FEATURES - The African Mirror

Nov

22

2025

By LAMINE DOUMBIA and MAHAMADOU BASSIROU TANGARA

Bamako is under pressure, not under siege: the difference and why it matters

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

MALI has been struggling for over a decade to defeat “jihadists” around Gao, Kidal and Ségou. Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), linked to al-Qaida, is believed to be the most vicious of the terrorist groups operating there, based on the scale of its attacks. The group’s aims include the imposition of its strict interpretation of Islam and sharia. Recently, it raised the ante with attacks in certain zones in Mali. This has put strain on trade routes and the supply of essential commodities, including fuel. Consequently, there have been media reports raising concerns about the deepening security crisis in the…

Nov

20

2025

By CLAUDE SENGENYA and PHILIP KLEINFELD

Life under the M23: What our reporting reveals about rebel rule in DR Congo

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SINCE late 2021, the M23 rebel group has swept across vast areas of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, displacing millions of people and installing its own systems of governance as it drives one of the country’s biggest crises in decades. Heavily backed by troops from neighbouring Rwanda – long supported by some of the world’s most powerful countries – the M23 has made especially large gains this year, seizing DRC’s biggest eastern cities and threatening to topple the Congolese government altogether. The group has framed its takeover as a liberation for communities long neglected and repressed by state authorities…

Nov

19

2025

By FOLAHANMI AINA

Nigeria’s new terror threat: JNIM is spreading but it’s not too late to act

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE Sahel region, south of the Sahara, is notorious for being the global epicentre of terrorism. With a combined population of 75 million people, the region has accounted for more fatalities than any other on the African continent since 2021. In 2024, deaths from terrorism across the region stood at 11,200: more than half of Africa’s toll that year. The situation has deteriorated following the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The three countries are among the most affected in the troubled region. As of June 2025, these countries contributed to the more than 2.9 million people who have…

Nov

17

2025

By SAHEED BABAJIDE OWONIKOKO

US-Nigeria relations: what it means to be a ‘country of particular concern’ and why it matters

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

FOR the second time in five years, Nigeria has been designated a “country of particular concern” by the US government, in both cases by President Donald Trump. The first time was in 2020, but the designation was removed in 2021. The November 2025 redesignation can be traced to, among other things, a campaign by US Congressman Riley Moore, who alleged that there was an “alarming and ongoing persecution of Christians” in Nigeria. Nigeria refuted this claim. President Bola Tinubu, in a statement, argued that the US characterisation of Nigeria did not reflect the country’s reality or values. But what does…

Nov

15

2025

By ELEANOR DOBSON

Tutankhamun was decapitated 100 years ago – why the excavation is a great shame instead of a triumph

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

NOVEMBER 2025 marks 100 years since archaeologists first examined Tutankhamun’s mummified remains. What followed wasn’t a scientific triumph – it was destruction. Using hot knives and brute force, Howard Carter’s team decapitated the pharaoh, severed his limbs and dismembered his torso. Then they covered it up. Tutankhamun’s tomb was first discovered in the Valley of the Kings by a team of mostly Egyptian excavators led by Howard Carter in November 1922. However, it took several years for the excavators to clear and catalogue the tomb’s antechamber – the first part of what would become a decade-long excavation. This meticulous work,…

Nov

12

2025

By JOVIAL RANTAO

BMW throws petrol purists a lifeline with the X3 20 Pure Design

MOTORING

IN a move that proves internal combustion still has a pulse in 2025, BMW South Africa has rolled out the X3 20 Pure Design, a fresh entry-level gateway drug for those craving that kidney-grille swagger without the diesel clatter or plug-in complications. Landing at a cool R1.1 million (yes, that's entry-level now – welcome to premium motoring in the 2020s), this Rosslyn-born bruiser slots neatly beneath the diesel-slurping 20d, the electrified 30e, and the frankly unhinged M50 xDrive. It's BMW's way of saying: "Hey, we see you, petrol lovers. We haven't forgotten about you." Under that sculpted bonnet lurks a…

Nov

10

2025

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Africa’s pharmaceutical awakening: how Mombasa conference aims to end a century of dependency

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

FOR more than a century, Africa has been a pharmaceutical colony - dependent on distant manufacturers for the medicines that determine whether its children survive malaria, whether its mothers live through childbirth, and whether its populations can withstand the next pandemic. This week in Mombasa, that colonial relationship faces its most significant challenge yet. The Seventh Scientific Conference on Medical Products Regulation in Africa (SCoMRA VII), convening November 11-13 at the PrideInn Paradise Beach Resort & Spa, represents far more than another gathering of health officials and regulators. It is the crystallisation of sixteen years of painstaking institution-building, the unveiling…

Nov

08

2025

By KRISTIN BRIG

Access to water has a long racial history in Durban: I followed the story in the city’s archives

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE water infrastructure politics of eThekwini, the municipality that includes the city of Durban, have been splashed across the digital pages of South Africa’s news outlets in recent years. They’ve covered the 2022 floods that damaged kilometres of pipes, water tanker purchases as a response to increasing water scarcity, and the disconnection of residential water storage tanks from municipal pipes to cope with leaky infrastructure. Like other South African municipalities, eThekwini has fallen behind on maintaining its piped water infrastructure and has looked to stopgap solutions. The city’s water politics has a long history. Some of the infrastructure issues can…

Nov

07

2025

By OLAYINKA AJALA

Is there a Christian genocide in Nigeria? Evidence shows all faiths are under attack by terrorists

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

TERRORISM and insurgency have ravaged parts of Nigeria since 2009, especially in the northern regions. Tens of thousands of Nigerians have been killed, and millions have been displaced by the violence. Nigeria was ranked sixth in the 2025 Global Terrorism Index, with a score of 7.658, moving up from eighth place in 2023 and 2024. U.S. President Donald Trump declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern” in November 2025. This was the result of a campaign by US Congressman Riley Moore, who alleged that there was an “alarming and ongoing persecution of Christians” in the West African country. The congressman…

Nov

05

2025

By SAMIR RAMZY

Peace in Sudan? 3 reasons why mediation hasn’t worked so far

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SUDAN has been embroiled in a civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the two parties. The war has displaced more than 14 million people. Over half the population of about 50 million is facing acute levels of hunger. Several mediation initiatives have been launched since the start of the war, with limited success. The African Union has also been unable to get the main warring parties to agree to a permanent ceasefire. The four countries leading the main peace mediation effort (known as the Quad) are…