THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Jul

10

2025

Samora Machel’s vision for Mozambique didn’t survive: what has taken its place?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SAMORA Moisés Machel, the first president of independent Mozambique, was born in 1933 in Gaza province, in the south of the country. He died in an unexplained plane crash on 19 October 1986, in Mbuzini, South Africa. Authoritarian and popular, humble and arrogant, visionary and tactical. All these words have been used to describe Machel. Despite these contradictions, there was one quality that everyone recognised in him: his charisma. At the time, this gift wasn’t lacking in many political leaders of emerging countries, especially those of Marxist-Leninist inspiration. Cuba’s revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, above all. Their common faith went beyond…

Jul

08

2025

By OLAYINKA AJALA

West Africa terror: why attacks on military bases are rising – and four ways to respond

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MORE than 40 Malian soldiers were killed and one of the country’s military bases was taken over in early June 2025 in a major attack by an al-Qaeda-linked group, Jama'a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin (JNIM), on the town of Boulikessi. The same group launched an attack on the historic city of Timbuktu. The Malian army claimed it repelled the Timbuktu attack and killed 14 terrorists. Terrorist groups have attacked Boulikessi in large numbers before. In October 2019, 25 Malian soldiers were killed. The target was a G5 Sahel force military camp. Timbuktu has been in the sights of terrorist groups…

Jul

05

2025

By HALA AL-KARIB

As violence against women rises in Sudan, frontline groups need urgent support

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Hala al-Karib IT was midday on 15 April 2023 – the day Sudan’s war broke out – that human rights monitors received reports of sexual violence for the first time. Soldiers from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had broken into a house and were raping a woman inside. The woman’s screams for help drew neighbours together, and the perpetrators quickly fled. But attacks continued in the hours that followed – with two more women from the same area gang-raped inside their homes. Tragically, the attacks have continued ever since. For…

Jul

04

2025

By PIUS SIAKWAH

Ghana and India: Narendra Modi’s visit rekindles historical ties

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

NARENDRA Modi’s trip to Ghana in July 2025, part of a five-nation visit, is the first by an Indian prime minister in over 30 years. The two countries’ relationship goes back more than half a century to when India helped the newly independent Ghana set up its intelligence agencies. Ghana is also home to several large Indian-owned manufacturing and trading companies. International relations scholar Pius Siakwah unpacks the context of the visit. What is the background to Ghana and India’s relationship? It can be traced to links between Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president, and his Indian counterpart, Prime Minister Jawaharlal…

Jul

02

2025

By JONATHAN BELOFF

DRC and Rwanda sign a US-brokered peace deal: what are the chances of its success?

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE foreign ministers of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) signed a new peace agreement on 27 June 2025 under the auspices of the US. The agreement aims to foster long-term peace, increased economic trade and security. The DRC is one of Africa’s largest nations, with over 110 million people. Rwanda has a population of 14 million. After three decades of war and tensions between the two neighbours since the aftermath of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the hope is that this agreement will establish the foundations for progress that benefits both nations. It was the…

Jul

01

2025

By CLAVER GATETE

This is why Africa must embrace nuclear energy

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE path ahead is clear. We must harness nuclear energy’s potential and adopt a bold political commitment backed by a clear national roadmap, including target dates for operational plants and long-term capacity-building initiatives. The potential is enormous and could result in creating thousands of skilled jobs and transforming Africa’s energy system towards greater energy security. Governments need to tap into the reliability of nuclear power. With a 90% capacity factor, plants enjoy up to 45 years of economic life. While large-scale reactors provide stable baseload power, low-hanging fruit should focus on deploying SMRs first (20-300 MW) to power mines and…

Jun

26

2025

By LUCA BUSSOTTI

Mozambique after 50 years of independence: what’s there to celebrate?

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MOZAMBIQUE’S government, led by the Frelimo party, has long been planning celebrations for 2025. It is 50 years since independence, won after an anti-colonial war against Portugal led by the same party. Something has gone wrong, however, especially in the past two years. Since the country’s popular rapper Azagaia died in March 2023 and peaceful processions in his memory escalated into violent clashes with the police, space has opened up for the establishment of a social movement of young people. This has since turned into a political movement, taking on the name “Povo no Poder” (“People in Power”). At its…

Jun

25

2025

By SIMON GIKANDI

Ngũgi wa Thiong’o and the African literary revolution

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE passing of celebrated Kenyan writer and scholar Ngugi wa Thiong’o on 28 May 2025 marks the end of a remarkable period in African literary history – the fabulous decades in the second half of the 20th century when African writers came to command the world stage. This was the time of what I call the African literary revolution. As a scholar of African literature and the author of many books and papers on Ngugi, I have raised several questions about this period. Why and how did this revolution happen? What motivated this turn to the imagination as a tool…

Jun

20

2025

By ABBEY MAKOE

China steps in to rescue the global south as President Trump’s tariffs wreak havoc

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AT a time of great economic strife across the global community - triggered largely by President Donald Trump's aggressive approach to foreign policy - too many nations are reeling from the weaponisation of tariffs as a diplomatic tool. Presiding over the world's largest economy and unparalleled military might that borders on omnipotence, President Trump's imposition of virtually indiscriminate tariffs has caused untold misery and enormous uncertainty among both developed and developing economies. While the West remains understandably embarrassed by Washington's punitive measures after decades of sustained diplomatic cooperation, the struggling nations of the Global South are hardest hit by Trump's…

Jun

19

2025

By PAA KWESI WOLSELEY PRAH

China’s support for Mali’s military carries risks: researcher outlines what they are

HEADLINES, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MALI, a landlocked Sahelian nation of 25 million people, has faced significant instability since 2012, marked by terrorism, state neglect and armed conflicts. That year, a Tuareg rebellion started in northern Mali and President Amadou Toumani Touré was ousted in a military coup. Constitutional rule was suspended. Rebels in northern Mali went on to seize cities like Timbuktu, Gao and Kidal, declaring an independent Islamic State of Azawad and imposing sharia law. They also destroyed cultural heritage sites, including 14 of Timbuktu’s 16 Unesco-listed mausoleums. The crisis prompted international intervention, including a UN-authorised mission, which retook northern cities within weeks.…