Some African countries carry names that trace back not just to geography or culture, but to individuals who lived centuries ago. In these cases, national identity is tied to historical figures: rulers, explorers, saints, or colonial-era personalities: whose legacies endure long after their deaths. Here are five African countries named after people who are no…
Some developing country governments spend years making the reforms that international financial institutions want – only to find that their efforts are not rewarded. They may make budgets more transparent, publish their debt obligations, set up independent bodies to monitor government spending, and complete an International Monetary Fund programme, but still receive the same ratings…
As low and middle-income countries (LMICs) continue to shoulder a disproportionate burden of smoking-related disease, access to pragmatic, evidence-based harm reduction solutions is becoming an increasingly urgent public-health priority. Philip Morris International’s newly released 2025 Value Report offers an important snapshot of how tobacco harm reduction—through the accelerated adoption of smokefree products (SFPs)—is beginning to…
By Easter 2026 it was still not clear when – or how – the war initiated by Israel and the US against Iran would end. But what was already clear was that it would harm Africa in a number of ways. Firstly, it would adversely affect the global supply and prices of oil and gas,…
The Muslim-majority nations denounce Israel’s ‘increasingly discriminatory’ practices that ‘entrench a system of apartheid’. Published On 2 Apr 20262 Apr 2026 Eight Muslim-majority countries have issued a joint statement that “strongly condemned” Israel’s one-sided bill to impose the death penalty on Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks. Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and…
Washington, DC — Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sara Jacobs, Ranking Member of the Africa Subcommittee, joined by other Africa Subcommittee Democrats, today sent a letter to Secretary Rubio in response to public reporting that the State Department plans to end lifesaving assistance to seven African nations…
When Idoko, a 23-year-old man living in rural Benue State, north central Nigeria, began hearing voices, withdrawing from family and speaking incoherently, his family’s first call was not to a psychiatrist. They took him to a local faith-based prayer group, where members pray over people believed to be afflicted by spiritual forces. When he showed…
As oil prices soared to more than $100 a barrel this week, what will the economic consequences of the war in the Middle East be for African countries? Which sectors are most at risk? RFI spoke to Guinea-Bissau economist Carlos Lopes, former executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and now a…
Donald Trump matters a lot to Mzansi and the rest of the world right now. Trump is changing the way America works – and how the world’s most powerful country deals with the rest of the world. We’ll track what he does and connect the dots to your daily life. US launches trade investigation into…
The United States is signing bilateral health deals with African countries. By the end of February 2026, deals worth US$19.8 billion had been signed in new health funding. Of this amount, the US has committed US$12.2 billion and African countries US$7.5 billion. Eighteen African countries have signed these deals. They are Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi,…
