In a remarkable extension of technological leapfrogging, Somaliland will become the first country in the world to use iris recognition in a presidential election.
The Oluwole Urban Market near Marina in Lagos. Being middle class is more than just being a consumer.
Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye
As we celebrate Africa Day and reflect on how far the continent has come since the Organisation of African Unity was founded in 1963, it’s a good time to assess whether democracy is working.
People cheer as Senegalese troops arrive to take charge of security at the presidential palace in Banjul, The Gambia.
EPA/Legnan Koula
The adoption of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance five years ago raised hopes for a new democratic Africa. But its ideals remain elusive for many parts of the continent.
Twentieth-century political thinker and fighter against colonialism and imperialism, Frantz Fanon, left an indelible mark on history.
Tony Webster/Flickr
Leo Zeilig, School of Advanced Study, University of London
For the revolutionary Frantz Fanon it was not enough to celebrate the achievements of decolonisation. It was necessary to educate, to strain at the limits of national freedom and to provoke debate.
A Malian mother waits to have her baby vaccinated. Though access to health care has improved, many people say their governments must do more.
Dominic Chavez/World Bank
More than two million women across the world suffer from obstetric fistula – a hole in the birth canal that makes them incontinent – but this can be avoided.
African leaders meet at the African Union Summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2015.
EPA/Kim Ludbrook
Silencing the guns in Africa by 2020 will require a Herculean effort on the part of the AU Peace and Security Council, whose remit is to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts.
Papa Wemba’s coffin at a memorial in Kinshasa on May 3 2016.
EPA/Habibou Bangre
Papa Wemba was one of the most active ambassadors of Congolese urban music on the global stage. He did this by fusing international musical styles with authentic Congolese grooves.
There is very little evidence that commodity producing countries diversify their economies by adding value to their raw materials.
Reuters/Siegfried Modola
The downturn in the commodity boom will not automatically lead to diversification of Africa’s economies. This can only be achieved through a focus on creating learning economies driven by innovation.
Fela Kuti - from the cover of his album ‘Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense’
Nigerian superstar Fela Kuti used his music as an art form that provoked. This wasn’t only through politics, but also sex.
Workers arrange copies of the ‘Business Daily’, produced by Kenya’s Nation Media Group, the biggest newspaper publisher in East Africa.
Reuters/Thomas Mukoya
Namibia’s rise in the World Press Freedom rankings is stunning. The media environment in Africa, too, has improved. But media closures and the harassment of journalists are not yet things of the past.
An Ethiopian boy receives a polio vaccination. Africa has done well with polio eradication but lags behind other vaccination efforts.
Unicef Ethiopia/2013/Sewunet
Every year hundreds of thousands of children die from vaccine-preventable diseases. Africa leaders could change this if they improved vaccination efforts.
In Nigeria 96% of households are connected to the grid, but only 18% of these connections function more than about half the time.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
Africa still has numerous electricity challenges to overcome, but several countries are getting it right when it comes to providing electricity to their people.
Investment in science and innovation is needed to help build Africa.
Kate Holt/Africa Practice/Flickr
Successful economies are led by innovation and driven by knowledge. For Africa to advance, it needs to make more substantial investments in its research and development sector.
A young girl from Kenya’s Pokot tribe weeps as she’s led away from her home by her future husband’s family.
Reuters/Siegfried Modola
Agriculture can only contribute to rural growth and development to the benefit of all if it links with an inclusive and diverse rural non-farm economy.
Arthur Lewis’ impossible mission was to make possible Kwame Nkrumah’s famous slogan: seek ye first the political kingdom …
Reuters/Sahra Abdi
Nobel laureate and Kwame Nkrumah’s economic adviser Arthur Lewis saw Ghana as a testing ground for his ideas on economic development. But he was met with fierce resistance.
It’s time for Africa to produce the technology it needs, rather than being largely a consumer.
EPA/Nic Bothma
Professor of Global Change and Sustainability Research Institute and School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand