An Africanist Perspective

African policymakers should be clear-eyed about the short and medium term impacts of the U.S./Israel-Iran war

Policymakers should prepare for the fact that the coming shocks to have long lags; and that the cadence of global crises will likely pick up.

Mar 17 • Ken Opalo

95

3

20

February 2026

Conflict in the Horn of Africa isn’t inevitable. People can choose peace.

Ideas matter. And it's high time key players in the Horn (politicians, academics, journalists, analysts, and military strategists) chose to escape the…

Feb 28 • Ken Opalo

71

1

18

How African policymakers should prepare for the coming commodity boom

Projections point to elevated commodity prices in important sectors. Here's how African policymakers can avoid mistakes of the past.

Feb 17 • Ken Opalo

91

6

18

Book Review (1/26): Mahmood Mamdani’s Slow Poison

A journey through Uganda’s stunted political development

Feb 4

40

15

January 2026

The international development community isn’t adapting fast enough to official aid cuts. That’s a big problem.

On the urgent need for a pivot to spending more time trying to supporting specific countries interested in boosting their state capacity; and catalyzing…

Jan 27 • Ken Opalo

96

14

29

Africa in 2026

The 11 trends/factors that will shape African affairs in 2026

Jan 8 • Ken Opalo

129

8

36

2025: Year in Review

Political and economic divergence on the Continent continues apace

Jan 1 • Ken Opalo

97

11

14

December 2025

Book Review (12/25): The Second Emancipation

Explorations in African leadership

Dec 20, 2025 • Ken Opalo

53

2

18

Firms or Families? Another installment in the Mission 300 electrification debate

On the politics and logics of policy tradeoffs

Dec 8, 2025 • Ken Opalo

45

1

9

October 2025

Raila Amolo Odinga

The man whose political career defined Kenya’s multiparty politics

Oct 15, 2025 • Ken Opalo

146

11

41

The geopolitics of international development (after foreign aid)

You can't have nice things without strategic independence and policy autonomy

Oct 2, 2025 • Ken Opalo

169

26

42

September 2025

The most unlikely degrowthers

On why the World Bank and other multilaterals should recalibrate their climate projects in low-income countries

Sep 18, 2025 • Ken Opalo

101

14

22