East Africa Archive

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, and host Peter Dörrie discuss global violence and discrimination against women, the political crisis in Guinea-Bissau, and the need to give Syrian refugees the right to work. For the Report, Ernest Nti Acheampong joins us to talk about how young entrepreneurs are driving economic growth in Africa. Listen: Download: MP3Subscribe: iTunes | RSS Relevant Articles on WPR: The World Needs a Peace Treaty Between Men and Women WPR Global Insider Interview Series on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality Deal to End Guinea-Bissau’s Deadlock Instead Stokes Risk of Another Coup Many […]

NAIROBI, Kenya—When U.S. President Barack Obama attended the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, in July 2015, it helped place Africa in the global limelight as an emerging entrepreneurship hub. At the event, global leaders, business executives, mentors, young entrepreneurs and high-level government officials reiterated the crucial role of entrepreneurship in economic development, creating new jobs, driving technological innovations and enhancing economic growth. Many speakers specifically called for African governments to put in place strategies to support the growth of enterprises. Africa is already taking advantage of its youth demographic dividend to push young entrepreneurs to contribute to the continent’s […]

In July, Marine Corps Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser officially took over command of the United States Africa Command, known as AFRICOM, from retiring Army Gen. David Rodriguez. Waldhauser inherits an organization that has overcome initial growing pains and turned into an integral player in responding to African security challenges. Although the U.S. maintains only one official base on the continent, as many as 60 smaller facilities sprawl across 34 African nations. These facilities serve as staging areas for a steadily growing array of joint special force operations, military exercises and other security cooperation activities. Under Rodriguez’s three-year tenure, AFRICOM took […]

Uganda is pulling out of the hunt for Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), taking with it the best hopes of eliminating the militia once regarded as one of the world’s most brutal. The withdrawal of the roughly 2,500 Ugandan troops from an African Union military mission, which is set to be completed by the end of the year, comes with a recognition of the LRA’s diminished stature after years of being on the run in Central Africa. But the move has also raised fears that the group could rebuild some of its strength and take advantage of […]

One of the most momentous decisions the United States made after 9/11 was to go on the offensive against violent extremists, seeking to cut them off at their source. This was to be done by helping governments in the Islamic world provide prosperity, security, justice and a sense of national identity. While sound in theory, this forced the U.S. to work with deeply flawed partners and repeatedly crashed against three problems. First, extremists, appropriating or misappropriating religious themes and local grievances, are often deeply ingrained in the societies where they operate, whether by ethnicity, clan, tribe or religion. Second, political […]

Recent elections in several African countries have extended the rule of long-time leaders, painting a bleak picture of ordinary citizens’ ability to press for political and social change. Amid violent government crackdowns, many opposition groups are also marred by their own disunity. But activists haven’t backed down, and grass-roots organizations are taking matters into their own hands, demanding better governance and more rights. World Politics Review’s 10-article compilation looks at the challenges Africa’s popular and political movements face and some of the progress they’ve made. The following 10 articles are free to non-subscribers until Sept. 15. The State of Organized […]