How do authoritarian rulers survive in the context of democratic institutions? This is a long-standing puzzle that has become more pressing with the rise of authoritarianism in the 21st century.
In theory, democratic institutions should allow citizens to vote out …
African Liberty mourns with the rest of the freedom-loving world the passing of Dr. George B. N. Ayittey, who died in January 2022 in Alexandria, Virginia.
Dr. Ayittey distinguished himself as an Africanist per-excellence and one of the preeminent intellectuals …
COVID-19 has caused unprecedented challenges in every region of the world. Africa has been particularly hard hit due to the continent’s frail health sector and lack of decent infrastructure. While these underlying characteristics have presented a unique set of challenges, …
Nearly 80 percent of the world’s one billion smokers live in low and middle-income countries. According to data culled from the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco consumption is prevalent in Africa, as one in every five African adolescents uses tobacco. …
On 2 February 2022, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) confirmed what everyone had known for months: that last December, Oromia state security forces brutally killed more than a dozen members of the Karrayyu Gadaa people. Following the pastoralist community’s …
Military coups are nothing new to the African continent. After several years of enduring colonial rule, many African countries began their experimental transition into democracy in the 1960s.
Six decades later, most of these countries have yet to establish functioning
The new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could transform Africa’s economic prospects. The World Bank estimates the AfCFTA could lift more than 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty (defined as having an income of less than $1.90 per …
Digitizing informal trade is the multi-billion-dollar challenge for the next wave of African tech unicorns. If they succeed it will be transformative for a continent where near 90% of employment is informal.
Flutterwave, a Nigerian payments company, is now worth