French-Congolese musician Abd Al Malik’s star is rising fast in Francophone Europe. Behind his, say, rather straightforward song titles are some revealing lyrics, so we don’t mind his songs here being played on the radio over and over again. Above is last year’s hit Ma Jolie. Last month he released another great single, Mon Amour, taken from his album Château Rouge. Earbugs, both of them.

Further Reading

Fuel’s errand

When Africa’s richest man announced the construction of the continent’s largest crude oil refinery, many were hopeful. But Aliko Dangote has not saved Nigeria. The Nigerian Scam returns to the Africa Is a Country Podcast to explain why.

Fragile state

Without an immediate change in approach, Somalia will remain a fragmented country populated by self-serving elites seeking foreign patrons.

Coming home

In 1991, acclaimed South African artist Helen Sebidi’s artworks were presumed stolen in Sweden. Three decades later, a caretaker at the residential college where they disappeared found them in a ceiling cupboard, still in their original packaging.

Imaginary homelands

A new biography of former apartheid homeland leader Lucas Mangope struggles to do more than arrange the actions of its subject into a neat chronology.