Africa Is a Country

The dancing Senegalese man

The dancing Senegalese man

By
Sean Jacobs

Senegal voted this weekend. Abdoulaye Wade is gone after 12 years. Macky Sall, once Wade’s protege and variously prime minister and minister of mining under the old man, is now in charge. Only Senegal’s fourth President since independence in 1960. So not a clean break with the past (though the two did fall out over the role of Wade’s son Karim in government affairs). We hope to have a few post election analyses posts up in the next few days. Till then enjoy the exuberance of “the dancing man” filmed (with a cellphone?) by Al Jazeera journalist Azad Essa in Dakar last night.

Further Reading

Not exactly at arm’s length

Despite South Africa’s ban on arms exports to Israel and its condemnation of Israel’s actions in Palestine, local arms companies continue to send weapons to Israel’s allies and its major arms suppliers.

Ruto’s Kenya

Since June’s anti-finance bill protests, dozens of people remain unaccounted for—a stark reminder of the Kenyan state’s long history of abductions and assassinations.

Between Harlem and home

African postcolonial cinema serves as a mirror, revealing the limits of escape—whether through migration or personal defiance—and exposing the tensions between dreams and reality.

The real Rwanda

The world is slowly opening its eyes to how Paul Kagame’s regime abuses human rights, suppresses dissent, and exploits neighboring countries.

In the shadow of Mondlane

After a historic election and on the eve of celebrating fifty years of independence, Mozambicans need to ask whether the values, symbols, and institutions created to give shape to “national unity” are still legitimate today.

À sombra de Mondlane

Depois de uma eleição histórica e em vésperas de celebrar os 50 anos de independência, os moçambicanos precisam de perguntar se os valores, símbolos e instituições criados para dar forma à “unidade nacional” ainda são legítimos hoje.