Fifty-four countries. Six regions. One continent.
Policy is made in places. Our regional pages bring together analysis on each part of the continent, and our country briefs follow the states where the choices being made today carry the highest stakes.
West Africa
Democratic resilience and reversals, ECOWAS's future, coastal economies and regional trade.
Côte d'Ivoire · Ghana · Guinea · Nigeria · Senegal · Sierra Leone
The Sahel
Military governments, the Alliance of Sahel States, insecurity and shifting foreign partnerships.
Burkina Faso · Chad · Mali · Mauritania · Niger
Central Africa & Great Lakes
Conflict in the eastern DRC, critical minerals and regional peace processes.
DR Congo · Cameroon · Rwanda · Burundi · CAR · Gabon
East Africa & the Horn
War in Sudan, state-building in Somalia, Red Sea security and the East African Community.
Sudan · Somalia · Ethiopia · Kenya · South Sudan · Uganda
North Africa
Migration to Europe, energy exports and North Africa's ties to the rest of the continent.
Egypt · Morocco · Algeria · Tunisia · Libya
Southern Africa
SADC, South Africa's continental role, mining and the energy transition.
South Africa · Zambia · Zimbabwe · Mozambique · Angola
Country briefs
Countries in focus
Each brief gives an overview, the key policy questions, our latest analysis and the experts to contact. Key facts are refreshed every quarter.
East Africa & the Horn
Sudan
Since April 2023 Sudan has been at war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, producing one of the world's largest displacement and humanitarian crises. Our work follows the competing mediation efforts, the role of regional and Gulf powers, and what a credible civilian transition would require.
What we track
- Ceasefire and mediation initiatives and who leads them
- Humanitarian access and the regional impact of displacement
- External actors, arms flows and gold
East Africa & the Horn
Somalia
Somalia's federal government is rebuilding state institutions while fighting al-Shabaab and managing relations with its federal member states. We examine the contest over African Union-led security support, federalism, debt relief and Somalia's place in a contested Red Sea region.
What we track
- The African Union stabilisation mission and its financing
- Federal–state relations and the electoral model
- Economic recovery after debt relief
Central Africa & Great Lakes
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The DRC holds a large share of the world's cobalt and other minerals critical to the energy transition, yet its eastern provinces remain gripped by armed conflict, including the M23 rebellion. We analyse the peace processes, the regional dimension of the conflict and how mineral wealth can finance development rather than war.
What we track
- Peace talks and regional diplomacy in the Great Lakes
- Critical minerals, supply chains and mining contracts
- Governance and service delivery in the east
West Africa
Guinea
Guinea's political transition since the 2021 military takeover has tested ECOWAS and the African Union approach to unconstitutional changes of government. At the same time, its bauxite reserves and the Simandou iron-ore project make it central to global mining. We follow the transition and the governance of its resource boom.
What we track
- The political transition and its constitutional framework
- Relations with ECOWAS and the AU
- Mining revenues, Simandou and infrastructure
West Africa
Côte d'Ivoire
A decade and a half after the 2010–11 post-election crisis — which divided Africa and raised hard questions about external influence — Côte d'Ivoire has become one of West Africa's fastest-growing economies. We examine whether that growth is inclusive, the durability of its political settlement and its role as a regional anchor.
What we track
- Elections, succession and national reconciliation
- Cocoa value chains and economic diversification
- Security spill-over from the Sahel