Rehad Desai writes in the aftermath of last year’s elections in Mozambique, how the country has seen a massive social uprising in the urban areas. Dozens have been killed, beaten and imprisoned as the state has attempted to restore order. The revolt has taken place in the context of disputed elections, economic stagnation and crisis, which has seen the ruling Frelimo party hold onto power with increasing repression.

Siayabulela Mama attributes South Africa’s water crisis to government failure, financial mismanagement, and a lack of accountability. He argues that the financialisation, inefficiency, and corruption of government-appointed Water Boards have deepened inequalities in water access. Intended to ensure supply, these corrupt institutions have instead become emblematic of systemic failure. Mama urges a shift towards prioritising people over profit in water management.

Salvador Ousmane paints a damning picture of the African military juntas that came to power in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Guinea in recent years. He argues that they have failed to address security concerns and poverty in their countries while reneging on their promises to hold free elections and restore civilian rule. Instead, these juntas have launched sustained attacks on human rights, suppressing political protests, civil society organisations, and trade union activists. Yet, Ousmane sees hope in the resilience of trade union activism, which continues to persist despite these repressive conditions.

Africa's health systems are deeply influenced by the structures of the global political economy. From international financial institutions (IFIs) to private health initiatives, the...

Presenting new research, Dylan Sullivan and Jason Hickel mount a devastating critique of the impact of structural adjustment in Africa in the 1980s and...

Matthew Quest questions why C.L.R. James is not widely recognised as a founder of African Studies. He asks readers to consider why James’ contributions to the deep study of African history and culture are less known compared to his engagement with anti-colonial African party politics and political economy. Foreshadowing his forthcoming, thoroughly researched study, Quest begins to reveal how James challenged the imperial cultural apparatus as a teacher and learner of African Diaspora heritage who inspired continental African scholars.

By Pascal Bianchini In this interview, Mamadou Koné, curator at the Musée historique des forces armées du Sénégal, looks back at the long history of...

Founders of the militant podcast Guerrilla History, Henry Hakamaki and Adnan Husain, introduce their new series on African revolutions and decolonization.  Focusing on African struggles and revolutions, they invite listeners to encounter radical perspectives from the continent and beyond, challenge their assumptions about history, and learn about the struggles of those who dared to resist oppression in Africa. Hakamaki and Husain argue for a nuanced understanding of the revolutionary movements that define Africa's past and continue to shape its future.

Please join us on Thursday 16 January at 1PM GMT / 4PM EAT for a webinar on Imperialism and Africa. The webinar is jointly hosted by ROAPE and the African Radical Political Economy Working Group of the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE). Drawing on papers recently published in ROAPE's 50th anniversary issue, Lyn Ossome, Hannah Cross, Matteo Capasso and Ray Bush will reflect on imperialism in the African context and beyond. The event is free to attend and you can sign up now to secure your spot by following this link.

In light of the mass anti-austerity protests in Kenya and Argentina in 2024, Rea Maci offers a historical analysis of the neo-colonial relationship between the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and these two countries. She exposes the cycle of debt, austerity, poverty, and governmental negligence imposed by this institution of Western imperialism on nations in the Global South. Maci decries IMF policies as a form of unforgiving structural violence inflicted on the most vulnerable populations. She calls for renewed global solidarity to dismantle the institutions that perpetuate colonial power structures and economic dependency.

In what has become an annual offering at the end of the year, the Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE) family once again shares their best reads of the year 2024. The journal’s family – from the Editorial Working Group (EWG); contributing editors; International Advisory Board and contributors – share both fiction and non-fiction book which they found interesting, educating, shocking, moving and inspiring in 2024. Some of the books include information about where to access them.

ROAPE’s Peter Dwyer interviews the South African socialist David Hemson. Hemson was a leading labour militant and trade unionist during the mass working class uprising and strikes in Durban in 1973. In this introduction to the videoed interviews, Peter Dwyer discusses working class politics and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, a history often forgotten or marginalised in popular accounts.

The winner of ROAPE’s Ruth First Prize, awarded annually for the best article published by an African author, is Dr James Musonda. His 2023 article, "He who laughs last laughs the loudest: the 2021 donchi-kubeba (don’t tell) elections in Zambia", is available to read here.

In memory of his father, who passed away earlier in October, Yusuf Serunkuma offers a heartfelt political reflection on his father’s unfulfilled dreams since Uganda’s independence in 1962.  Recounting the story of his father's dismissal from a textile factory in the early 1990s, he illustrates the devastating impact of the neoliberal austerity policies imposed by the World Bank and the IMF on the lives of ordinary Ugandans. These imperialist interventions dismantled the material progress and aspirations of the generation that won independence, and continue to suppress the hopes of both present and future generations.

Writing for ROAPE, Thelma Arko argues that while often presented as a solution to the climate emergency, the growth of carbon offset markets are fueling a new scramble for African land and perpetuating colonial-era exploitation. We must move beyond market-based solutions, Arko urges, to embrace strategies that centre on social equity, ecological integrity, and the rights of local communities.