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Activists and researchers from across Africa speak about the impact of Covid-19 on their countries. Writing from Kenya, South Africa, Burkina Faso and Nigeria and Zimbabwe, Femi Aborisade, Heike Becker, Didier Kiendrebeogo, Gacheke Gachihi, Lena Anyuolo and Tafadzwa Choto look at how the crisis is taking shape – how governments are using the virus as a cover for wider repression, and the broader context of capitalism, climate change and popular struggles for radical change.

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.

ROAPE's Ray Bush introduces Volume 51 Issue 181 of the journal, a special 50th anniversary issue on imperialism and Africa. The role of imperialism in undermining African sovereignty and independence has been a recurrent theme in ROAPE since the journal's first issue editorial back in 1974. Here, Bush interrogates what imperialism is, how it may have changed over time, and with what consequences.

Reflecting on the mass protests that recently shook Kenyan society from top to bottom, Joel Mukisa argues that we must go much further than a choiceless democracy to find answers. A systematic questioning of the underlining political and economic structures underpinning the choices on offer must be undertaken.  

This blogpost examines how climate finance mechanisms and policies, while ostensibly designed to support sustainable development in Africa, have reinforced neocolonial economic structures and exacerbated financial vulnerabilities across the continent. To confront the challenges, Thelma Arko argues that African countries must strengthen regional integration and South-South cooperation to reduce dependency on external powers.

After ten years working on the Review of African Political Economy’s website, Leo Zeilig reflects on the struggles, history and analysis that has been published on the platform. The website has proclaimed loudly for a radical agenda on the continent and has been resolute in supporting struggles of communities and working people fighting for justice and liberation.  As he steps away, Leo shares his reflections on ROAPE and the website.

Horman Chitonge and ROAPE's Peter Lawrence introduce Volume 51 Issue 180 of the journal, a special issue honouring the life and work of leading African scholar-activist and one of our contributing editors, Lungisile Ntsebeza. Ntsebeza’s work has prominently featured in debates on the land question, rural local government and social movements in South Africa and Africa more broadly. Yet Ntsebeza’s work has not only been academic. He has used his research on land and rural governance to inform and support the daily struggles of communities in different parts of South Africa and the continent.

In the introduction to the special blog-issue based on Africa and China, editors Ying Chen and Corinne Mullin introduce scholars and practitioners from Africa, Europe, China, and the US to present counter-hegemonic perspectives on the relationship between China and the African continent. The special issue challenges the stereotypical, orientalist and racist accounts of China and its relationship with peoples and states comprising the African continent.

This article by Farwa Sial examines the West's new development strategy towards Africa, which mirrors the "white elephants" of the 1970s with its focus on expensive and unproductive infrastructure projects, as an effort to counter the Belt and Road Initiative and the continent’s growing ties with China.

ROAPE’s Njuki Githethwa writes that the current regime in Kenya has been struck a devastating blow by the uprising of youth. The state has been weakened and is now vulnerable. This regime can fall. A revolution in Kenya is in the air. But the success of this revolution, Githethwa argues, depends on how well placed the social forces, revolutionary movements and organisations are to harness, sustain and extend this uprising.