Recent civil conflicts in Sudan, including in Darfur, have commonly been explained as clashes between competing ethnic groups. Pamela Paglia argues that this concentration on ethnicity as the primary cause for conflicts in Africa underestimates the complexity of African societies and politics. 

The quest for a pan-African government is a diversion from the real challenges facing the people of continent, argues Ike Nnedu. African nations need better governments, not another layer of incompetent, rent-seeking politicians and bureaucrats.

The second year of NARC’s rule in Kenya again comes to a disappointing end, with little to suggest that the coming three will be any better, writes Michael Mundia Kamau

There are many unresolved problems in Nigeria, but the issue of the upsurge of corruption is troubling. And the damages it has done to the polity are astronomical, explains Victor Dike

The great demands for the opening up of the democratic space in several African countries in the period since the end of the Cold War has reopened the debate on which party system is uniquely suited to the African political landscape: a single or a multi-party system?

I refer to recent and ongoing media reports on a group of individuals that have come together with
the objective of petitioning the British government to pay hefty compensation for injustices
perpetrated against the Mau Mau movement by the then British colonial administration.

Kenya needs is a review in the constitution of thought, not a constitutional review, argues Michael Mundia Kamau. The priority should be how to combat the debilitating ills of corruption, poverty, unemployment, hunger, disease, crime, and drug abuse. If there is to be a public referendum, then it should be on how to combat these ills, and how to create wealth for the majority.

The future of Kenya is in a precarious balance, writes Michael Mundia Kamau. There is little consolation in the anticipated resumption of donor funding. The country's problems go beyond government and are about a people with no direction and no will to change.

Nigeria's short life has been packed with successions of social changes. There has been the shift from regions to states, from farms to cities, from agriculture to industries, and now power shift from the north to the south. These changes have not been for the benefit of the common man, only the rich and powerful have gained, writes Victor Dike

The renewed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea is between peoples who share much in common, including the need for peace to provide conducive conditions for economic and social development, write Adakole Idoko