Poverty reduction. Rapid population growth is a concern for sub-Saharan countries battling extreme poverty. However, with the right focus on education, healthcare and economic transformation states such as Uganda could capitalise on the high fertility rates of the last...

Human rights. There is democratic progress in many African countries, but we also see increasing threats against journalists, researchers and civil society. A panel at the Swedish Forum for Human Rights discussed the worrying signs of shrinking democratic space in...

Security. In its efforts to reach grass roots for political mobilisation after independence, the government of Tanzania organised communities in smaller units. According to Richard Sambaiga, guest researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, this form of social...

Conflict. “When the government says there is a national security threat, the discussion is over”, says researcher Akinbode Fasakin, arguing that the Nigerian government uses Boko Haram and other security threats to reinforce its power over people.

Medical anthropology. Malaria was eradicated several decades ago on the islands of Mauritius and Réunion in the Indian Ocean. When the tropical disease chikungunya broke out, people and authorities were unprepared. The disease was labelled as "something African" that came...