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Ethiopia’s growth paradox: can economics still hold the federation together?
Ahead of Ethiopia’s general election on 1 June, much attention has focused on security concerns and political tensions. But beneath the political headlines lies a question with major implications for Ethiopia’s future: can economic growth still serve as a force for cohesion in one of Africa’s most populous and divided states?
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Decolonising research partnerships: the ambitions of the Africa Charter
As Africa Day is marked on the continent and around the world this week, questions of equality, representation and global power imbalances are shaping debates on research and knowledge production. The Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations aims to make international research partnerships more equitable, inclusive and more African-led.
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Ethiopia elections put national fault lines in the spotlight
As Ethiopia heads to elections in June, amid conflicts and internal tension, questions grow over participation and legitimacy. NAI researcher Redie Bereketeab warns the vote risks deepening divisions and straining the country’s fragile federal system.
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Who keeps the peace? Africa-led operations in a changing conflict landscape
In a new three-part video series, researchers Angela Muvumba Sellström and Tefesehet Hailu explore how peace support operations in Africa are evolving in response to shifting conflict dynamics and growing calls for African ownership.
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#TukoKadi from streets to ballot box: Kenya’s Gen Z reshapes political power
Kenya’s Gen Z movement is moving beyond street protests to focus on voter mobilisation. The Tuko Kadi campaign, launched in March 2026, reflects a broader shift in political engagement as young people use digital platforms, social networks and popular culture to counter voter apathy and build electoral power ahead of the 2027 elections.
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Expert insights on displacement in times of polycrisis
The displacement of people in Africa is increasingly shaped by overlapping crises – a polycrisis – where conflict, climate change and economic shocks amplify one another and strain response systems. While humanitarian needs remain urgent, long-term resilience requires stronger institutions, locally led approaches and coordination. Drawing on consultations with 20 experts, this policy note identifies key areas for more effective responses, including how Nordic and international actors can support stronger African leadership and context-sensitive solutions.
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Researcher: Middle East war could upend Djibouti's strategic advantage
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East risks reshaping the balance of power in the Red Sea – a shift that could undermine Djibouti’s long-standing strategic advantage as a hub for global trade and foreign military powers, says NAI Senior Researcher Redie Bereketeab.
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Containing the spillover: How North Africa can navigate the Iran war shock
In recent years we have seen an increased frequency of external shocks with impacts routinely extending far beyond the parties directly involved or affected. The current military conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel – also impacting nearby neighbouring Gulf countries– marks just the latest in a succession of geopolitical shocks to have destabilised the global economy with rapidly rising oil prices. And the speed at which its economic consequences are propagating globally is consistent with a troubling pattern: modern crises transmit faster and further than ever before.
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Iran war reshapes risks and power dynamics in the Horn of Africa
In a new video, NAI Associate Federico Donelli examines how the ongoing war involving Iran could reshape political and security dynamics in the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.Donelli argues that the most significant effects may not stem directly from Iran, but from how the conflict is altering the broader international environment. As Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates shift their attention towards the war, their engagement in the Horn of Africa may decrease, creating space for other actors to expand their influence.
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Split, talks or takeover – three scenarios for the Sudan war
Sudan’s civil war has evolved into a grinding, increasingly regionalised conflict fuelled by security fragmentation, rival war economies and centre–periphery divides. The Gulf monarchies and neighbouring powers shape the battlefield through arms, finance and diplomatic cover, deepening proxy-war dynamics. Three scenarios now dominate: a high-likelihood drift toward a de facto split, a possible Gulf-driven return to talks, or a lower-probability military takeover by one of the two warring parties.
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Mining Indaba 2026 exposes tensions behind Africa’s mining partnerships
The 2026 Mining Indaba, themed “Stronger Together: Progress Through Partnerships,” underscored a structural shift in how mining is framed in Africa. No longer presented merely as an export-oriented extractive activity, mining was positioned as a potential driver of industrialisation, regional integration, and energy transition. Yet discussions revealed significant tensions between rhetoric and reality, particularly regarding geopolitics, energy constraints, mineral beneficiation, and the contested meaning of “criticality.”
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Africa in the new world order: The case of South Africa
South Africa’s role and experiences as a member of the Group of Twenty (G20) international forum testifies to shifts in global governance. As a stress test for multilateralism, it illustrates the tectonic turbulence caused by increased multipolarity. This invites reassessment of the positioning of African states. They have a role to play in the remapping of international relations. Geostrategic and economic implications give African actors influence: they can be agenda-setting too. South Africa is a prominent example.
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Liberation in focus: Rare Guinea-Bissau photos added to NAI Library online archive
A unique collection of creative commons licensed photographs from Guinea-Bissau has been added to the NAI Library’s online archive of African liberation struggles, opening a new window onto a crucial period of decolonisation.
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Geopolitical balancing act for mineral-rich African countries
Mineral-rich African states find themselves at the junction of a global economic transformation, with abundant reserves of the critical minerals essential to powering the green transition, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced military technology. They will seek to avoid being in the crosshairs of rising geopolitical tensions as the scramble for these minerals intensifies, while maximising investments in processing capacities and the wider economy.
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Game of minerals in the sands of Senegal
The extraction of critical minerals in Senegal highlights the complex trade-offs between economic growth, environmental sustainability and social equity. Projects like the French-led Eramet Grande Côte (EGC) have led to environmental degradation, threats to livelihoods and community tensions, exacerbated by weak law enforcement and suppressed activism. This policy note calls for stronger governance, community inclusion and sustainable mining practices.
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State leverage key for mineral value chains in the Copperbelt
Since 2021, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zambia have taken steps towards establishing a regional battery value chain, seeking to move from extraction towards higher-value production such as battery precursors and, ultimately, batteries themselves. Energy, transport and skills are rightly seen as key success factors. But other key variables often receive less attention in policy discussions: direct state participation and strategic oversight of investment decisions in the mining sector.
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Critical minerals and sustainable, socially inclusive mining
NAI research contributes to a better understanding of environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive mining in Africa, including mining, processing and sustainable value chains. The research is grounded in academic studies, fieldwork and close cooperation with African actors.
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Filmed conversation: Will Africa's Gen Z bring lasting political change?
Often describing themselves as #fearless, #partyless and #tribeless, Africa’s Gen Zs are mobilising protests, reclaiming the meaning of democracy, and questioning political power across the continent. Are these mobilisations momentary, or do they signal the beginning of deeper, systemic change? And how do today’s digitally driven movements differ from earlier waves of social and political mobilisation?
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How violence in local politics keeps women out of power
In a new video, researchers from the project Making Politics Safer examine how violence against women in politics increasingly unfolds online and at the local level, with serious consequences for democratic participation.
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Overtaxing the formal sector undermines long-term fiscal gains
A new survey offirms in Ghana shows that the tax burden and levels of compliance are disproportionately higher among formal businesses than informal ones. Formal businesses also consider the tax system to be unfair to a greater extent than informal ones. These inequities reflect broader challenges across African economies, where informality dominates. To encourage investment and job creation,
the government must build more transparent and fair
tax systems that foster trust.
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