This edition of Africa in Fact seeks to dissect the complex challenges and emerging opportunities for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) within an increasingly fragmented global order. For the purposes of this issue, we asked contributors to anchor their analysis in the pivotal moment of South Africa’s 2025 G20 presidency, under the theme of Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability. This milestone provided Africa with an opportunity to position itself as a rule-maker, moving beyond the periphery of global decision-making. The first G20 held on African soil certainly came at a unique moment of opportunity for Africa, suggest contributors Ronak Gopaldas and Menzi Ndhlovu…
Susan Russell
Susan Russell
Susan Russell is the editor of Good Governance Africa’s quarterly journal, Africa in Fact. She has worked in the media industry for more than 30 years as a journalist, editor, publisher, and as a general manager. Career highlights include several years working for Business Day and more than a decade as a reporter, editor and General Manager at the Sunday Times in Johannesburg.
In his opening article in this issue of Africa in Fact, ‘Digging for Justice’, Good Governance Africa’s (GGA) Director of research and programmes, Dr Ross Harvey, asks the question: “Can mining tell a new story?” – and that is exactly what the articles herein attempt to answer. In asking whether mining can tell a new story, the question is not rhetorical. Africa holds about 30% of the world’s mineral wealth, and in a world of scarily rapid technological development and the urgent quest for greener energy options, these minerals have taken on a new strategic importance. Yet, Africa continues to…
Welcome to this issue of Africa in Fact, which offers a timely examination of the complex and evolving challenges to peace and security across the continent. According to international non-profit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), Africa had the highest level of conflict in the world last year. As this collection of articles reveals, the reasons behind many of these conflicts are layered and regionally specific, challenging easy resolution and raising questions about the efficacy of traditional conflict-resolution frameworks established by the African Union and United Nations. A reading of the articles published in this issue does, however, suggest…
The last time an issue of Africa in Fact focused on the continent’s cities was April-June 2018, six years ago, and it’s probably an understatement to suggest that we now live in a very different world. Meanwhile, African cities have continued on the trajectory analysts and policymakers predicted in the early 2000s, a period of unprecedented growth, much of it unplanned, that sees no sign of abating. As a 2010 World Bank report noted: “The massive migration of people from rural into urban areas is the most spectacular demographic upheaval that Africa has experienced in recent decades. While Africa was…
Welcome to the first issue of Africa in Fact for 2025. The year has begun amid mounting global instability: widening inequality, escalating climate threats, and relentless conflicts. For Africa, these challenges underscore the urgent need to remain committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Good Governance Africa believes that inclusive conservation has a pivotal role to play in meeting SDG targets. Rooted in the recognition that local communities must be active participants in the stewardship of natural resources, inclusive conservation offers an opportunity to harmonise ecological protection and human well-being. Ecological sustainability remains the foundation for human prosperity, and humanity…
This special issue of Africa in Fact celebrates the 10th anniversary of our mothership, Good Governance Africa (GGA). Over the past decade, Africa in Fact, as GGA’s flagship publication, has become a consistent contributor to the conversation about governance, policy, and development on the African continent. To mark this milestone, we have departed from our regular format to publish an anthology of selected articles from our archive of 70 issues of AIF. Choosing a necessarily small selection from the archive has been difficult. Our authors have explored a wide range of issues, from governance and public policy to economic development…
We live in a world where new advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are announced on an almost daily basis. These developments are expanding the frontiers of vital sectors like healthcare (diagnostics, surgery, and therapies) and education, as well as media, retail, and financial services. But, as with any tool, AI can be used for good and for bad, and this issue of Africa in Fact sets out to look at how the technology has enabled a flood of misinformation and disinformation, both of which pose a serious threat to good governance and human security on our continent, and proposes strategies…
The first issue of Africa in Fact published last year, in January, dealt in depth with the scourge of Transnational Organised Crime (TOC) in all its toxic forms in Africa, a global phenomenon that poses a direct threat to good governance in every corner of our continent. In this issue, we turn our attention to TOC’s evil twin, corruption, a corrosive force that left unchallenged eats into both heart and soul of the democratic process. Definitions of corruption vary but broadly speaking it describes the abuse of power – and resources – by public servants and elected officials for private…
Bemoaning the inconvenience of a 24-hour power cut that began in a corner of Johannesburg on Christmas Day – following several days without water – the response from a friend recently returned from West Africa was, “well, at least here we have a schedule; in Nigeria there is no notice [of cuts].” Small mercies. In a grossly unequal city like Johannesburg, blighted by crumbling infrastructure and local government unwilling or unable to keep the taps flowing and the lights on, there are far too many citizens for whom even an intermittent supply of either water or electricity remains unattainable. As…
Two decades into the 21st century, it is difficult to accept that on a planet where so many people suffer the health and other consequences of too much of everything, millions of Africans still struggle to access two of the most basic human needs: sufficient food and clean water. The figures are stark. As Raphael Obonyo writes in this issue, Africa is facing unprecedented food insecurity, with more than 134 million people in 29 out of 54 countries facing acute shortages, according to the US Department of State Humanitarian Information Unit. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says that about…
