On Safari

We are not just marking the end of 2019, but also the end of a momentous, if frustrating decade, for building a more humane, caring future for Africans.





Image by Sean Jacobs.

From our modest beginnings — first as Leo Africanus, and more recently as Africa is a Country — we always have had two sets of goals: One,��to shape political, social and economic conversations about Africa. At the heart of what we do is to improve the quality of discourse around African and diaspora politics and culture and provide an outlet for new kinds of writing by and about Africans. Secondly, we to expand our work to reach new and diverse audiences who consume media beyond our niche (and loyal) readership. It also meant translating our work into languages other than English (there’s a large world of opinion and analysis and learning beyond those parts), to extend beyond text-based opinion and analysis; and to and expand the capacity and scope of contributors, especially by supporting media producers on the continent.�� In the last few months, our work has received a much needed financial investment: I won a Fellowship from the Shuttleworth Foundation and Open Society Foundation awarded us a three year grant. We want to thank these organizations for their faith in our work.�� This is also a clear sign of our influence and the value placed on Africa is a Country’s role in the public sphere. No less an authority than Brazil’s leading newspaper (its version of a paper of record), Folha de Sao Paulo, declared “…” And … And …

This has allowed us to, firstly, firm up or institutions. For large parts of the last 10 years I did all three jobs, until Boima was paid a small stipend for the last year or so. The only staff that was paid. Everyone worked as a volunteer. Including myself. Boima Tucker, our managing editor, is now full time. We appointed a new senior editor, Caitlin Chandler, whose job it is to make sure our text based copy has a consistent look and feel. As a result, Caitlin steps off from our Editorial Board. And, even more excitingly, we appointed a staff writer, William Shoki. We are particularly pleased about Will’s appointment. Will will write weekly ,�� Finally, two copy editors, Andrea Meeson and Kangsen Wakai, have …

We are adding Sisonke Msimang to our editorial board. Sisonke has been a contributing editor of Africa is a Country over the last few years. In this time, she has become a sought after public commentator and writer. See��https://www.sisonkemsimang.com/

Secondly, NEW PROJECTS

We created significant new content on the website, articles covering everything from #Metoo in Nigeria, the politics of traditional leadership, land politics in Egypt and Tunisia, the impotence of party politics in Southern Africa, the surveillance state in Africa, the precariousness of urban life in Nairobi, youth politics, problematizing nationalist history, the debate on the repatriation of art and artifacts from Europe, among others, as well as continuing to cover review essays on books, films and music. For a full catalogue of media by date, click on the blog view:��http://africasacountry.com/blog. We also created content on our Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Africasacountry/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/africasacountry/?hl=en) and Twitter pages (https://twitter.com/africasacountry). We plan to revive our Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC29aKwRSbAQKhcNc8DqyETg). The content on these social media platforms includes short videos, short text commentaries and memes.

Thirdly, to celebrate … Dylan AFRE and Sundance, Caitlin journalism award, Oumar book, Marissa book, Dan? Sisonke? Grieve?

More politics …

Knowledge production …

A leftist orientation …

to commission work on topics of particular urgency, such as the effects of climate change in Africa, work/ worker rights, immigration/border politics, reactionary politics (neoliberal authoritarianism, xenophobia, Afro-capitalism), political alternatives to neoliberalism and state led pan-Africanism, reusable pasts and cultural politics.

Tangible outputs will include short documentaries, podcasts, other visual/nontraditional media, and the fellowship program.