Politics and Society Archives | This is Africa

The 1953 original sin: How a coup in Iran engineered 70 years of global resource wars

Mzalendo Mutemi wa Kiama — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:42:18 +0000

The geopolitical crises of 2026—from the devastating US-Israeli war on Iran to the conflict in Ukraine and Africa’s scramble for critical minerals—are not isolated events. Instead, they are the direct blowback of a single historical pivot point: the 1953 Western-backed overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.

The post The 1953 original sin: How a coup in Iran engineered 70 years of global resource wars appeared first on This is Africa.

Lithium Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A new mineral rush spearheaded by the United States, Europe, and other major powers

Globetrotter — Wed, 17 Jun 2026 09:57:01 +0000

Lithium, the "white gold" driving the green energy transition, has sparked a devastating global mineral rush. While fueling electric vehicles, this surging demand has plunged the biodiverse Democratic Republic of the Congo into a brutal war economy. Driven by neocolonial corporate exploitation and great power rivalries, the current extraction model exacerbates severe environmental destruction and violent conflict rather than reducing fossil fuel dependency.

The post Lithium Mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A new mineral rush spearheaded by the United States, Europe, and other major powers appeared first on This is Africa.

Kenya’s protests against the Ebola Quarantine Facility are as much about the economy as they are about sovereignty

Globetrotter — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 15:47:35 +0000

A proposed U.S.-funded Ebola quarantine facility ignited fiery protests across Kenya, leaving two dead and forcing a High Court transparency order. But this isn’t just a health crisis. The controversy has shattered President Ruto’s "Hustler Nation" compact, channeling deep-seated public fury over skyrocketing fuel prices, state brutality, and a systemic erosion of governance, sovereignty, and trust.

The post Kenya’s protests against the Ebola Quarantine Facility are as much about the economy as they are about sovereignty appeared first on This is Africa.

The architecture of extraction: From colonial famine to the mortgaged Kenyan pay slip

Mzalendo Mutemi wa Kiama — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 10:25:43 +0000

Historical famines under British rule were never accidental; they were engineered via systematic extraction. Today, that colonial machinery thrives in Kenya. Replacing land theft with sovereign debt, the Ruto administration's securitization of the Affordable Housing Levy collateralizes future generations' labor for foreign creditors. This modern exploitation breaks the African philosophy of Utu (human dignity), sparking a reborn, youth-led liberation.

The post The architecture of extraction: From colonial famine to the mortgaged Kenyan pay slip appeared first on This is Africa.

The Thursday Briefing: From “Zhing Zhong” to Technomultipolarity: Geosociotechnopolitics and the future of China–Africa ICT relations

Dr Blessing Vava — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 16:59:04 +0000

As U.S.–China rivalry formalizes into a "technomultipolar" order, Africa is moving past binary debates of Western versus Chinese digital dominance. Shifting from dependency to agency, African states are leveraging Chinese ICT infrastructure to chart their own path. Through a new framework of geosociotechnopolitics, the continent aims to constitutionalize digital rights, unify data governance, and transform from passive consumers into sovereign co-architects of the global digital order.

The post The Thursday Briefing: From “Zhing Zhong” to Technomultipolarity: Geosociotechnopolitics and the future of China–Africa ICT relations appeared first on This is Africa.