The problem of organizing weak states; and why Africa needs a new model of Pan-Africanism

How reflexive catastrophizing inhibits policy imagination in African states

African countries must urgently start the process of ending aid dependency

What will become of international development after the end of the aid paradigm?

On American aid cuts/disruptions

What explains the “ambition gap” among Africa’s (ruling) elites?

International recognition for Somaliland should be conditioned on concrete economic and political reforms

Africa in 2025

2024: Year in Review

What sorts of reforms under Trump could reshape Africa-U.S. relations for the better?

The World Bank and other IFIs should get serious about climate adaptation in low-income countries

China as a Model Development Partner

Harris or Trump? What the outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election portends for America's Africa policy

Can better urbanization policies unlock faster economic growth and development in Nigeria?

On Nigeria’s bold but rudderless attempts at structural economic reforms: President Bola Tinubu’s lack of a focused agenda is blunting the impact of some of his bold reforms while also jeopardizing private sector growth

The geopolitics of the war in Sudan: How external actors are prolonging the war and complicating potential avenues to a peaceful settlement

What Kenyan protests tell us about economic management and the politics of reforms in African states: There is an urgent need to modernize economic management in African states. Unfortunately, so far there is little evidence that African governments are interested in structural economic change.

Kenyan Protests, Part Three: Thoughts on potential pathways forward: The case for why Ruto should stop scheming and instead focus on a narrow set of achievable goals to restore the fiscal pact, improve service delivery, and boost growth

Kenyan Protests, Part Two: How not to clean up a fiscal mess: Generalized erosion of fiscal pact and trust in government raise the specter of widespread tax evasion, proliferation of informality, and unmanageable deficits

Kenyan Protests, Part One: The political education of President William Ruto: Lessons on the difficulties of governing during turbulent economic times after campaigning as an anti-establishment populist.

Why exactly are major international firms leaving the Nigerian market?: Nigeria's myriad problems have decades-old origins, but the Tinubu administration bears responsibility for poor rollout of reforms

The potent powerlessness of Leftist politics in African states: A tale of people who want structural change but eschew the messy realities of economics and organized politics

Two unsolicited ideas on how to invest some of Melinda French Gates’ $12.5 billion: The case for bold risk taking to boost women-owned businesses and intensify learning on how to improve subnational service provision that targets women

Making lasting peace in the Sahel: There is certainly no silver bullet, but long-term thinking and fidelity to reality-based policies could put Sahelian states on the path to stability.

On the ongoing cocoa boom and what it tells us about the current state (and future) of African agriculture : Long relegated to the back burner, African agriculture — a sector that is critical for poverty reduction — is experiencing steady productivity decline and loss of labor. This must be reversed.