Prior
Dispatch
The Cocaine Coast
Marco Vernaschi
Cocaine is shipped to Guinea-Bissau, who ships it to the Mediterranean, where it’s distributed to Europe. Along the way, al Qaeda and Hezbollah get their cut.
Dispatch
Wife of the God
Dana Romanoff
Thousands of Ghanaian women serve in shrines to atone for the past crimes of their family. Some say they’re slaves, other say they’re queens.
Dispatch
The Invisible Country
Tristan McConnell
Africa’s greatest success story is a country you’ve never heard of.
Dispatch
Goodbye, Babylon King
Tyler Stiem
Liberia is grappling with democracy as it struggles to recover from its long civil war.
Dispatch
Homegrown Jihad
Nicholas Schmidle
How did a nice kid from Minnesota become a suicide bomber in Somalia?
Editor’s DeskNorth Africa in the Twenty-First CenturyTed GenowaysThis issue owes its origins to a day—last Easter, in fact—spent watching the cable news networks report on the fatal shooting of three Somali pirates who had kidnapped Richard Phillips, captain of the MV Maersk Alabama. DispatchThe Pirate PortJason FlorioThe Somali port of Berbera lies against the Gulf of Aden, a semi-derelict relic of colonial times. Some fisherman here, no longer able to scratch out a living, have turned to piracy. The Blind Plumber of TetouanEric CalderwoodMustafa al-Farkhani is blind, but this doesn't prevent him from maintaining Morocco's ancient, underground water distribution system. |
FictionIrekefe IslandHelon HabilaBoma was alone when I got home in the evening, and I could tell she had been crying. I had gone straight to the office to write my report for tomorrow’s paper, my legs still wobbly from standing all afternoon on the ferry. From The ArchivesThe Anglo-Egyptian Controversy (Winter 1927)Pierre Crabités“In the United States wets and drys are unable to agree about alcohol. In the Valley of the Nile it is water that keeps England and Egypt from coming to an understanding.” Freedom in Africa: The Next Stage (Summer 1960)Elspeth Huxley“For about a quarter of a century, Africa has been shaking off the rule of the two major colonial powers. The struggle against colonialism has been the live issue—although in fact it has been less of a struggle than a series of deals.” |
