<p>Sub-Saharan Africa is a study in diversity. Covering an area that spans the entire width of the continent beginning at the Sahara Desert and ending at the southernmost tip of South Africa, the region is home to countless cultures, languages, religions, plants, animals and natural resources. It&rsquo;s no surprise that it captured the imagination of Europe&rsquo;s earliest explorers &mdash; and that it continues to capture the imagination of current world powers eager to exploit it. And yet despite the region&rsquo;s diversity, Sub-Saharan African countries have common challenges &mdash; transnational terrorism, rapid population growth, endemic poverty and corruption &mdash; that prevent them from capitalizing on their economic potential. The coming years will be critical for the region, especially as its political institutions mature in a rapidly globalizing world.</p>

Covering an area that spans the entire width of the continent beginning at the Sahara Desert and ending at the southernmost tip of South Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa is home to countless cultures, languages, religions, plants, animals and natural resources.

Sub-Saharan Africa

South Sudan

Angola

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Cabo Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Cote d'Ivoire

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Djibouti

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Gabon

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Guinea Bissau

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Nigeria

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Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

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South Africa

Sudan

Eswatini

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

The Post-Apartheid Era Ends

The Politics of Pipelines

Old Leaders in a New Africa

Nigeria: Obstacles to Prosperity

Commodities: A Cautionary Tale

Crossing Borders

A Crude Recovery

Globalization

China in Transition

The Suitors of Sub-Saharan Africa

Assessments

Hong Kong SAR, China

Europe

Ukraine

Protesters help an injured demonstrator near burning barricades amid clashes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Oct. 29, 2025. 

Environment, Science & Technology

Military & Security

Politics

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Unrest in Tanzania, an EU Summit in Ukraine

U.S.-China Relations

Snapshots

Yemen

Yemenis stand under a billboard depicting the seizure of an Israeli-linked ship in the sea by Yemen's Houthi-run coast guards during a demonstration staged in solidarity with the people of Gaza and against U.S. President Donald Trump's deal to end the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 3, 2025, in Sanaa, Yemen. 

While the partnership provides tactical benefits, structural limitations on Houthi resources and al Shabaab's financial independence suggest the relationship will remain opportunistic.

The Outlook for Cooperation Between Yemen's Houthis and Somalia's al Shabaab

United States

Japan

South Korea

United Kingdom

Russia

Banners bearing portraits of leaders of the G20 on Nov. 20 in Johannesburg. The South African government has focused the G20 summit's agenda on issues key to African countries.

Economics

The Weekly Rundown: A High-Stakes British Budget, South Africa Hosts the G20

Sudanese Armed Forces soldiers are seen on the now-disabled Shambat Bridge in Khartoum. 

While the likelihood of a humanitarian truce between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary RSF is rising, meaningful progress beyond a tentative permanent ceasefire currently appears unlikely.

Sudan Slips Toward De Facto Partition

The Geopolitics of Trade

Global Trade

Kenya and Tanzania's infrastructure buildup will support East Africa's industrialization but will also depend on a range of other factors, including regional integration, shifts in the international trading system and technological changes.

The Geopolitics of Trade: The Race to Unlock East Africa, Part 2

China

Over the next decade, Kenya and Tanzania will compete for the title of East Africa's leading trade gateway, particularly as global demand for Central Africa's critical minerals grows. 

The Geopolitics of Trade: The Race to Unlock East Africa, Part 1 

Malian trucks carrying fuel are seen waiting to cross the border between Cote d'Ivoire and Mali on Oct. 31, 2025. 

Energy

In the likely case that the junta fails to lift the blockade on Bamako by force, rising internal tensions could ultimately fragment the country's security forces, potentially enabling the al Qaeda affiliate JNIM to assert control over the capital.

Mali's Junta Fights for Its Life as Jihadists Tighten Their Noose on Bamako

A Nigerian soldier stands guard at a checkpoint at the entrance to Monguno, Borno state, Nigeria, on July 4, 2025. 

Trump wants Nigeria to take action against the armed groups targeting Christians in the country, but Abuja will face challenges in sustaining such operations, which could lead to unilateral U.S. military action if there are fresh instances of intercommunal violence.

Will the United States Take Military Action in Nigeria?

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Nepal

Fire rages through the Singha Durbar, the main administrative building for the Nepal government, in Kathmandu on Sept. 9, 2025, after youth protesters set fire to the building. 

Recent events in Nepal, Madagascar and elsewhere show how digitally coordinated, leaderless protests can succeed, but eventually face even larger challenges in sustaining the momentum for change.

Worldwide Gen Z Protesters May Be Disappointed With Their Success

Media

Podcasts

Why are certain countries and regions more susceptible to youth protests?

Essential Geopolitics: Implications of the Growing Gen Z Protests in Africa

President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame signed the "Washington Accords," in which both sides reiterated their commitment to implementing their U.S.-brokered June peace deal, the U.S. State Department said in a press release on Dec. 4.

Congo, Rwanda: Tshisekedi Signs Peace Deal With Kagame, Strategic Partnership With U.S.

Ethiopia's Amhara regional government and Fano militia commander Captain Masresha Setie signed a peace agreement in the presence of officials from the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, Addis Standard reported on Dec. 4.

Ethiopia: Amhara Regional Government Signs Peace Deal With Fano Faction

Mahmoud Dicko, a prominent Malian religious and political figure who played a key role in the 2020 coup, has joined the country's exiled opposition coalition, the Coalition of Forces for the Republic (CFR), Jeune Afrique reported Dec. 5.

Mali: Imam Influential in the 2020 Coup Joins New Opposition Coalition, Calls for Dialogue with Jihadists

Nigerian Minister for Budget and Economic Planning Abubakar Atiku Bagudu said the country's Federal Executive Council had approved the 2026-28 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy, or MTEF, which forecast a 54.5 trillion naira ($37.71 billion) budget for 2026, Reuters reported on Dec. 3.

Nigeria: Cabinet Approves Budget Framework for 2026-28

U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk condemned the Ugandan government's growing repression of opposition parties -- including the National Unity Platform party, or NUP -- in the runup to Uganda's January 2026 general election, according to a Dec. 3 press release from the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Uganda: U.N. Condemns Rising Violence as Election Campaign Heats Up

In an address to community elders in Dar es Salaam, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan criticized foreign critics of her government's crackdown on opposition demonstrators during and after the country's Oct. 29 general election, accusing them of having a colonial mindset, The Chanzo reported on Dec. 2.

Tanzania: Hassan Blames Election Unrest on Foreign Conspiracy, Pointing to Hardening of CCM 

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, seized the town of Babanusa in the central West Kordofan state from the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, following a two-year siege, Sudan War Monitor reported on Dec. 1. 

Sudan: RSF Captures Babanusa Town in West Kordofan Despite Unilateral Truce 

The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, strongly condemned the Nov. 26 coup in Guinea Bissau and demanded the return to constitutional order, including the resumption of the electoral process, RFI reported on Dec.1.

Guinea Bissau: ECOWAS Rejects Coup as Junta Unveils One-Year Transition Plan

Sub-Saharan Africa

SITUATION REPORTS

Congo, Rwanda: Tshisekedi Signs Peace Deal With Kagame, Strategic Partnership With U.S.

Ethiopia: Amhara Regional Government Signs Peace Deal With Fano Faction

Mali: Imam Influential in the 2020 Coup Joins New Opposition Coalition, Calls for Dialogue with Jihadists

Nigeria: Cabinet Approves Budget Framework for 2026-28

Uganda: U.N. Condemns Rising Violence as Election Campaign Heats Up

Tanzania: Hassan Blames Election Unrest on Foreign Conspiracy, Pointing to Hardening of CCM

Sudan: RSF Captures Babanusa Town in West Kordofan Despite Unilateral Truce

Guinea Bissau: ECOWAS Rejects Coup as Junta Unveils One-Year Transition Plan

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