<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

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea Bissau

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Niger

Nigeria

Republic of the Congo

Rwanda

Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Somalia

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

Chile

France

Ukraine

The Ukrainian flag is projected on the facade of Berlaymont, the European Commission headquarters, in Brussels on Nov. 18 to commemorate the Nov. 18, 2024, Russian invasion of Ukraine.

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: A European Council Decision on Ukraine Financing, South Africa Braces for Commission Findings

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (center), flanked by his wife (left) and Djibouti's President Ismail Omar Guelleh (right), attends the official inauguration ceremony of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, on Sept. 9, 2025.

Economics

Worsening tensions over sea access and Eritrea's ties to groups opposed to the Ethiopian government raise the risk of intensifying proxy clashes that could quickly escalate into a larger military confrontation.

Assessing the Risk of an Ethiopia-Eritrea War in 2026

A photo taken on Dec. 8, 2025, shows an armored vehicle at the entrance of a blocked road in Cotonou, Benin, near the headquarters of the state broadcaster Benin TV.

The coup attempt will increase political and security risks ahead of Benin's 2026 elections, while the swift, Nigeria-led ECOWAS intervention suggests Abuja is assuming a more assertive regional role with tacit French backing following Paris's troop drawdown.

Benin's Foiled Coup Signals Strengthening Franco-Nigerian Coordination in West Africa

Hong Kong SAR, China

Europe

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

Environment, Science & Technology

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.

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

Nigeria's ruling All Peoples' Congress party, or APC, formally registered Rivers Governor Siminalayi Fubara as a party member, Daily Post reported on Dec. 12.

Nigeria: Rivers Governor Formally Registers as APC Member After Defecting From Opposition

The government of Cote d'Ivoire is pressing the United States to deploy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets to the country to help counter the fuel blockade imposed on the Malian capital Bamako by al Qaeda affiliate Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), Reuters reported Dec. 11, citing conversations with two Ivorian officials.

Cote D'Ivoire: Government Lobbies for U.S. Air Assets to Counter JNIM Blockade on Bamako

The Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives approved a three-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, or AGOA, Reuters reported on Dec. 11.

U.S., Africa: House of Representatives Committee Approves AGOA Extension

The International Monetary Fund reached a staff-level agreement with Ethiopia on the completion of the fourth review of the country's IMF support program, Reuters reported on Dec. 10.

Ethiopia: IMF Reaches Staff-Level Agreement on Fourth Program Review

Lt. Col. Pascal Tigri fled to neighboring Togo after his Dec. 7 coup attempt in Benin collapsed, Jeune Afrique reported on Dec. 10. 

Benin, Togo: Benin's Failed Coup Leader Flees to Togo

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels entered the city of Uvira, the second-largest city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's South Kivu province, despite calls from the United States and the European Union for the group to immediately halt its offensive, Radio Okapi reported Dec. 10. 

Congo: M23 Rebels Enter Eastern City of Uvira in Major Escalation

Tanzanian authorities deployed police and army troops across major cities, particularly in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, to prevent planned protests on Independence Day, celebrated on Dec. 9, Reuters reported the same day.

Tanzania: Security Forces Deployed To Counter Anticipated Anti-Government Protests After Preemptive Arrests

The regional administration of southern Somalia's semiautonomous state of Jubaland publicly rebranded itself as a "government" rather than a regional state, effectively rejecting its previous status under the national federal system governed by the Federal Government of Somalia, Garowe Online reported on Dec. 8. 

Somalia: Jubaland State Rebrands as a 'Government'

Sub-Saharan Africa

SITUATION REPORTS

Nigeria: Rivers Governor Formally Registers as APC Member After Defecting From Opposition

Cote D'Ivoire: Government Lobbies for U.S. Air Assets to Counter JNIM Blockade on Bamako

U.S., Africa: House of Representatives Committee Approves AGOA Extension

Ethiopia: IMF Reaches Staff-Level Agreement on Fourth Program Review

Benin, Togo: Benin's Failed Coup Leader Flees to Togo

Congo: M23 Rebels Enter Eastern City of Uvira in Major Escalation

Tanzania: Security Forces Deployed To Counter Anticipated Anti-Government Protests After Preemptive Arrests

Somalia: Jubaland State Rebrands as a 'Government'

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