In this new episode of Spotlight on Africa, we explore different perspectives on African history – from Unesco, which has just released the final three volumes of its General History of Africa, and from the Congo through the insights of artist and filmmaker Sammy Baloji.

For this final episode of 2025, we look back at the full sweep of the African continent’s history.

Sixty years after launching its ambitious project to recover, document and narrate Africa’s past from prehistory to the present day, Unesco has announced the completion of the last three volumes of the General History of Africa.

Relaunched in 2018, the project seeks to translate this body of knowledge into educational resources for teaching the continent’s history. Three new volumes - IX, X and XI - have now been published, introducing fresh material and innovative approaches.

Our special guest reflects on the project and on African history more broadly: UNESCO’s assistant director-general for social and human sciences, Lidia Brito, who discusses these three new volumes.

In the second part of this episode, we also welcome the Congolese artist and filmmaker Sammy Baloji, who discusses his new film The Tree of Authenticity, recently screened at Film Africa in London and now available on the website of the Franco-German television channel ARTE.

Rapper and sorcerer-poet, Baloji, works his magic on new album

The documentary begins in Yangambi, in the Congo, in search of the remnants of a former research centre for tropical agriculture, bearing witness to the country’s colonial past at the heart of the continent.

In doing so, it highlights the links between colonisation and the climate crisis, adopting an unusual perspective: that of the “tree of authenticity”, which plays a decisive role in regulating the climate.

Congolese filmmaker Baloji mixes magic with biting social commentary

Episode edited and mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.

In this new episode of Spotlight on Africa, we hear from Sudanese people fleeing the atrocities in El Fasher. We also reflect on a year of South Africa’s presidency of the G20, which held its final major summit of the year this weekend in Johannesburg. And, in the final segment of the episode, we turn to the world of the arts. 

In Sudan, the UN’s humanitarian chief, Tom Fletcher, said last week that atrocities in Darfur – where the rebellious RSF are fiercely battling the regular army and targeting civilians – have been met with indifference and “complete impunity”.

He made the remarks following a visit to the devastated Sudanese region.

Chad has consequently become a refuge for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the conflict in Sudan – and as violence against civilians intensifies in Darfur, even more are crossing the border. The influx is placing severe pressure on already scarce resources in one of Africa’s poorest countries.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Slente, Secretary General of the Danish Refugee Council, travelled to eastern Chad recently and spoke to us while on the ground visiting refugee camps. She said that the escalating humanitarian crisis urgently requires the world’s attention and that she expects more people to flee Sudan in search of safety and basic survival.

As thousands flee, Sudan's war spills over into humanitarian crisis in Chad

Last weekend in South Africa, the final event of the country’s G20 South African presidency - the heads of state summit  - took place in Johannesburg, aiming to secure commitments on debt relief for developing countries and to address global inequalities.

World leaders signed a declaration reflecting a “renewed commitment to multilateral cooperation”, according to South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa.

We have two guests reflecting on this significant year for Africa:

• Désiré Assogbavi, Adviser for Africa at the Open Society Foundations, a lawyer and international development expert in African institutions, policy, and politics, who took part in many of this year’s meetings in South Africa, including the Heads of State Summit in Johannesburg this weekend;

• Ivor Ichikowitz, founder and director of the Ichikowitz Family Foundation, which has produced the comprehensive African Youth Survey G20 Briefing to better understand what young Africans expect from this moment of leadership.

South Africa closes G20 year framed as ‘presidency for all of Africa’

Finally, we’ll hear from my colleague Ollia Horton, who recently met in Paris with the Ghanaian artist Emmanuel Aggrey Tieku, a civil engineer by profession and an artist at heart.

A stitch in time: the Ghanaian artist sewing trash into treasure

He has found an innovative way to raise awareness of the problem of textile waste in his native Ghana.

His  installations are stitched together from hundreds of pieces of used clothing, collected from cities around the world as part of a project that has spanned decades.

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.

In this week’s edition of Spotlight on Africa, we look back at the recent elections in Tanzania. We’ll then head to London and Paris for a look at some outstanding African film festivals. You’ll also hear from South Sudan’s blind football team, who have just won a crucial match. Finally, we have an interview with Angélique Kidjo, introducing her brand-new song Chica de Favela, inspired by Brazil!

Tanzanians were called to the polls on 29 October, but instead of a free and fair election, they were met with severe repression. Demonstrations have been banned, protesters arrested, and members of the opposition detained.

Tanzania’s authorities have also charged more than 200 people with treason — an offence that carries the death penalty.

The incumbent president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, was eventually declared the winner of the election with 98 percent of the vote. However, the opposition – which had been barred from participating – condemned the results as fraudulent.

To explore the deep-rooted causes of this repression, and to consider how the situation could shape the political future not only of Tanzania but of the entire East African region, we are joined by a special guest: Prince Charles Dickson, a Nigerian peace and policy analyst with a PhD from Georgetown University and decades of experience in public policy and development practice.

The cinema festival Film Africa 2025 (14–23 November 2025) opens in London, UK. To mark the event we have Stella Okuzu, interim director of the festival, with us to explain what's happening.

Meanwhile in France, the Festival du Cinéma Franco-Arabe de Noisy-le-Sec is coming to an end just outside Paris (7–13 November). The festival has placed a special focus on Tunisian cinema. Mathilde Rouxel, its cultural director and programmer, tells us more.

Also this week we take a look at South Sudan's blind football team which recently played its first major match in Kampala, Uganda, thanks to the help and support of the charity Light For The World. And they won! 

We have their coach and players on the line to tell us how football changed their life and why it is so important for people with visual impairment.

Finally, "La Chica de Favela" is an initiative from 'Beyond Music', a song featuring a Congolese man, a Latin American, a Swiss citizen, and a Beninese woman, Angélique Kidjo.

"The African continent is predominant on this song", Angélique told Spotlight on Africa, "and it tells a story through this song."

It tells the story of a young girl in a favela "who doesn't want to be defined by her gender". She is free and independent. "In a patriarchal world that doesn't necessarily give women much space," Angélique told us. "And that's what made the subject interesting to me."

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.

Ivorians voted on Saturday to choose their next president, in what is being seen as the most important election in West Africa. Côte d’Ivoire remains the region’s most stable and economically prosperous nation, and the last close ally of its former colonial power, France. Yet despite recent economic growth, the vast majority of people continue to struggle. In this episode, we speak to Ivorians about their hopes for the future.

In Spotlight on Africa this week, you’ll hear from the people RFI met and interviewed in Abidjan - the main economic hub of Côte d’Ivoire and its administrative capital  - located in the south of the country on the Atlantic coast.

Although Yamoussoukro is the official capital, Abidjan remains home to most embassies, the National Assembly, and one of the presidential palaces. 

Côte d'Ivoire's recent economic growth depends heavily on its cocoa and coffee producers as well as on the mining sector. Abidjan is also recognised as a cultural hub for the whole of West Africa.

In this episode, you’ll hear from campaign supporters - particularly young people and women - about their expectations for the post-election period and its outcome.

We’ll then head to the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny to hear from students and their lecturer, Wise Bogny.

In Cocody, we also take you to the shop of Axel Emmanuel Gbaou, Le Chocolatier Ivoirien, the first Ivorian chocolate maker.

We then head to the Maison de l'Art, in Grand Bassam, which opened in late September and which now hosts the first museum of African contemporary art in Côte d'Ivoire.

Finally, in the last part of this episode, you'll hear from the AKAA, (Also Known As Africa) the African contemporary art fair in Paris, which closed on Sunday, with our arts journalist Ollia Horton. 

Paris fair celebrates modern African artists reinventing traditional crafts

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.

Côte d'Ivoire's presidential election campaign is taking shape, with four challengers hoping to defeat longtime incumbent Alassane Ouattara in the 25 October vote, but no candidates from the country's two main opposition parties. For Spotlight on Africa, analyst Paul Melly underlines that the run-up has so far been peaceful, but that voters could be disengaging from politics, in response to the lack of alternatives and forward-looking change.

The presidential campaign officially began on Friday 10 October.

President Alassane Ouattara has led the country since April 2011, and is seeking a fourth term. 

He managed to establish himself as a heavyweight in Ivorian politics over the past thirty years, and is credited with keeping Côte d'Ivoire prosperous and economically dynamic. But Ouattara's Côte d'Ivoire is also seen as "France's last bastion".

Now 83, he can run after changing the constitution in 2016 to remove presidential term limits, which has angered most of the opposition in Côte d'Ivoire.

Four candidates are standing against the incumbent president, the only ones having been ruled eligible by the country's constitutional court: former ministers Jean-Louis Billon, Ahoua Don Mello and Henriette Lagou, and Simone Gbagbo, ex-wife of president Laurent Gbagbo and therefore a former first lady.

But neither of the main opposition parties - PDCI and PPA-CI - have been able to secure a candidate, as the court disqualified many, including former president Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, a businessman and former minister of development.

Why Côte d’Ivoire’s election could be more complex than it seems

The election campaign will end on 23 October, two days before voting begins.

Provisional results will be published at the national level by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) between Sunday 26 October and Thursday 30 October 2025.

To be elected in the first round, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority of the votes cast. If none does, a second round of the presidential election could take place on Saturday 29 November.

Our guest this week is Paul Melly, researcher on West Africa and consulting fellow with the Chatham House think tank in London, UK.

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.

With more than two million Algerians and people of Algerian heritage living in France – the country’s former colonial power in North Africa – a smaller community of roughly 35,000 has made its home in the United Kingdom. In 2022, Rachida Lamri founded the DZ Fest, a cultural festival designed to celebrate and showcase Algerian traditions in English. RFI was present at this year's event.

DZ Fest is the only festival focused on Algerian culture outside the country. It has been run every year since 2022 in the United Kingdom.

This year the festival took place in the latter half of September with events in both London and Nottingham.

Spotlight on Africa travelled to London to talk to the organisers and guests of DZ Fest, and to some Algerians living in the UK

Founder and creative director Rachida Lamri - an artist, musician and member of the London-based Arabo-Andalusian orchestra - curated a programme showcasing Algerian music, traditions, and cuisine.

We also met:

• The Algerian chef Djamel Ait Idir, who runs couscous workshop in his restaurant, Khamsa, in Brixton, South London
• Fayssal Bensalah, an Algerian-born novelist and a lecturer teaching creative writing in Cardiff, Wales
• Comedian Mehdi Walker, also born in Algeria, who lives in France but performs his comedy sketches in English
• Artist and filmmaker Leila Gamaz, who lives between Bristol and Morocco. 

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Nicolas Doreau.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.

In this episode of Spotlight in Africa, we discuss the forthcoming presidential election in Cameroon, before turning our attention to Nigeria. We also explore ways to strengthen relations between South Africa and the United States, with a particular focus on improving conditions for seasonal migrant workers.

Cameroonians are set to go to the polls for the presidential election on 12 October, but the opposition remains fragmented, despite efforts to unite behind a single candidate to challenge President Paul Biya, who, at 92, is seeking an eighth term.

In the first week of September, the United Nations raised concerns over whether rising tensions in the country could jeopardise the possibility of free and fair elections.

According to Enrica Picco, Central Africa director for the International Crisis Group (ICG), this lack of unity, combined with the perception of an absent or weak opposition, could lead to low voter turnout. The ICG also warns that ongoing instability in the country may further depress participation.

On Saturday, Issa Tchiroma Bakary was named the opposition’s “consensus candidate” for the October vote. But will this be enough to galvanise voters?

The 10 other opposition candidates, who remain officially in the race, have yet to comment on Tchiroma Bakary’s appointment.

We have Enrica Picco on the line to discuss the potential flashpoints and the ICG’s recommendations ahead of the election.

Fears over divided opposition and instability, as Cameroon heads to the polls

In Nigeria, major oil companies are facing allegations that they have abandoned decades of pollution in the Niger Delta without addressing the environmental damage.

A UN-appointed panel of experts has written to Shell, Eni, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies, warning that the firms cannot simply sell off their assets to evade their responsibilities to local communities.

We'll hear the reaction of community member Celestine AkpoBari, an Ogoni-born activist who coordinates the Ogoni Solidarity Forum and leads the Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI).

Oil giants accused of dodging Niger Delta clean-up as UN panel intervenes

Finally, in South Africa, since Donald Trump assumed office in the United States, companies, business leaders and diplomats have been working behind the scenes to strengthen relations, particularly for the hundreds of South African seasonal farmers who spend a few months each year in the US to supplement their income.

One prominent advocate for these farmers is Neil Diamond, president of the South African Chamber of Commerce in the US, based in Atlanta.

We discuss the importance of these work opportunities in the US for South Africans, as well as the final three months of South Africa’s G20 presidency — a historic first for an African nation.

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.

Spotlight on Africa returns after the summer break. In this episode, we travel first to Rwanda and then on to Malawi. We begin by examining how the United States, along with some European powers, is looking to third countries in Africa to take in illegal migrants, with particular focus on Rwanda. We then move to Malawi to explore how one village is now running entirely on solar energy.

Rwanda received seven people from the United States in the last week of August, as part of a deportation deal with the Trump administration, which has sought to send foreigners to third countries including Eswatini, South Sudan, Uganda and Rwanda.

Authorities in Kigali announced at the beginning of August that they had reached an agreement with the United States to take in up to 250 migrants.

The move has raised fresh concerns over human rights, legality, and the growing trend of wealthier nations paying others to accept deportees.

To understand the implications for migrants, for Africa, and for human rights, we spoke to Phil Clark, Professor of International Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London. A specialist on Rwanda, the Great Lakes region, and conflict and post-conflict issues in Africa, he has conducted field research in Rwanda and beyond every year for the past 20 years

Rwanda agrees to take migrants from US in deal that includes cash grant

Meanwhile, in southern Africa, a community of nearly 9,000 households in rural Malawi became the country’s first village to achieve universal access to solar power at the end of August.

Kasakula town, where off-grid families have until now relied on lamps and candles, has reached this milestone, according to Brave Mhonie, general manager of the charity SolarAid Malawi and president of the Renewable Energy Industries Association of Malawi.

SolarAid is a small international charity, and chose the remote and low-income village of Kasakula to pilot its model called Energy-as-a-Service. 

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.

This season of Spotlight on Africa concludes ahead of the summer break with a focus on Frantz Fanon in the year of his centenary. It also highlights a groundbreaking new report by UNESCO on the state of the publishing industry across the continent.

This week, we begin in Harlem, New York City, USA, with Rico Speight, a film and theatre director.

His film, Rediscovering Fanon, was screened in Paris on 5 July in partnership with the Frantz-Fanon Foundation, as this year marks the centenary of one of the inspirational figures of the anti-colonial movement. The film will also be screened acorss France and in Martinque later in the year.

According to Speight, Frantz Omar Fanon (1925–1961), whose ideas have stirred the hearts of progressives since the 1950s, continues to inspire even decades after his death.

With Speight's latest documentary, the filmmaker said he "aims to reveal the man behind the legend and analyse the relevance of his prolific theories in a globalised, post-racial millennium."

Biopic explores the life and legacy of Frantz Fanon, a century after his birth

We also head to Unesco in Paris, where Spotlight on Africa spoke to Caroline Munier about the UN agency's new report on the state of the publishing industry on the African continent. 

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Erwan Rome.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.

In this episode, Spotlight on Africa reviews the origins of protests in Kenya against police brutality. And you'll also hear from the co-founders of the Africa Basel contemporary art fair, in Switzerland, the newest event of its kind. 

This week, we go to East Africa where Kenyans are protesting to denounce police brutality, exactly a year after a wave of protests organised against an unjust tax, that led to police violence.

This year's protests were triggered by the killing by the police of a teacher and blogger in his cell. Albert Ojwang, 31, had been arrested for criticising a policeman online.

On Monday (23 June), Kenyan prosecutors said they were charging six people, including three police officers, with murder over his death.

To better understand the issues surrounding this incident, Spotlight on Africa podcast spoke to Douglas Lucas Kivoi, Principal Policy Analyst, Governance Department, Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA).

We also head to Switzerland for a new artistic event known as Africa Basel.

This first edition of a contemporary African art fair was created to coincide with the largest fair in the world, Art Basel, in Switzerland. It was held from 17 to 22 June, with over 30 galleries and dozens of artists.

Spotlight on Africa spoke with the two co-founders of the event, as they opened the first days of the event in Basel: Benjamin Füglister, artist and cultural entrepreneur born in Switzerland, and now the director of the Africa Basel and Sarah Hachi-Duchêne, curator at unx.art.

Episode mixed by Melissa Chemam and Cecile Pompeani.

Spotlight on Africa is produced by Radio France Internationale's English language service.