Tom Gardner
@tomgardner18.bsky.social
Africa correspondent @TheEconomist Author, "The Abiy Project: God, Power and War in the New Ethiopia” Retweet ≠ endorsement / views my own Still on X (for now) @tomgardner18
It’s difficult to preserve heritage in Africa, where conservation funds are scarce and development threatens to bulldoze what remains. At root, though, lies a more fundamental difficulty. Curious as to what it is? Register to continue reading (it’s free)
How to preserve Africa’s architectural gems
Development and restoration must go hand in hand
bit.ly
It was a pleasure to join @economist.com's China podcast, "Drum Tower", last month to discuss China-Africa relations, industrialisation and the fantastic documentary, "Made in Ethiopia". See also my recent reporting Chinese investment in African manufacturing: www.economist.com/middle-east-...
The Economist@economist.com · 2mo agoFor the return of our “Drum Tower” film club, we discuss “Made in Ethiopia”, and take you to a major Chinese-built industrial park in the country that's betting on Ethiopia becoming the next factory of the world
Great essay and reporting on the Horn of Africa's gold rush by @clairelwilmot.bsky.social 👇 www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Claire Wilmot · Gold Rush
Across Tigray, the remains of razed towns are marked with mounds of earth piled over the dead – impressions of war...
lrb.co.uk
"The prime minister says he is uniting Ethiopians. In practice, that has meant centralising power." Our election primer for next week: www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Abiy Ahmed dreams of remaking Ethiopia in his image
The prime minister’s re-election is certain. Ethiopia’s future is less so
economist.com
For this week's @economist.com I visited Ivory Coast to attend Flintlock - a counter-terrorism training bootcamp that America runs for African special forces. It was very impressive - but encapsulates some of the flaws in the West's approach to counter-terrorism: www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Mali shows the growing strength of jihadism in the Sahel
There is little to stop militants from expanding their influence
economist.com
Starting to day China is eliminating tariffs on almost all African imports. In reality this will do little to redress Africa's yawning trade deficit with China. Much more significant is the recent spurt of investment into new factories on the continent: www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Could China help make Africa a factory for the world?
A spurt of Chinese investment suggests the chances are improving
economist.com
"The battle [for Kurmuk, in Ethiopia] illustrates the group’s transformation from an unusually well-armed and well-connected paramilitary unit into a transnational business-cum-military empire." My latest, on "RSF, Inc." With help from @thesentryorg.bsky.social 👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...
How a Sudanese militia built a military and economic empire
Three years into Sudan’s civil war, the Rapid Support Forces has grown into a regional power
economist.com
In @economist.com this week I explore the explosive growth of African Catholicism - a shift so seismic for the faith that it has been compared to the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation - and what it means for the future of the world's biggest church: www.economist.com/internationa...
How Africa is changing Catholicism
The world’s biggest church is becoming less Eurocentric but more unruly
economist.com
This week I sat down with Rostam Azizi, one of east Africa's richest men and the new owner of the Nation Media Group. He gave me his account of what he has in store for the region's spikiest media house 👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...
A shake-up at Africa’s spikiest media group
Rostam Aziz, a Tanzanian industrialist, has bought a controlling stake in Kenya's Nation Media Group, one of Africa's largest media empires facing financial losses.
economist.com
“The story of Kenyan sugar is the story of Kenyan politics—of how elites make money." Attempts at reforming the sector by the government of President Ruto are thus a crucial test case for the economy as a whole. My latest - on competition in Kenya 👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Kenya’s ailing sugar sector is a test case for reform
Kenya's sugar industry exemplifies how political elites extract rents through state controls, as President William Ruto's reforms test broader economic liberalisation.
economist.com
"All the soldiers seen dancing in the video were soon killed in battle. Apart from the commander, all were African." My latest, on the Africans fighting in Ukraine 👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Thousands of Africans are fighting for Russia in Ukraine
Russia recruits thousands of African fighters for its war in Ukraine, often through deceptive agencies promising civilian jobs but forcing military contracts instead.
economist.com
"Cash reserves at the airport in Juba, the capital, are dwindling. Fuel is scarce. Licensed air-traffic controllers have left. The alarming state of South Sudan’s only international airport is a symbol of the country’s wider malaise." My report from South Sudan 👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...
South Sudan’s decrepit regime is unravelling
It is taking the country down with it
economist.com
I this week's issue of @economist.com I wrote about how local politics threatens to undo Nigeria's multimillion dollar Museum of West African Art in Benin City 👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...
How Africa’s hottest new museum unravelled
A dispute over returning Benin bronzes to Nigeria is only part of the story
economist.com
New from me, feat. Prince of Darkness and his “best pal”
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism @tbij.bsky.social · 6mo agoWhen Peter Mandelson was fighting to keep his job as US ambassador, a mysterious account was making favourable edits to his Wikipedia page And when he was fired? The same account went into overdrive...
Tigray’s interim president described the fighting as “something resembling an all-out war”. That outcome appears to have been averted, for now. Yet the risk of further violence remains uncomfortably high. Our piece on the latest war-scare in Ethiopia👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Ethiopia inches ever closer to war
The latest flare-up in Tigray shows the risk of a regional conflagration
economist.com
If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie & $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don't tell me he needed to fire one-third of the Washington Post staff. Democracy dies in oligarchy.
My piece from last week's issue of @economist.com is about how one of the most widespread assumptions about trade in Africa - that African countries barely trade with each other - is, in some important ways, wrong: www.economist.com/middle-east-...
African trade has been vastly underestimated
The continent’s food markets are more dynamic than commonly thought
economist.com
The regime’s paramilitary forces are conducting a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Leah McElrath@leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 7mo agoHmong man detained by ICE today in St. Paul, Minnesota. (Photo via Reuters)
My piece in @economist.com last week on Nigeria's emerging domestic energy champions, with reporting from Lagos 👇
The Economist@economist.com · 7mo agoOil is vital to Nigeria’s economy, accounting for more than 80% of exports. Yet in recent years high costs and a worsening security situation had left Africa’s largest oil exporter struggling. Could that be changing?
Great to see our investigation in the Guardian! Portland declined to comment on our findings. They told the Guardian they didn't have a relationship with the subcontractor we linked them to, claimed to follow guidelines for all "social media platforms". (Wikipedia is not a social media platform)
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 7mo agoProminent PR firm accused of commissioning favourable changes to Wikipedia pages
Happy 25th to @wikipedia.org, one of the great wonders of the digital world! While #Wikipedia's volunteers are good at disrupting influence ops, PR firms still try to manipulate pages for the rich & powerful. My latest, for @tbij.bsky.social 🧵 www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...
London PR firm rewrites Wikipedia for governments and billionaires
Founded by Keir Starmer’s comms chief, Portland helps rich clients ‘protect their reputation’ – with a shady, off-the-books service
thebureauinvestigates.com
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts. Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Today the city appears eerily silent. Seen from the sky, once bustling markets are empty and overgrown with vegetation. The streets are devoid of traffic, except for vehicles known to be used by the RSF. Water points, too, appear deserted: www.economist.com/interactive/...
Seen from above, el-Fasher is a ghost town
Satellite imagery reveals how North Darfur’s capital has been abandoned after its fall
economist.com
So, El Fasher looks like one of the worst single event atrocities to happen this century so far, but the evidence has come in such a trickle it seems to only now be getting verified
At least 60,000 murdered in Sudanese city, which resembles ‘a slaughterhouse’
Satellite evidence shows extent of paramilitary massacre in El Fasher
irishtimes.com
“They packed our children like cows into the bush,” says Chukwuelota Mmadubueze, whose son was 1 of 300 abducted from his school in north-west Nigeria last month. My latest, on Nigeria's kidnapping epidemic (filling in for @oreogunb.bsky.social while she's away) 👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis
Donald Trump’s ire has drawn attention to appalling security failures
economist.com
My piece in this week's issue looks at the rapid rise of Mormonism in Africa, where the small but influential American sect is building temples and impacting politics from Sierra Leone to Ghana to Kenya 👇 www.economist.com/middle-east-...
Mormonism’s surprising boom in Africa
The American sect has come a long way from being “the white people’s church”
economist.com
I guest wrote this week's War Room, our defence newsetter, on the lessons for the Horn of Africa from Europe, 1914 👇 view.e.economist.com?qs=df4e468c9...
