Not least due to the underwhelming performance and controversial behavior of President Jacob Zuma, the ANC has experienced a historic defeat in last week's local elections. Together with Nick Branson and Nompumelelo Runji, we discuss the details of the outcome, analyse winners, losers and surprises and ask how the venerable could come back from this setback, if indeed it can.

The Panama Papers have laid bare the extend of illicit financial flows and the impact of tax havens on the world. But how are these revelations connected to the African continent? Host Desné Masie discusses with journalist Nicholas Shaxson, author of "Treasure Islands".

Only hours after President dos Santos declared his intention to step down in 2018, we sat down with Angolan journalist/activist Rafael Marques de Morais and journalist/scholar Justin Pearce to discuss Angola's current situation.

Mansour Sy and Lorenzo Fioramonti join us to share quite different, but equally interesting visions on how to approach the issue of radically falling prices for commodities that has thrown many African economies into disarray. Find the shownotes on www.africanarguments.org/podcast

We are joined by Martin Plaut and Gushwell Brooks to discuss the deplorable state of South African politics.   Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher Follow us and our guests: Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Martin Plaut (guest): Twitter Gushwell Brooks (guest): Twitter African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Notes William Kentridge "Notes Towards a Model Opera" exhibition at the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg Justice Malala - We have now begun our descent: How to Stop South Africa losing its way "West Africa: Word, Symbol, Song" exhibition at the British Library in London JT Rappé Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at [email protected]. The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

Ugandan Journalist Rosebell Kagumire and Crisis Group analyst Magnus Taylor join us to discuss Uganda's upcoming elections. PLAYER Download: MP3 Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher Follow us and our guests: Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Rosebell Kagumire (guest): Twitter Magnus Taylor (guest): Twitter African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Notes IOL -  Sparrow and Hart: ‘Racists should leave SA’ BBC 4 - The Boat Children Reports by Raymond Mujuni on YouTube International Crisis Group -Burkina Faso: Transition, Act II Mail & Guardian Africa Articles by Christine Mungai Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at [email protected]. The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

We are joined by Richard Dowden, Director of the Royal African Society and and Yinka Adegoke, the editor of Quartz Africa, to discuss the big trends of Africa's 2015.   Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher Follow us and our guests: Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Yinka Adegoke (guest): Twitter Richard Dowden (guest): Twitter African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Notes Recommendations Defining the Narrative - group exhibition at the Gallery Momo in Cape Town Boris Lojkine's "Hope" at the IMDB Moussa Touré's "La Prigoue" at the IMDB and Amazon "Fortunes of Africa: A 5,000 Year History of Wealth, Greed and Endeavour" by Martin Meredith "Im Schatten des Baobab: Tic Toc Tausendbein und andere Geschichten aus Burkina Faso" by Anne Wenkel Main discussion "Winner Take All: China's Race For Resources and What It Means For Us" by Dambisa Moyo The strange case of 77 blue-collar Chinese migrants that Kenya is calling “cyber-hackers” Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at [email protected]. The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

West Africa experts Cynthia Ohayon and Kamissa Camara join us to talk about the outcome of this year's elections in West Africa and their national and regional implications. Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher Follow us and our guests: Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Cynthia Ohayon (guest): Twitter Kamissa Camara (guest): Twitter African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Notes Recommendations We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Every 16-year-old in Sweden will get a copy of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s feminist manifesto The original Ted-Talk South African Institute of International Affairs The International Crisis Group's West Africa publications National Endowment for Democracy Africa page Agenda Black Georgians - The Shock of the Familiar Sekouba Konaté pleads guilty to smuggling $64,000 into the US Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at [email protected]. The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

We are joined by Deborah Brautigam, author of "Will Africa feed China" and "The Dragon's Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa" to talk about Chinese-African relations and misconceptions of China's role on the African continent. Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher Follow us and our guests: Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Deborah Brautigam (guest): Twitter | Blog African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Notes Recommendations Desne's review of "The Book of Memory" by Petinah Gappah The Book of Memory on Amazon The Royal African Society's "Whats_on Africa" Graeme Wood: What ISIS really wants Kongo: Power and Majesty at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Chris Blattman's blog post on the exhebition China in Africa 2005 BBC article on dynamite factory explosion in Zambia Eckart Woertz: "Oil for Food: The Global Food Crisis and the Middle East" Agenda Africities 2015 Summit 7th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Deborah's talk at Wits University: "Feeding Frenzy – Fictions & Facts about China, Africa & the Media" on November 17 Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at [email protected]. The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.

We talk with Morten Jerven, author of "Poor Numbers" and "Africa: Why Economists get it Wrong" about the quality of economic statistics in Africa and why it matters. Subscribe: RSS | iTunes | Soundcloud | Stitcher Follow us and our guests: Desné Masie (co-host): Twitter Peter Dörrie (co-host/producer): Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Morten Jerven (guest): Twitter | Homepage African Arguments: Twitter | Facebook | Homepage Notes Recommendations: Infographics on the MTN fine Coverage of the MTN fine by IOL.co.za New Frontiers in African Economic History Workshop African Economic History Network Free Textbook on the History of African Development Beasts of no Nation on Netflix Economic Statistics in Africa "Rwanda accused of manipulating poverty statistics" by F24 Filip Reyntjens' article on the issue on African Arguments "Africa's middle class is dramatically smaller than we think" by Quartz Transcript of Thomas Picketty's Mandela Annual Lecture 2015 Ease of Doing Business Rankings Agenda African Studies Association Annual Meeting United Nations Security Council Resolution on Burundi Chatham House Event: The Pace of Change in Ethiopia: Present Day and Prospects Ahead Thanks for listening! We are grateful to African Arguments and the Royal African Society for supporting the podcast. If you would like to support us, have a suggestion for a topic we should cover or a guest we should invite, please get in touch! There are links to the social media profiles of our hosts above, or drop us a line at [email protected]. The music on this podcast was kindly provided by DJ Maramza.