Heritage & History
Freedom Day, 27 April 1994: The Day South Africa Voted Together
On 27 April 1994, millions of South Africans queued for hours to vote in the country's first democratic election. Today, the date is Freedom Day.
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Languages & People
"How Far?": Nigerian Pidgin, the Language That Unites a Nation
In a country of more than 500 languages, Nigerian Pidgin is the one that almost everyone shares. Once dismissed as "broken English," it is now a language of music, news and pride.
Arts & Craft
The Heads of Ife: Masterpieces That Astonished the World
Lifelike copper-alloy and terracotta heads made in the Yoruba city of Ile-Ife some 600–800 years ago are among the finest sculptures ever made in Africa. Here is their story.
Food & Ceremony
Palm Wine: West Africa's Sweet, Fizzy Drink From the Trees
Tapped fresh from palm trees each morning, palm wine starts sweet and turns sour and strong by evening. It is poured for ancestors, served at weddings, and inspired a famous novel.
Music & Dance
Wassoulou Music and Oumou Sangaré, the "Songbird" Who Sang for Women
From the forests of southern Mali comes Wassoulou music, built on hunters' harps. Its greatest star, Oumou Sangaré, used it to challenge forced marriage and polygamy.
Ideas & Philosophy
Sacred Groves: How African Beliefs Protected Forests for Centuries
Across Africa, forests protected as homes of spirits and ancestors have survived while the land around them was cleared. On Earth Day, a look at an ancient idea of conservation.
Festivals & Celebrations
Sham el-Nessim: Egypt's Spring Festival of "Smelling the Breeze"
Today, Egyptians of every faith head to parks and riverbanks for picnics of salted fish, green onions and coloured eggs. Sham el-Nessim may be one of the world's oldest festivals.
Languages & People
The Fulani: West Africa's Great Herders and the Code of Pulaaku
Spread across some 20 countries from Senegal to Sudan, the Fulani are among Africa's most widespread peoples. Here is their history, language and moral code.
Festivals & Celebrations
Fasika: Ethiopian Easter After 55 Days of Fasting
Tonight, Ethiopian Orthodox Christians end a 55-day fast with a midnight service and a feast of doro wat. This year, Ethiopian and Western Easter fall on the same day.
Arts & Craft
Zimbabwe's Stone Sculpture: How Serpentine Became a World Art
Smooth, polished stone figures of spirits, families and animals: Zimbabwe's modern stone sculpture movement began in the late 1950s and won acclaim in Paris and New York.
Heritage & History
Carthage: The African City That Challenged Rome
Founded by Phoenician settlers on the coast of Tunisia, Carthage became a Mediterranean superpower, fought three wars with Rome and produced Hannibal. Here is its story.
Food & Ceremony
Rooibos: The "Red Bush" Tea That Grows in Only One Corner of the World
Rooibos grows wild only in a small region of South Africa's Western Cape. The Khoi and San knew it first; today it is drunk in dozens of countries.