Ideas & Philosophy
Oware: Africa's Game of Seeds, Strategy and Mathematics
Two rows of pits, 48 seeds and a lot of counting. Oware, Ghana's favourite board game, belongs to a family of "sowing games" played across Africa.
Stories — page 19
Food & Ceremony
Injera: The Bread That Is Also the Plate
Spongy, sour and full of tiny holes, Ethiopia's injera is made from teff, one of the world's smallest grains. Here is how it is made and how to eat it properly.
Heritage & History
The Benin Bronzes: Royal Art, a Brutal Raid and the Long Road Home
The Benin Bronzes recorded the history of a West African kingdom in metal. In 1897, British troops looted thousands of them. Here is their story.
Arts & Craft
Ndebele House Painting: When Women Turned Walls Into Statements
The bold geometric murals of South Africa's Ndebele women began on homestead walls and ended up on a BMW. Here is the story, and the woman who carried it worldwide.
Music & Dance
Highlife: The Ghanaian Sound That Danced Into Independence
Born in Ghana's dance halls and palm-wine bars, highlife became the soundtrack of West African independence. Here is how it began and who made it famous.
Heritage & History
Lalibela: Ethiopia's Churches Carved Down Into the Rock
Around 800 years ago, Ethiopians carved eleven churches downward out of solid volcanic rock at Lalibela. They are still used for worship today.
Arts & Craft
The Carved Doors of the Swahili Coast
In Zanzibar and Lamu, a house's front door was its proudest possession. Here is how to read the carved doors of East Africa's Swahili coast.
Ideas & Philosophy
Adinkra Symbols: Ghana's Visual Language of Wisdom
Gye Nyame, Sankofa, Dwennimmen — Ghana's adinkra symbols pack whole proverbs into simple shapes. Here is where they come from and what they mean.
Festivals & Celebrations
Homowo: The Ga Festival That Laughs at Hunger
Every year, the Ga people of Accra "hoot at hunger" with a month of silence, a feast of kpokpoi and joyful celebration. Here is the story behind Homowo.
Festivals & Celebrations
Yennayer: How North Africa's Amazigh People Celebrate the New Year
Every January, Amazigh communities from Morocco to Egypt's Siwa Oasis welcome a new year counted from 950 BCE. Here is the story, the food and the meaning of Yennayer.
Music & Dance
The Kora and the Griots: West Africa's Living Libraries
With 21 strings and a body made from a giant calabash, the kora carries centuries of West African history, sung by hereditary musicians called jeli or griots.
Arts & Craft
Bògòlanfini: The Story Behind Mali's Mud Cloth
Mali's mud cloth is painted with fermented river mud and leaves. Long before it reached fashion runways, it protected hunters and new mothers.