Africa
The inside track on racing syndicates
Billy Connolly once declared that Scotland had only two seasons: June and winter. Perversely, though, just as the northern swallows…
The fun of the Shergar Cup
Gary Lineker once summed up football as ‘a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at…
Has there ever been a jockey like Oisin Murphy?
We are blessed these days with a rare stream of jockey talent including the likes of William Buick, Ryan Moore,…
The hunt for the next Messi: Godwin, by Joseph O’Neill, reviewed
A video file of an African teenager with legendary ball skills is circulating far from his homeland – wherever that is. How hard can it be to track him down?
My father vs the killer lion
Laikipia, Kenya This month, in broad daylight on our Kenyan farm, a lioness mauled one of my bull calves. Before…
My battle with the dreaded ‘black cotton’
Laikipia, Kenya By the time I set off from the farm before dawn we’d had 22in of rain in the…
Am I having a heart attack?
Nairobi Some of our medical practitioners in Kenya advertise their services on street corners. ‘Bad omens, lost lovers, broken marriage,…
How Africa fell out of love with France
The death of Françafrique
A farewell to alcohol
Laikipia Some are saved by Jesus and they are sober. For others, drunkenness is as natural as love-making, roasted meat…
Progress is coming to our remote corner of Kenya
Laikipia The principal of the local polytechnic was waiting for me in the kitchen. Frequently in the kitchen there is…
When will the West start to deal with Africa on its own terms?
When will the West start to deal with Africa on its own terms?
The sin of neutrality
Yet again, millions of civilians across the Horn of Africa are starving. The world blames the crisis on drought and…
Letters: The hard truth about soft power
Soft ground Sir: We have heard much over the years from the overseas aid lobby about the value of soft…
Why so many African leaders support Putin
Why so many African leaders support Putin
Has Putin outplayed Macron in Africa?
While the world is focused on Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron has withdrawn all French forces from Mali. Last weekend, thousands of…
What’s to become of Africa’s teeming youth?
Demographers are attached to their theories. The field’s most enduring is the ‘demographic transition’, whereby modernisation inexorably lowers a society’s…
My ocean voyage from hell
Kenya Wondering what this year will bring, at dawn this morning I stood in the waves in front of our…
The problem with 'vaccine equity'
‘A stain on our soul’. That was how Gordon Brown, in his latest missive on the subject, described the failure…
The Omicron variant: what we know so far
Will the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, be the black swan that pulls the world back —…
When it comes to Africa, the media look away
Kenya Each time I sit in St Bride’s on Fleet Street during the memorial of another friend, I look around…
Africa’s empty vastness has vanished under the concrete of the present day
Kenya When I was a child in Kenya, the road from the Indian Ocean up to Nairobi was still…
Wrapped up in satire, a serious lesson about the fine line between success and scandal
Have you heard of champing? Neither had I. Turns out it’s camping in a field beside a deserted church. When…
Our farm is a haven for lost souls
Laikipia He was turned out in a crisp bush ranger’s uniform and handled his assault rifle like a man hardened…
The Nobel truth
I suspect that there are no people in the world quite so right-on as the Nobel prize committee members. A…
