Journal
Writing between the announcement and the decision.
Essays, dispatches and notebook entries — on geopolitics, institutional risk, Africa–China relations and the discipline of writing close to the subject.
- Geopolitics·2 May 2026
Reading power where it is actually exercised
Political risk analysis keeps failing in African markets for a simple reason: it measures the announcement rather than the decision.
6 min read
- Africa–China·27 March 2026
Two political grammars
Africa–China partnerships fail less often over money than over an unexamined difference in how each side reads an agreement.
8 min read
- On Writing·11 February 2026
On writing close to the subject
Notes on proximity, loyalty and the problem of writing about people who were kind to you.
5 min read
- Notebook·15 January 2026
Institutions that outlive their founders
Governance is not a set of documents. It is the question of what happens on the day the person everyone deferred to is no longer in the room.
6 min read
The Dispatch
Occasional letters on power, memory and the record.
New essays, publication news and speaking dates. Sent rarely, never shared.