Stories

Artworks generated by artificial intelligence (AI) have become a source of controversy, but Nigerian filmmaker and artist Malik Afegbua is making a case that it can challenge us to create a better real world - and a more stylish one for…

From the depths of despair, Libianca created a song that changed her life. People (Check On Me), a tender cry for help that captured her at a crushing low point, has been streamed more than 150 million times since December. It's been…

In 1969, with a civil war raging, global football's biggest star arrived in Benin City as part of a visit that would change Nigerian football forever. Those involved still remember the occasion vividly. "It was all about Pele. Before…

The singer, songwriter and producer Michael Makembe has compiled an audio library with almost 1,000 recordings of people singing, clapping and playing traditional instruments In a studio in Kigali, Rwanda, Michael Makembe sits down…

Regina Twala was an influential writer and political activist of the 50s and 60s. Yet while European men gained acclaim from her work, her name was almost erased from memory. Over the course of 2018, during a research period in the…

From monogrammed luggage to unerring faith, a sale of Talley’s belongings shows the caring, complicated man behind the unforgettable image If you’re in the market for a size 13 pair of Manolo Blahnik snakeskin evening slippers edged…

Meandering through the bustling traffic in Nigeria's main city, Lagos, Oyewumi Azeez Olawale makes his way to a visa appointment. Just a year ago, the Nigerian medical student was scrambling to find safe passage out of Ukraine after the…

Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says Somalia’s factions can find peace, political Islam need not be violent and democracy can grow. Here’s his exclusive interview with the Observer: The drive from Mogadishu airport to the presidential home at…

Diagnosed with autism and global development delay in his early years, Jason Arday was unable to speak until he was 11 years old and could not read or write until he was 18. Now aged 37, he is about to become the youngest black person ever…

When Cedrick Fogwan had his first encounter with the goliath frog he was impressed by its mighty proportions. Growing to the size of a cat, it's the world's largest living frog. Almost like holding a (human) baby, he says, having…