Why this site?

Afrique XXI is a free online newspaper that covers the entire African continent and is independent of economic and political powers. It claims a filiation with Orient XXI.

Africa has always attracted interest in France (and more generally in the French-speaking world), whatever the period. There are several reasons for this: historical links forged during the violence of colonisation and perpetuated after independence, notably through close economic relations, political influence and numerous military operations; a geographical proximity made even more tangible with the acceleration of globalisation and migration; major economic interests, which were exclusive for a long time; but also cultural, social and societal bridges that are constantly evolving, due in particular to the presence of numerous African diasporas in France and French diasporas in Africa.

Yet this continent suffers from a media treatment that is sometimes partial, tinged with paternalism, catastrophism or, on the contrary, blissful optimism. Often discussed in terms of wars, jihadism, ‘tribalism’ or the ‘peril’ of migration, it arouses unfounded fears. Afrique XXI aims to help change this perception.

Based on the model of Orient XXI, a ‘friendly’ media outlet, Afrique XXI aims to offer a critical, independent and contextualised reading of current events and developments on the African continent over the long term, through in-depth analyses, reports and original investigations, regularly drawing on history and not excluding any of the different cultural and linguistic areas. Nurtured by journalists, academics, researchers, diplomats and activists who know the terrain inside out, this site is a space dedicated to knowledge and understanding, but also to defending a certain vision of the world and supporting the fight for the emancipation of peoples, social justice and freedom of expression.

In order to reflect the realities of the continent as fully as possible, we will give priority to working with African authors, and we will increase the number of partnerships, both in the field of investigative journalism and research.

Like Orient XXI, we have opted to publish free of charge, but our economic model is a mixed one: it relies both on volunteer work and voluntary contributions from certain authors and - in addition to one-off subsidies linked to specific projects - on donations from our readers, who provide a significant proportion of our resources and whom we will be calling on regularly. Independence has a cost, as does quality of information.