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Ian Birrell

Columnist & Foreign Correspondent

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Africa / Aid / Nigeria / Politics / Technology

Boko Haram, hashtag activism & how the West can really help Nigeria

Published by The Independent (12th May, 2014) Now it’s official: the Western world is horrified about the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls. It might have taken […]

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Africa / Aid / Economics / Nigeria

Africa is refuting the usual economic pessimism

Published by The Wall Street Journal (16th April, 2014) The terrorist bombing that killed 71 people in Nigeria’s capital Monday morning abruptly turned attention from what had been […]

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Policy / Politics

The tide is turning against homophobia

Published in The Guardian (December 27th, 2013) In Uganda, two people who have sex could end up serving life sentences in prison if they happen to be the […]

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Africa / Nigeria

A conflict crying out for more attention – and less violence

Published in The Independent (October 1st, 2013) The murder of Saturday lunchtime shoppers in a Nairobi shopping centre grabbed global headlines. This was unsurprising: it was a savage […]

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Africa / Aid / Immigration / Nigeria / Policy / Politics

Britain’s pathetic response to the rise of a global power

Published in The Guardian (August 9th, 2013) Despite their military name, it is hard to see how an eight-strong delegation from Nigeria’s branch of the Boys’ Brigade posed […]

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Africa / Ethiopia / Technology

Support journalists, not countries that jail them

Published in The Guardian (August 5th, 2013) ‘I am jailed, with around 200 other inmates, in a wide hall that looks like a warehouse. For all of us, […]

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Africa

Africa: the myth and the reality

Published in High Life magazine (16th April, 2013) If you think of Africa, what do you see? Perhaps a pitiful picture of a starving girl with flies on […]

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Africa / Aid / General

Aid groups have blinded Britain to the realities of Africa

Published in The Independent (January 9th, 2013) Recep Erdogan, the astute prime minister of Turkey, is on a tour of Africa. His entourage includes 300 business leaders from […]

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Arts / Books / Nigeria

Disorder, dereliction…and decency

Published in The Observer (January 29th, 2012) Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria by Noo Saro-Wira (Granta) Nigeria does not top many people’s lists of the ideal holiday […]

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Africa / Aid / Economics / Ethiopia / General

It’s time the world listened to new stories out of Africa

Published in The Observer (January 20th, 2011) Eleni Gabre-Madhin rings the bell and another day of frenetic dealing starts at the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange. As she walks back to […]

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Africa / Aid / General

Big men, bankers and the stench of corruption

Published in The Independent (August 18th, 2009) Frederick Chiluba is a sharp dresser. The one-time bus conductor who rose to become President of Zambia has a fondness for […]

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Africa / Nigeria

Never mind the rebranding – Nigeria needs rebuilding

Published in The Independent (July 30th, 2009) Nigeria’s minister of Information has launched a campaign to rebrand her country, attempting to lure foreign investors and tourists under the […]

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Ian Birrell is an award-winning columnist, foreign correspondent, feature writer and investigative journalist. He is contributing editor of The Mail on Sunday, a weekly columnist in The i Paper and writes frequently for other papers and platforms. He is also co-founder with Damon Albarn of Africa Express, the acclaimed collaborative music project. (Pictured: Talking to refugees in Iraq fleeing Islamic State)... Read More.

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