African Center for Strategic Research and Public Policy
About AfroStrategy
AfroStrategy is an Africa-first strategic research, public policy and scholarly publishing platform built on the legacy of Alifriqi.com and AfrikaTrends.
African Center for Strategic Research & Public PolicyResearching Africa.
Researching Africa.
Informing policy.
Strengthening strategy.
AfroStrategy is an Africa-first platform for strategic research, public policy and scholarly publishing — built to connect rigorous evidence with the decisions shaping the continent.
Who we are
Africa-first, not Africa-isolated.
We study African states, societies, economies and institutions from within their own contexts while connecting national and regional realities to the global systems that shape trade, finance, climate, security, technology, migration and diplomacy.
Our work brings strategic analysis, policy research, scholarly publishing and public-facing knowledge into one institutional ecosystem so readers can understand not only what is happening, but also why it matters and what may come next.
AfroStrategy continues the volunteer-supported, public-benefit spirit of Alifriqi.com and AfrikaTrends. The platform is mission-led rather than profit-driven: knowledge production, contributor development and African public-policy engagement remain the purpose of the institution.
Institutional journey
Five years of building an African knowledge platform
AfroStrategy is the institutional development of a publishing journey that began in 2021 and progressively expanded in language, scope, editorial structure and ambition.
Alifriqi.com
Alifriqi for Knowledge began as an Arabic-language initiative expanding serious, accessible knowledge about Africa.
AfrikaTrends Arabic
The platform evolved into a more structured analytical project, bringing research, regional monitoring and public-policy discussion together.
AfrikaTrends English
An English edition widened the project to a broader African and international readership while preserving its Africa-centered perspective.
AfroStrategy
The accumulated content, community and editorial experience become an umbrella for strategic research, policy and scholarly publishing.
The AfrikaTrends legacy
From multilingual analysis to an institutional research platform
AfrikaTrends connected scholarship, journalism and policy through Arabic and English publishing. AfroStrategy preserves that legacy while introducing stronger research workflows, scholarly metadata, access systems and long-term institutional infrastructure.
Knowledge footprint
219 published works across AfrikaTrends Arabic and English
The legacy footprint is now verified across both editions: 197 published Arabic works and 22 published English works. Current AfroStrategy research is shown separately below so migrated legacy content is never counted twice.
Verified AfrikaTrends publishing equation
197 published Arabic works
+
22 published English works
=
219 published legacy works
Current AfroStrategy
49
live Publications
Discovery
16
active topics
Geographic index
39
countries represented in current taxonomy
Current AfroStrategy counts are deliberately not added to the 219 legacy total because some legacy works may be migrated into the new publishing system. Keeping the figures separate avoids double-counting.
North Africa
West Africa
Central Africa
East Africa
Southern Africa
Boundary-free geographic outline · Natural Earth public-domain geometry
Continental perspective
Africa at the center, the world in context
Our geographic architecture is designed to make countries and regions discoverable without reducing African affairs to isolated national stories.
Topics, countries, regions, series and dossiers connect related work so readers can move from one publication to the larger strategic context around it.
Explore Search & Discovery
Our operating model
Mission before monetization
AfroStrategy continues the self-financed, volunteer-supported and public-benefit tradition from which AfrikaTrends grew. Our purpose is to expand serious African knowledge and strengthen research and policy exchange — not to maximize commercial return. We describe this as a not-for-profit operating orientation, without implying a particular legal registration status.
Publishing is not pay-to-publish
Standard contributions to the main AfroStrategy research platform do not require author publication fees. Participation is based on relevance, quality and editorial standards, continuing the AfrikaTrends principle that researchers and writers should not pay simply to publish their work.
A substantial open knowledge core
We intend to keep a meaningful body of research freely accessible, alongside Registered access and selected Premium digital content.
Premium as cost recovery
Where selected content is Premium, pricing is intentionally modest and designed to help bear real operating costs — editing, hosting, security, scholarly metadata, digital preservation, design, payment processing and research infrastructure.
Payment never buys conclusions
Premium access, institutional support, sponsorship or partnership does not purchase favorable analysis or editorial influence. Access level and editorial judgment remain separate.
Continuity from AfrikaTrends
The legacy publishing policy explicitly described AfrikaTrends as self-financed and volunteer-based: contributors paid no publication fee and the platform did not routinely pay publication honoraria. In return, the model emphasized research visibility, networking with other Africa-focused writers, opportunities around events and training, and recognition of genuine contribution. AfroStrategy preserves that public-service orientation while building a more durable research and publishing infrastructure.
Researchers & contributors
A community built through contribution, not transactions
The verified Arabic legacy snapshot alone records 48 registered accounts and 10 author-role accounts. The English edition added further credited contributors, but its full user list was not supplied, so we present those community figures as minimums rather than manufacture a larger total.
Legacy community accounts
A verified minimum from the AfrikaTrends Arabic account snapshot. English-platform accounts are additional.
Verified legacy author accounts
Arabic author-role accounts alone, before adding English contributors and the current AfroStrategy author community.
Contributor pathway
Researchers, practitioners and informed writers can apply to contribute without an author publication fee.
Knowledge benefits
Visibility, professional networking, editorial feedback and opportunities connected to events, learning and collaboration.
AfroStrategy is formalizing the contributor experience through author profiles, research identifiers, structured editorial roles and a clearer path from analysis to papers, reports and journals.
See how to contribute
What we do
One research ecosystem, multiple ways to engage
01
Strategic Analysis
Interpret power, risk, actors and long-term implications.
→ 02Policy Research
Connect evidence with public choices, institutions and implementation.
→ 03Papers
Research Papers, Policy Papers, Working Papers, Analysis Papers and Briefs.
→ 04Reports
Country, regional, thematic, special and flagship research.
→ 05Dossiers
Curated research around major countries, crises and strategic themes.
→ 06Journals
Peer-reviewed scholarly publishing through the developing e-journals portal.
→
Scholarly publishing · 2026
The next stage: AfroStrategy Journals
The e-journals portal extends AfroStrategy from research publishing into formal scholarly communication, with independent editorial boards and peer-review procedures.
AFRIDINAR
African Journal of Islamic Economics and FinanceIslamic economics, banking, sukuk, capital markets, sustainable finance, Islamic social finance, regulation and related African policy and market questions.
Explore journal initiative →Matabisi
Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship and InnovationEntrepreneurship, SMEs, innovation, business development, resilience, employment and the economic importance of Africa's informal economy.
Explore journal initiative →
How we work
Research standards with a public purpose
Facts, interpretation, judgment and forecasts should remain distinguishable and traceable.
Africa is not merely an object of study; African expertise and knowledge are part of how the continent is interpreted.
Funding, partnerships, Premium access or institutional relationships do not purchase conclusions.
Serious research should remain understandable and useful beyond narrow specialist communities.
Join the next stage
Read. Contribute. Partner.
AfroStrategy grows through serious research, volunteer and editorial collaboration, and institutions that value independent African knowledge. Participation, readership and cost-recovery support all help sustain the same public-purpose mission.