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An African History of Africa, with Zeinab Badawi

History &
Social Policy

What picture of the continent emerges when we do away with making the story of Africa so anchored in European colonialism? 

‘Everyone is originally from Africa, and this book is therefore for everyone.’ – Zeinab Badawi 

Too often historians have told the history of Africa through the prism of colonialism. But what picture of the continent emerges when we do away with making the story of Africa so anchored in European colonialism? 

In July 2025 award-winning broadcaster Zeinab Badawi returned to the Intelligence Squared stage to tell a new history of Africa – in all its shades and complexities – without the stifling gaze of Europe. Drawing on the themes of her latest book, An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence, she discussed the origins of humankind, the emergence of ancient civilisations and empires, and the joys and thrills of Independence. 

Having visited more than thirty African countries to interview countless historians, anthropologists, archaeologists and local storytellers, Badawi explored a gripping new history of the oldest inhabited continent on the planet, told through the voices of Africans themselves.

Speakers for the motion

  • Zeinab Badawi

    Broadcaster, journalist, and filmmaker

Chair

  • Martine Dennis

    Founder and Host of Africa Here & Now

Speakers are subject to change.

Speakers

Speaker

Zeinab Badawi

Broadcaster, journalist, and filmmaker

Zeinab Badawi is an award-winning broadcaster, journalist, and filmmaker. She is President of SOAS University of London and is an honorary fellow of her alma mater St Hilda’s College, Oxford. Born in Sudan, she has worked in the British media for several decades. Zeinab is a recipient of the President’s Medal of the British Academy, a Patron of the United Nations Association UK, and is on the boards of the Arts, Humanities and Research Council, MINDS (the Mandela Institute for Development Studies), the International Crisis Group and Afrobarometer. She was previously Chair of the Royal African Society. An African History of Africa is her first book.
Chair

Martine Dennis

Founder and Host of Africa Here & Now

Former international broadcaster and founder and host of Africa Here & Now. She has 40 years of international broadcast news experience; from reporting the UN in New York, then presenting the BBC World Service’s Focus on Africa from London, presenting South Africa’s Carte Blanche from Johannesburg, to nearly two decades anchoring BBC World TV News from London. She is the founder and host of Africa Here & Now, a podcast which analyses the events and trends affecting the continent.