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David Pilling

Africa Editor

David Pilling is the Africa editor and a columnist at the Financial Times. He covers business, politics and development on the continent and writes a regular column on topics from Africa. Before that he was the Asia editor and assistant editor. Previous roles include Tokyo bureau chief, pharmaceuticals correspondent, deputy features editor and correspondent in Buenos Aires and Santiago.

He is the author of two books - The Growth Delusion (2018), shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, and the highly acclaimed Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival (2016).

He is a regular moderator and speaker both for the FT and for organisations including the World Bank, OECD and ADB. In 2023 he briefed a G7 meeting in Kamakura, Japan on the ideas behind his book, The Growth Delusion.

Email David Pilling @davidpilling  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)
  • Friday, 13 September, 2024
    Pravin Gordhan
    Pravin Gordhan dies after life fighting apartheid and corruption

    South African activist campaigned against failings of Jacob Zuma’s administration

    Pravin Gordhan is seen sitting and wearing a suit and tie at a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture.
  • Friday, 13 September, 2024
    Special ReportInnovative Lawyers: Europe
    How Gabon’s debt-for-nature swap survived a palace coup

    A $500mn blue loan is still in place despite upheaval, thanks to robust monitoring and a tight legal framework

    An aerial view of a beach with lush forests, clean waters and smooth sands
  • Thursday, 29 August, 2024
    The Big Read
    Could T-shirts be the way to industrialise an African nation?

    Benin is trying to achieve what few countries on the continent have managed: transform its raw materials into finished goods

  • Wednesday, 28 August, 2024
    Boston Consulting Group Inc
    BCG admits it paid bribes to win consulting business in Angola

    US firm will give back $14mn in profits after agreement with Department of Justice

    Boston skyline showing Tobin bridge
  • Saturday, 24 August, 2024
    InterviewLife & Arts
    The zoologist, the dictator and the fight for Gabon’s forests

    Lee White was a conservation visionary for the Gabonese Bongo dynasty — and then found himself forced into exile

  • Friday, 23 August, 2024
    FT SeriesClamour for Africa
    The foreign powers competing to win influence in Africa

    Continent finds itself wooed by many, but few countries have yet devised a strategy to take full advantage

    A montage of world leaders meeting and protests
  • Thursday, 8 August, 2024
    Middle East & North Africa
    War in Sudan is being fuelled by a web of external actors

    The conflict that has displaced 10mn people is made more intractable by proxy players and tangled objectives

    People line up to register for a potential food aid delivery at a camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) in Agari, South Kordofan, Sudan.
  • Thursday, 1 August, 2024
    Oil31 min
    Nigeria's struggle to break the 'oil curse' | FT Film

    Can the new $20bn Dangote refinery and ending fuel subsidies help to transform the economy?

    Can Nigeria end the 'oil curse'?
  • Monday, 29 July, 2024
    Ethiopia
    Ethiopia floats currency as it seeks to secure IMF deal

    Foreign exchange reform will remove market distortions but some analysts fear it will stoke inflation

    A vendor counts out Ethiopian birr banknotes at the Shola market in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  • Wednesday, 17 July, 2024
    African politics
    Kenya’s populist president has misread the popular mood

    With domestic politics marring his polished international image, William Ruto offers lessons for other leaders

    Montage of images with a close up cutout image of William Ruto in the foreground against a background of police an demonstrators clashing
  • Monday, 15 July, 2024
    Rwanda
    Paul Kagame cements hold on Rwanda after election walkover

    Strongman president secures overwhelming victory after rival candidates were prevented from running

    Rwandan President Paul Kagame casting his vote
  • Thursday, 11 July, 2024
    Kenya
    Kenyan president fires most of cabinet after mass protests

    Sackings follow deaths of 39 demonstrators amid anger over tax increases

    Protesters gesture at police during an anti-government demonstration in Nairobi earlier this month
  • Wednesday, 10 July, 2024
    The Big Read
    Will shock therapy revive Nigeria’s economy — or sink it further?

    President Bola Tinubu says his reforms are necessary to achieve market discipline, but millions could be pushed into poverty in the process

  • Friday, 5 July, 2024
    FT Magazine
    The battle to control Africa’s national parks

    A single NGO is managing an ever-growing number of wildlife reserves. Critics say it is engaged in colonialism 2.0

    Zakouma Rangers “Mamba Team 1” seen with their vehicle inside the park at the end of a patrol
  • Sunday, 30 June, 2024
    South African politics
    Ramaphosa unveils new South Africa cabinet after coalition breakthrough

    Pro-market Democratic Alliance takes six ministerial posts in unity government after fraught negotiations

    Cyril Ramaphosa
  • Thursday, 27 June, 2024
    South African politics
    Ramaphosa holds talks with DA after its threat to quit coalition

    South African president and pro-business party’s John Steenhuisen seek to resolve dispute over cabinet posts

    South African Président Cyril Ramaphosa, right, with Democratic Alliance leader John Steenhuisen
  • Tuesday, 25 June, 2024
    Isis
    What Isis did next: the return of the threat that never left

    Brutal jihadist group once again seeking to launch attacks internationally

    A member of the Iraqi forces walks past a mural bearing the logo of the Islamic State group on the southern outskirts of Mosul
  • Wednesday, 19 June, 2024
    South Africa
    Investors cheer as Ramaphosa sworn in as South Africa’s president

    Rand and equities rise after African National Congress seals power-sharing agreement with Democratic Alliance

    Cyril Ramaphosa, right, is inaugurated as South Africa’s president for a second term on Wednesday
  • Thursday, 13 June, 2024
    South African politics
    South Africa’s ANC has outline of a deal on new government, says official

    The country is poised to have a multi-party coalition administration led by Cyril Ramaphosa

    South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with National Executive Committee members Paul Mashatile and Gwede Mantashe
  • Wednesday, 12 June, 2024
    The Big Read
    Can the party that liberated South Africa still hold it together?

    Facing a Friday deadline to create a new coalition government, President Cyril Ramaphosa is trying to prevent economic chaos while avoiding new splits in the ANC

  • Friday, 7 June, 2024
    South Africa
    South African opposition parties cool on Ramaphosa’s unity government plan

    Leaders of EFF and MK pour cold water on proposal for coalition that includes centrist DA

    Julius Malema addresses the media
  • Friday, 7 June, 2024
    South Africa
    South Africa opposition group claims Russia is funding Jacob Zuma’s party

    Former president’s upstart MK party accused of being extremely well financed

    Jacob Zuma
  • Thursday, 6 June, 2024
    Special ReportAfrica’s Fastest Growing Companies
    Kenya’s Quick Mart confronts tough business conditions

    After initial breakneck expansion, growth has slowed somewhat at country’s second largest supermarket chain

    The exterior of a Quick Mart supermarket is shown, with the store’s name in bold red letters and a “Fresh & Easy” logo next to it. The sign above the entrance indicates the store is open 24/7. Large windows display promotional posters featuring fresh produce and other food items. A few people are seen walking outside, and a security guard stands at the entrance
  • Thursday, 6 June, 2024
    FT News Briefing podcast12 min listen
    The split road for South Africa

    African National Congress has to play nice with rival parties

  • Thursday, 6 June, 2024
    Special ReportAfrica’s Fastest Growing Companies
    Africa businesses struggle to recover from Covid pandemic

    List of top 125 shows companies that have performed well in difficult times

    An illustration shows four people engaging in various shopping activities using giant smartphone screens as doorways. On the far left, a woman carries a basket on her head while opening a refrigerated section of a phone. Next, an older woman walks out of a phone carrying shopping bags. In the third phone, a young man picks fresh produce handed to him by a vendor. On the far right, a man in a red shirt, possibly a store employee, smiles and waves from behind another smartphone screen. The scene is set against an orange sky and grassy ground
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