Namibia — Where the United Nations once issued a passport to a nation without a state
Before 1990, Namibia was administered contrary to international ruling, and Namibians had no state to issue documents. The UN …
Lesotho — One of three countries in the world completely surrounded by exactly one other country
Lesotho sits entirely within South Africa, with not a single meter of border with any third country. Only three countries in the world are like this,…
Zimbabwe — Where hundreds of thousands lost citizenship because their ancestors were born abroad, and a constitution that gave it back
In the early 2000s, Zimbabwe forced people holding another country's citizenship to renounce it — and applied it to hundreds of thousands of people w…
Mozambique — Where two billion dollars in government debt was hidden from the people themselves
In 2016, Mozambique was discovered to have over two billion dollars in state-guaranteed debt that parliament and the public were never informed…
Eswatini — The country that changed its name in 2018, and Africa's last absolute monarchy
In 2018, Swaziland changed its name to Eswatini through a royal proclamation. This is the last absolute monarchy in…
Zambia — The first country to default during the pandemic, and what that says to citizenship buyers
In 2020, Zambia became the first country to default on international bonds during the pandemic, taking over three years to restructure. This is…
Botswana — The only country that turned diamonds into development, and how they did it
In 1966, Botswana was one of the world's poorest countries. Then diamonds were discovered. Unlike almost every other…
Malawi — Where an entire generation worked in mines in another country, and the price paid by generations after
For decades, Malawian workers went to work in mines and farms in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Their descendants later faced discrimination in the very country of their birth…