Larry Madowo on Covering Africa, ‘Warts and All’

“Africans are not just victims. We have a role in these stories and a perspective on them.”

In recent months, Larry Madowo, CNN’s Africa correspondent, has reported on a troubling trend: young men from countries including Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda being recruited to Russia with promises of civilian work, only to find themselves fighting in Ukraine. Madowo’s reporting has exposed a pattern of deception and forced conscription, illustrating how Africans can be drawn into global power struggles that undermine their interests.

From his base in Nairobi, Madowo, who was born in Kenya, covers politics, conflict, business, and culture across the continent. He began his career as a business reporter at two of the country’s largest TV stations, Kenya Television Network and NTV, and later worked for CNBC Africa and the BBC. He joined CNN in 2021, and led the network’s investigation last year into Tanzania’s disputed election, documenting evidence that security forces fatally shot protesters. He also reported on the fragile peace process between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo following a United States–brokered agreement aimed at easing decades of conflict in the region’s mineral-rich east. And he hosts African Voices, CNN’s long-running program profiling artists, athletes, and entrepreneurs; recent episodes have focused on Nomzamo Mbatha, a South African actor, and Pheelz, a Nigerian Afrobeat producer.