MEGA EPISODE: The Last Kings of Africa, Ancient Power in the Modern World | SLICE

Across Africa, kings, queens, sultans and traditional chiefs still occupy powerful places in communities shaped by colonialism, religion, globalization and modern statehood. Photographer and art historian Alfred Weidinger travels across the continent to portray these rulers and understand what remains of institutions that long predate today’s national borders. From the Dogon Hogons of Mali and nomadic leaders of Niger to Ashanti royalty, Sierra Leone’s Paramount Chiefs, Uganda’s restored kingdoms and Eswatini’s absolute monarchy, their authority takes radically different forms. Rather than treating monarchy simply as a relic of the past, the series explores how traditional leadership continues to shape identity, social cohesion, religion and local life. Some rulers struggle to preserve customs threatened with disappearance; others have adapted to democracy and social media; and in Eswatini, royal authority remains political and absolute. Through Weidinger’s portraits, African Kings captures institutions caught between memory and transformation, asking what a king can still represent in 21st-century Africa. 00:00:00 Past, Present and Future In Mali and Niger, Alfred Weidinger searches for rulers whose authority is rooted in spiritual traditions that are rapidly changing. Among the Dogon, the remaining Hogons face declining influence as Islam expands and younger generations abandon remote villages and traditional crafts. The journey continues to Niger, where sultans, animist royalty and nomadic communities preserve very different forms of leadership. It culminates in the rare coronation of a new Hogon, a ceremony Weidinger fears may be among the last of its kind. 00:45:18 Traces of Colonialism In Ghana and Sierra Leone, traditional monarchy carries the visible scars of colonial rule. Weidinger encounters Ashanti kings who remain guardians of cultural identity in democratic Ghana, while confronting the intertwined histories of gold, slavery and European expansion.