Welcome to Historical Africa. These terms explain the rules for using our website, what you may and may not do with our work, and the limits of our responsibility. They are written in plain English, but they are a binding agreement between you and us.
1. Accepting these terms
Historical Africa is an independent online magazine about African history and culture, published at historicalafrica.net (“the site”). In these terms, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Historical Africa, and “you” means anyone who visits or uses the site. By using the site, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.
We may update these terms from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page with its date. If you keep using the site after a change, you accept the updated terms.
2. Information and education only
Our articles are written for general information and education. History is a field of interpretation and debate: sources disagree and new evidence appears. We work hard to be accurate, but we make no promise that any article is complete, current or free from error.
Nothing on the site is professional, legal, financial, medical or other expert advice. Any decisions you make based on our content are your own responsibility.
3. Errors and corrections
When we get something wrong, we want to put it right. Our Editorial Policy & Corrections explains our standards and how we handle corrections. If you spot an error, email info@historicalafrica.net or use our Contact page.
4. Our content and how you may use it
Unless stated otherwise, the original text, design, logo and branding of the site are © Historical Africa. All rights not expressly granted in these terms are reserved.
Many of our images come from Wikimedia Commons and similar sources. They are stored on our site but are not owned by us. Each one remains under its own licence, such as a Creative Commons licence (for example CC BY-SA) or the public domain, and is credited where it appears. If you want to reuse one of these images, follow its own licence and credit. Our restrictions below do not override those licences.
You are welcome to:
- read and enjoy the site for your own personal, non-commercial use;
- share links to our articles on social media, by email or anywhere else;
- quote short extracts, as long as you credit Historical Africa and link back to the original article.
Without our written permission, you may not:
- republish, copy or reproduce whole articles or substantial parts of them, on any website, platform or in print;
- scrape, crawl or bulk-download the site using bots or other automated tools, except for ordinary search-engine indexing;
- use our content to train, fine-tune or build artificial intelligence or machine-learning systems, or datasets intended for them;
- use our content, name or logo for any commercial purpose, or in a way that suggests we endorse you or your product.
Teachers, researchers and publishers who want to use our work more widely are encouraged to ask. Email info@historicalafrica.net.
5. Comments and submissions
Comments are open on our articles, and you can also write to us through our Contact page. You keep ownership of what you write. By posting a comment or sending us material, you give us a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish, display and store it on the site, to edit it for length, clarity or legal reasons, and to remove it. You also confirm that you have the right to share it and that it does not break these terms or anyone else’s rights.
Comments may be held for moderation. We may approve, edit, refuse or delete any comment, and block anyone from commenting, at our sole discretion and without having to give a reason. Comments reflect the views of their authors, not ours.
When using the site, you must not post or do anything that:
- is hateful, discriminatory, threatening or harassing towards any person or group;
- is defamatory, or knowingly false or misleading about a real person;
- is spam, advertising or repeated off-topic promotion;
- is illegal, encourages illegal activity, or infringes anyone’s copyright, trademark, privacy or other rights;
- impersonates another person or organisation;
- contains viruses, malware or harmful code; or
- attempts to hack, overload, disrupt or gain unauthorised access to the site or its systems.
You are fully responsible for what you post and for any consequences of posting it.
6. Copyright complaints
We respect the rights of creators. If you believe something on the site infringes your copyright, email info@historicalafrica.net with:
- your name and contact details;
- a description of the work you believe has been infringed;
- the link to the material on our site;
- a statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not authorised by you, your agent or the law; and
- a statement that the information in your notice is accurate and that you own the rights or are authorised to act for the owner.
We will review every complete notice promptly and remove or correct material where appropriate. If your material was removed by mistake, contact us the same way.
7. Links and embedded content
We link to other websites for sources, context and further reading, and some articles may include embedded content such as videos. We do not control those sites or services and are not responsible for their content, availability, accuracy or privacy practices. You use them at your own risk and under their own terms.
8. Advertising and affiliate links
There is no advertising on the site at present. In future we may show advertisements or include affiliate links, which earn us a small commission if you buy something through them at no extra cost to you. If we do, we will disclose it clearly, and, as our Editorial Policy & Corrections sets out, any sponsored content will be clearly labelled and kept separate from our journalism. We are not responsible for products or services offered by advertisers or affiliates.
9. No warranties
The site and everything on it are provided “as is” and “as available”, free of charge. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we make no promises or warranties of any kind, express or implied, including about accuracy, completeness, reliability, fitness for a particular purpose, or that the site will be uninterrupted, secure or free of errors or viruses.
10. Limits on our liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, we will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss or damage, or for any loss of data, profit, revenue, business or goodwill, arising from your use of the site, your inability to use it, or your reliance on anything on it.
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes any liability that cannot legally be limited or excluded, such as liability for fraud, or for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and nothing in them affects any rights you have as a consumer that cannot be waived under the law where you live.
11. Your responsibility to us
To the extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify Historical Africa against any claims, losses, costs and reasonable legal fees arising from content you post or send to us, or from your breach of these terms.
12. Changes to the site
We may change, suspend or stop any part of the site, including comments, at any time and without notice. We may also block anyone who breaks these terms from using the site.
13. Your privacy
Our Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it and the choices you have. It forms part of these terms.
Our email newsletter is optional and free. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in every email. We may change how often we send it, or stop it altogether. Your newsletter sign-up is handled under our Privacy Policy.
14. The legal small print
These terms, and any dispute or claim arising from them or from your use of Historical Africa, are governed by the laws of the Republic of Ghana. You agree that the courts of Ghana have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any such dispute, except that nothing here takes away any rights you have under the mandatory consumer laws of the country where you live.
If any part of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the rest will remain in full effect. If we do not enforce any part of these terms straight away, that does not mean we have given up our right to do so later. These terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Editorial Policy & Corrections, are the entire agreement between you and us about your use of the site.
15. Contact us
Questions, permission requests and complaints are all welcome. Email info@historicalafrica.net or use our Contact page.
Last updated: 25 October 2026