We cover Burundi and the Great Lakes as if the story mattered — because it does.
LIONWEEK is an independent newsroom based in Bujumbura, reporting on the region's politics, economy, sport and culture for readers at home and across the diaspora.
Our story
LIONWEEK was founded in 2026 by Zack Hill, a Burundian journalist who built his career between London and Bujumbura. After more than a decade reporting on East Africa for international outlets, he came home to build the kind of newsroom he always wished the region had: rigorous, independent, and unmistakably of the Great Lakes.
His conviction was simple. Burundi and its neighbours deserve journalism that treats their readers as citizens, not an afterthought — reported on the ground, in plain language, without waiting for the world's attention.
"We wanted a paper that takes this region as seriously ."
— Zack Hill, Founder
What we stand for
Independent
No party, no patron. Our only obligation is to the reader and to the facts.
On the ground
Reporters in Bujumbura and Gitega, covering the hills as closely as the capital.
In your language
Published in English and French, with Kirundi audio for the stories that matter most.
For the region
Burundi first, but never alone — we report the Great Lakes as one connected story.
A newsroom on Lake Tanganyika
From our offices a few streets back from the lake, a small team of reporters, editors and producers files the day's news for the web, the app and the weekly print edition.
LIONWEEK
Boulevard de l'Uprona, Rohero I
Bujumbura, Burundi
Leadership
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Managing Editor
Economics Editor
Great Lakes Correspondent
Back independent journalism
LIONWEEK is funded by readers, not by interests. Subscribe to keep our reporting free of them.