Zeinab Badawi was born in the Sudan.  Her  family moved to the UK when she was two years of age.  She has a BA Hons degree from Oxford University,  where she is an honorary fellow, and an MA in Middle East history awarded with distinction from SOAS, London University.

In addition to a long broadcast career that includes an epic 20 part BBC tv series on the history of Africa, now available on BBC YouTube - The History of Africa with Zeinab Badawi” and programmes such as HardTalk,  Zeinab holds several positions including eg President of SOAS, she is a member of the high-level group of the Africa-Europe Foundation, The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the Royal Opera House, she is a member of the advisory boards of Afro-Barometer and MINDS - the Mandela Institute for Development Studies,  and sits on the Council of the UK’s Arts, Humanities and Research Council, the International Crisis Group and the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. She is a former board member of the British Council and the National Portrait Gallery, a Queen’s appointment to the board of Historic Royal Palaces and a former Chair of the Royal African Society, amongst other previous posts.

In 2025 Zeinab along with other members of the Sudanese diaspora in the UK set up Humanitarian Action for Sudan to assist the civilians caught up in the conflict in Sudan She is the Chair of HAS. Zeinab has received many awards such as Broadcaster of the Year awarded by the Association of International Broadcasters,  the Sir Brian Urquhart Award for distinguished service to international journalism and the UN, the British Academy’s President’s Medal for services to international broadcasting and female education,  the Royal African Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award for services to Africa and the Order of the Star of Italy for services to Italian opera. 

She has received several honorary doctorates.  Her book “An African History of Africa” was published in April 2024 and became an instant bestseller, reaching the number one slot in The Sunday Times best hardback non-fiction category.   It has been translated into 13 languages and is being used as a teaching resource in British education. It has been shortlisted for British Book of the Year and the Nero Book Awards.   The children’s version of the book is due to be published in 2027.  Zeinab has four children.