EXPLAINED
What Do Witch Doctors Actually Do? A Researcher In Uganda Goes Looking And Finds Surprising Answers
ONE thing every Acholi person (in northern Uganda) wants to avoid is being associated with a witch doctor, but I took courage and informed the bodaboda (motorbike taxi) man that I was heading to the witch doctor’s …
Nigeria Is Punching Well Below Its Weight Despite Having Huge Soft Power Capacity
Now the world’s second largest movie producer, Nigeria's Nollywood has displaced the USA's Hollywood and India's Bollywood as the most important movie industry on the African continent.
Tribute To Oliver Mtukudzi – Zimbabwe’s ‘Gift To The World’ And ‘Man With The Talking Guitar’
Known to his fans as Tuku, he was a cultural icon. His aura and presence had a global resonance with fans around the world, yet the man remained humble and magnanimous.
HACKING A CONTINENT
Nigeria Is Punching Well Below Its Weight Despite Having Huge Soft Power Capacity
Now the world’s second largest movie producer, Nigeria's Nollywood has displaced the USA's Hollywood and India's Bollywood as the most important movie industry on the African continent.Tribute To Oliver Mtukudzi – Zimbabwe’s ‘Gift To The World’ And ‘Man With The Talking Guitar’
Known to his fans as Tuku, he was a cultural icon. His aura and presence had a global resonance with fans around the world, yet the man remained humble and magnanimous.With Hope Resting On Ramaphosa, He Sets Out A Bold Vision For South Africa. Can He Pull It Off?
The “Rainbow nation” seems to have revealed all its ugly stripes over the past few years: a rise in incidents of racism, tribalism, xenophobia, factionalism and continued high levels of gender-based violence.Review Of ‘The Real Politics Of The Horn Of Africa’: It’s A Marketplace, Where The Currency Is Money And Violence
The author has been in the room during the big peace talks in the Horn of Africa, interviewing and befriending the region’s Big Men. The result is indigestible but brilliant.How Nigerian Women Are Using WhatsApp To Chat, Learn – And Some Are Laughing All The Way To The Bank
The women empowered to talk about their concerns openly in WhatsApp discussion groups, and had more access to information.
NEXT FRONTIERS
As Abiy Continues ‘Unbelievable’ Change, Power Shift Creates New Tensions And Tigrayan Fears In Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s rate of 2.4 million new internally displaced people in 2018 far exceeded Syria’s. Reformist Abiy's aggressive reform agenda has won praise, but shaking up Ethiopia's government risks exacerbating several long-simmering ethnic rivalries.Book Review: Who’s Reporting Africa Now?: Non-Governmental Organisations, Journalists, and Multimedia
Whether it is translators being leaned on for “simplified” accounts or bad-faith corporate social responsibility purporting to involve a marathon trip from Kenya to South Africa in a wheelchair, cautionary lessons abound.The Crocodile Shows His Teeth: Under Pressure, Mnangagwa Borrowed Everything From Mugabe’s Book Of Repression
Mnangagwa is no born-again democrat. He was Mugabe’s hatchet man for 37 years, and now half of the country’s US$10 billion domestic debt has been run up under his administration.Over A Few Years, Ethiopia Pulled Off An African Irrigation ‘Miracle’ – And Given Its Economy A Big Boost
In a continent where only 6% of arable land is currently irrigated, Ethiopia aims to allocate US$15 billion to irrigation development by 2020.
MYTH AND REALITY
As Abiy Continues ‘Unbelievable’ Change, Power Shift Creates New Tensions And Tigrayan Fears In Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s rate of 2.4 million new internally displaced people in 2018 far exceeded Syria’s. Reformist Abiy's aggressive reform agenda has won praise, but shaking up Ethiopia's government risks exacerbating several long-simmering ethnic rivalries.‘Women And The War On Boko Haram: Wives, Weapons, Witnesses’ Is A Provocative Insight Into Their Life In The Jihadist Group
Boko Haram offers relatively better life for some women than north Nigerian society. Many women have looked to religion for a space of relative autonomy, generating the apparent paradox of female support for sharia lawJustice In Northern Uganda: Inside The Aftermath Of The 20-Year War Between LRA Rebels And The Museveni Government
Some services that NGOs supported tended to focus on sexual violence from a stranger and not the overwhelmingly more common forms of sexual violence such as intimate partner violence.Myths And Misunderstanding Stop African Men From Going For A Vasectomy…Only A Miserly 0.1% Have Had The Nip
Only 38% of women and 48% of men in Kenya knew of a vasectomy for family planning. And only 0.01% of the men interviewed in Zimbabwe admitted having a vasectomy.
DISSENTING VOICES
Win Some, Lose Some: Both Democracy And Dictatorship Are On The Rise In Africa
There have been some bright spots, like the rise of more resilient opposition movements in the DRC and Uganda. But elsewhere on the continent, as in Tanzania and Zambia, repression is on the rise.Many DR Congo Musicians Have Been Fed By Politicians Since Colonial Times; Is That Likely To Change Under Tshisekedi?
A well-loved Congolese dance of 2005, Kisanola, (meaning a comb) also involves a movement representing the shaving of one’s hair to the bone – a metaphor for how the DRC people have had everything taken from them.The Claim That Democracy Does Better In The West Than In Africa Is Wrong: Here Is Why
The US has detained suspects without trial for nearly two decades at Guantanamo Bay, far longer than South Africa’s apartheid state ever detained anyone without trial.
ANANSI
Female Genital Mutilation Rates In East Africa Fall Sharply From 71% To 8% In 20 Years
The reported falls in the rates of FGM are far greater than previous studies have suggested.
WHAT ARE YOU READING MOST
- What Do Witch Doctors Actually Do? A Researcher In Uganda Goes Looking And Finds Surprising Answers
- Many DR Congo Musicians Have Been Fed By Politicians Since Colonial Times; Is That Likely To Change Under Tshisekedi?
- Somalia Doesn’t Have To Fight To Conquer: Somalis Are Already Africa’s Small Kings And Queens
- In This Part Of Africa, It Is The Men Who Wear Veils
- ‘Sex-For-Jobs’ Scandal Hits African Union: All 88 Women Interviewed In Probe Confirmed Abuse
BOOK CORNER
Book Review: Who’s Reporting Africa Now?: Non-Governmental Organisations, Journalists, and Multimedia
Whether it is translators being leaned on for “simplified” accounts or bad-faith corporate social responsibility purporting to involve a marathon trip from Kenya to South Africa in a wheelchair, cautionary lessons abound.‘Women And The War On Boko Haram: Wives, Weapons, Witnesses’ Is A Provocative Insight Into Their Life In The Jihadist Group
Boko Haram offers relatively better life for some women than north Nigerian society. Many women have looked to religion for a space of relative autonomy, generating the apparent paradox of female support for sharia lawFelwine Sarr’s ‘Afrotopia’ Offers An Inspiring Road Map And Image For A New Africa
Africa needs to heal the psychological effects of “centuries of alienation and enslavement” to regain self-esteem and self-respect.Zimbabwe Minus Mugabe: Two Books On His Fall, Mnangagwa’s Rise – And The Disappearing Pot Of Gold
The elder Nyarota’s world-weary schadenfreude contrasts vividly with Ndlovu’s youthful exuberance.Justice In Northern Uganda: Inside The Aftermath Of The 20-Year War Between LRA Rebels And The Museveni Government
Some services that NGOs supported tended to focus on sexual violence from a stranger and not the overwhelmingly more common forms of sexual violence such as intimate partner violence.