EXPLAINED
Women Find It Hard To Make It Big In Tourism Business In Ghana And Nigeria. Here’s Why
In Ghana tourism contributes 5.5% to GDP, and in Nigeria the contribution is 5% to GDP.
Benin Tests The Limits Of Democracy: After Over 30 Years Of Progress, A Big Step Backwards
Benin recorded its lowest voter turnout rate ever – just 27.12% - during its controversial April 28, legislative elections from which the opposition was excluded.
Songs Of Freedom: The Uprising In Sudan That Ousted Al-Bashir Has Been Vocal – And Very Musical
Footage from the heart of the revolution all contained one thing in common: the familiar beat of music. Sudanese music has always been heavily laden with political rhetoric.
HACKING A CONTINENT
Women Find It Hard To Make It Big In Tourism Business In Ghana And Nigeria. Here’s Why
In Ghana tourism contributes 5.5% to GDP, and in Nigeria the contribution is 5% to GDP.Helping Fight Climate Change, While Improving Crop Yield: Lessons From Ugandan Farmers
FARMERS in countries like Uganda could help fight climate change – and improve their crop yields – by adding agricultural waste to their fields. The process removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the soil. It’s a strategy proposed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change …Algeria And Sudan’s Recent Ouster Of Strongmen Are The Exception; The Democratic Reversal Is Fully On In Africa
Political space is shrinking in Africa. More often than not, political opposition in countries across the continent has been met with internet shutdowns, repression, and outright violence.Songs Of Freedom: The Uprising In Sudan That Ousted Al-Bashir Has Been Vocal – And Very Musical
Footage from the heart of the revolution all contained one thing in common: the familiar beat of music. Sudanese music has always been heavily laden with political rhetoric.Voodoo And The Peculiar ‘Politics Of Menopause’: Why Age Gives West African Women More Autonomy And Power
In some West African societies women in menopause are believed to be equipped with supernatural powers. There’s Support the argument put forward in the African feminist literature that seniority trumps gender in an African context.
NEXT FRONTIERS
Helping Fight Climate Change, While Improving Crop Yield: Lessons From Ugandan Farmers
FARMERS in countries like Uganda could help fight climate change – and improve their crop yields – by adding agricultural waste to their fields. The process removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the soil. It’s a strategy proposed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change …Perils Of Baksheesh: North Africa Shows The Threat Corruption Poses To The Economy And Security Of Nations
ON December 17, 2010, young Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight in front of the local governor’s office in an ultimate attempt to denounce corruption and injustice in his country. This act of despair triggered the Arab Spring. Eight years later, despite the government’s sustained efforts, corruption seems …Algeria And Sudan’s Recent Ouster Of Strongmen Are The Exception; The Democratic Reversal Is Fully On In Africa
Political space is shrinking in Africa. More often than not, political opposition in countries across the continent has been met with internet shutdowns, repression, and outright violence.‘Rwanda Studies’, And Debates Over 1994 Genocide, Are Highly Dominated By Non-Rwandans. Can That Be Fixed?
As Tutsi intellectuals and academics were actively targeted and murdered in 1994, important intellectual capital was lost. However, current literature scholars have also repeatedly argued that Rwandans self-censor their research on politically sensitive topics.
MYTH AND REALITY
Book Review: One Vice Chancellor’s Account Of Student Protests In South Africa
Those who opposed the protests will argue that the sacrifices made to secure these gains came at too great a cost. Students and staff were traumatised. Infrastructure was destroyed. Books and artworks were burned.Perils Of Baksheesh: North Africa Shows The Threat Corruption Poses To The Economy And Security Of Nations
ON December 17, 2010, young Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight in front of the local governor’s office in an ultimate attempt to denounce corruption and injustice in his country. This act of despair triggered the Arab Spring. Eight years later, despite the government’s sustained efforts, corruption seems …South Sudan’s 5-Year War Has Killed 400,000 People And Displaced 4.5 Million – And Not About To End
The economy is devastated, and more than 2.4 million South Sudanes live as refugees in neighbouring countries that include Uganda, Ethiopia, and Sudan.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.
DISSENTING VOICES
Drones, Cyber-Attacks And Social Media. Libya’s War Becomes A Tech Battleground – And The Future Of War
The current Libya conflict has seen some 900 missions flown by drones fielded by the two warring sides. It’s emerging as a very different conflict to what has been fought before in the country, or the world.Boko Haram’s ‘Clever Child’ Is Running Rings Around Nigeria And It’s Neighbours
Islamic State in West Africa digs wells, provides some basic healthcare, has a judicial system in and a tax regime that’s generally accepted – creating an environment where people can do business.In Africa, China Is Not Just A Predator, Or A Friend: What Journalism Can Do To Paint A Better Picture
The “predator” coverage portrays African countries as “set to burn as debt soars”. The “friend” image is portrayed through coverage of officials rejecting this view.
ANANSI
South Sudan’s 5-Year War Has Killed 400,000 People And Displaced 4.5 Million – And Not About To End
The economy is devastated, and more than 2.4 million South Sudanes live as refugees in neighbouring countries that include Uganda, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
WHAT ARE YOU READING MOST
- Somalia Doesn’t Have To Fight To Conquer: Somalis Are Already Africa’s Small Kings And Queens
- GOLDEN OLDIE: Lions, Hyenas, And A ‘Village Dictator’; Images From The Ethiopia-Eritrea War
- Helping Fight Climate Change, While Improving Crop Yield: Lessons From Ugandan Farmers
- Voodoo And The Peculiar 'Politics Of Menopause': Why Age Gives West African Women More Autonomy And Power
- The United Nations Lives Fat And Large In Nairobi; But Is It Crooked Too?
BOOK CORNER
Book Review: One Vice Chancellor’s Account Of Student Protests In South Africa
Those who opposed the protests will argue that the sacrifices made to secure these gains came at too great a cost. Students and staff were traumatised. Infrastructure was destroyed. Books and artworks were burned.How Science Fiction And Fantasy Can Help Us Make Sense Of The World – Of Afro-Futurism Beyond ‘Black Panther’
Nnedi Okorafor in “Lagoon” and Tade Thompson in “Rosewater” take us to Nigeria to illuminate the “what-ifs” of that society for Nigerians themselves.‘Watermelon Politics’, ‘Skirt-and-Blouse-Voting’, And More…New Dictionary Provides Subtle Insights Into The Language Of African Politics
It is packed full of fascinating terms from across the continent, from a variety of languages including Kiswahili, Chibemba, Kikuyu, Wolof, isiZulu and isiXhosa.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 law