Here’s the latest edition of my Africa Update newsletter. We’ve got the CAR’s only pediatric hospital, Zambian superheroes on Netflix, new books on medieval African history, the feminists of Cameroon, and more.
West Africa: Lagos alone accounts for 70% of Nigeria’s tax base. Check out this reading list on Nigerian political history. Here are 10 essential Nigerian recipes. This was a great read about feminist organizing in response to the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon. In response to increasing attacks by armed Islamist groups in Burkina Faso, the government has adopted a troubling policy of extrajudicially executing suspected sympathizers.
Central Africa: In the DRC, president Tshisekedi’s power continues to be constrained, with a majority of Cabinet seats going to ex-president Kabila’s coalition, and Kabila still living in the presidential villa. In Burundi, the ruling party has begun charging people a new “election tax” as often as they’d like to do so.
East Africa: This was a good profile of Hemedti, the former Janjaweed commandernow leading Sudan. In South Sudan, decades of conflict has pushed most people away from growing their own food and towards purchasing it at markets. I wrote about what traffic tickets can tell us about statebuilding in Kenya. This was an interesting history of economic protectionism in Kenya. A new Human Rights Watch report documents the disturbing record of extrajudicial killings by the Kenyan police.
Southern Africa: So many Zimbabweans are trying to leave the country that the wait time for a passport is more than a year. Netflix is launching its first original African animated series, about teenaged female superheroes living in Lusaka. Congratulations to Botswana’s Gogontlejang Phaladi, who joined the ranks of great explorers by discovering a new body of water in Switzerland and naming it Letamo.
Public health: This is a remarkable story about the Central African Republic’s only pediatric hospital. One of the coordinators of Liberia’s Ebola response team offers unconventional suggestions about incentivizing people to cooperate with Ebola vaccinators in the DRC. The DRC is also one of the world’s largest quinine exporters, producing 30% of the world’s supply of the anti-malarial drug. In South Africa, the urban environment in Johannesburg makes it difficult for women to get enough exercise.
Research corner: Read about the challenging experience of being a female researcher in eastern DRC. Check out TMC’s summer reading list on African politics, and this wonderful review of books on medieval African history. Here’s what needed to improve the quality of research output at African universities. Researchers in many African countries can get free online access to Taylor & Francis journals through their STAR program. African students interested in a science PhD should apply to the RSIF PASET PhD scholarship program by July 22.
The arts: This is a great thread on affordable, contemporary architectural design across Africa. Did you know that Bollywood films are huge in Somalia? If you’re in Accra this summer, don’t miss the Accra Animation Film festival from July 27 – August 2. African writers should apply to the Miles Morland writing fellowship by September 30.