Here’s the latest edition of Africa Update. We’ve got a new metro system in Abidjan, culinary imperialism in Kenya, plans to refill Lake Chad with a giant canal, how hospitals in Malawi are getting men to do more housework, and more.
A stunning view of Nairobi, via Kenyapics
West Africa: Follow 5 young Nigerian journalists as they travel across 14 West African countries along the Jollof Road. In Nigeria, former members of Boko Haram and ISIS trafficking survivors have found it very difficult to re-integrate into civilian society. Hundreds of children, some as young as 5, have been arrested by the Nigerian police on suspicion of involvement with Boko Haram. Abidjan is getting a metro system. A new policy that lets cocoa farmers plant in “degraded” forests could lead to widespread deforestation in Côte d’Ivoire. This is a great resource on the history of West Africa at a glance.
Central Africa: This was a thoughtful piece about breaking the cycle of motorcycle theft and violent retribution in the CAR. Members of opposition parties are regularly being killed in Rwanda, although no one wants to point a finger directly at the government. Rwanda is also getting a new nuclear research reactor with support from Russia. The Uganda Law Society has released a new app meant to connect women and girls to legal advice. LGBT+ rights are under threat again in Uganda, with discussion of another law to make gay sex punishable by death. Check out this incredible mixed media piece about one family’s experience becoming refugees after the Congo Wars of the 1990s.
Here’s Atukwasize ChrisOgon‘s take on Chinese investment in Uganda
East Africa: In Kenya, the urban middle class is increasingly turning to “telephone farming” to diversify their income streams. Here’s a wonderful piece about khat and precolonial cuisine in Kenya. See also this piece about the history of culinary imperialism in Kenya. Meet the the Jehovah’s Witnesses targeting Chinese immigrants in Kenya. This is a good overview of Ethiopia’s complicated ethnic and regional politics. There’s an ambitious plan to refill Lake Chad by piping water in from the DRC via the CAR.
Southern Africa: A novel campaign strategy has been spotted in Botswana, where the opposition handed out menstrual pads with the party logo on them. This was a heartbreaking piece about sexual violence in South Africa and the #AmINext movement. Check out this photo essay on the mine-clearing women of Angola. Here’s an insightful long read about what really happened to the billions of dollars that were to be spent on Angola’s post-war reconstruction. Why is Zambia planning to finance almost 10% of its 2020 budget through a mysterious “exceptional revenue” source?
Kismayo sunset, by Said Fadhaye
Gender: Meet Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, the first female mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Roughly 1/3 of African businesses have no women on their boards, and another 1/ 3 have only one woman. In Malawi, a program which gives pregnant women housing close to hospitals before they deliver their babies has increased their husbands’ housework commitments while they’re away. This is a remarkable portrait of three generations of women who have stood up to dictatorship in Sudan. Kenya’s Gladys Ngetich is breaking barriers about women in STEM with her PhD on improving the efficiency of jet engines.
Business: This is a must-read piece on the political economy of foreign start-ups in Kenya. Orange is developing a new feature phone for the African market which includes social media apps. Uber is launching boat taxis in Lagos. Africa has 15% of the world’s population, but fully 45% of the world’s mobile money activity. African cosmetics companies are getting acquired by international corporations which want to offer better products for black skin and hair. Check out my Mawazo co-founder Rose Mutiso’s TED talk on how to bring affordable electricity to Africa.
The geographic distribution of wealth in Africa looks very different depending on whether it’s measured at the country, province, or district level (via Marshall Burke)
Politics: Africa Check has a great Promise Trackers page checking on the campaign promises of ruling parties in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. In many African countries, political parties aren’t obliged to disclose private donations, in an area ripe for campaign finance reform. In Ghana, the “I Am Aware” project successfully helped people push their local governments to improve the quality of public services like sanitation. More than 45% of African citizens live in a country where the last census was done more than 10 years ago. It turns out that most of Africa’s “civil wars” are actually regional wars.
Public health: Dr Jean-Jacques Muyembe of the DRC discovered Ebola in the 1970s, but has been largely written out of the historical record, until now. Check out this incredible photo essay about Ebola first responders in eastern DRC. Also in the DRC, snakebites are an underdiscussed public health crisis. A new study finds that more than 40% of women are verbally or physically abused while giving birth in Ghana, Guinea and Nigeria. Here’s how toxic masculinity can lead to the spread of HIV in Uganda.
Don’t miss Bisa Butler’s inspiring portraits of Black Americans done in African fabrics
Art + culture: A Togolese vintage clothing dealer is making waves in France by re-importing cast-off clothing previously sent to Togo. Meet Kenyan sculptor Wangechi Mutu, who’s taking over the façade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York until January 2020. What can be done about the spike in fake South African art? Check out the first print issue of Cameroon-based Bawka Magazine, about travel stories. Let’s celebrate these six inspiring young climate activists from low income countries, including Kenya and Uganda. Learn about all the unusual ways that African countries got their names. Here are the rising female artists of Kampala.