Saturday, November 29, 2014
Friday, November 28, 2014
Lobbying in Africa: Nightmare on K street
The Africa Report - Friday, 28 November 2014
The mission is to ensure that their candidate wins a decisive victory in
what is set to be Nigeria's closest presidential elections next
February.
US President Barack Obama's former campaign adviser, David Axelrod, has signed with the opposition All Progressives Congress. Likely to work alongside him are BTP Advisers, an up-and-coming British outfit that advised Uhuru Kenyatta in his successful election battle against Raila Odinga in Kenya last year.
On incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan's team is veteran strategist Joe Trippi, who pioneered mass fundraising on the internet.
Trippi worked with Atiku Abubakar on a presidential bid in 2007 and then with Jonathan on his successful 2011 election campaign.
Alongside Trippi and well placed for another contract with Jonathan is Bell Pottinger, a British company whose founder Tim Bell helped Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher win three consecutive elections in Britain.
Nigeria is, just ahead of Egypt and Morocco, Africa's biggest spender on image-making.
Each year it spends tens of millions of dollars on registered lobbyists, law firms and public relations companies to get its case across to foreign governments and media.
Egypt and Morocco hire lobbyists in Washington DC with specific goals: Cairo wants to protect its billions of dollars of US military aid, and Rabat wants to build US support for its claims on Western Sahara.
Beyond state spending, Africa's political parties and companies are fuelling a massive expansion in the communications business, in and about the continent.
Foreign campaign advisers are a feature of almost every African election, from Angola to Zimbabwe.
African companies are raising capital and their profiles across the world, and hiring image-makers to help them. This is by far the biggest growth sector.
Back in Nigeria, the gloves are off ahead of the 2015 election. A colleague of Trippi's tells The Africa Report that Jonathan is clearly headed for victory as the opposition politicians struggle to pick a presidential candidate.
READ MORE....
The mission is to ensure that their candidate wins a decisive victory in
what is set to be Nigeria's closest presidential elections next
February.US President Barack Obama's former campaign adviser, David Axelrod, has signed with the opposition All Progressives Congress. Likely to work alongside him are BTP Advisers, an up-and-coming British outfit that advised Uhuru Kenyatta in his successful election battle against Raila Odinga in Kenya last year.
On incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan's team is veteran strategist Joe Trippi, who pioneered mass fundraising on the internet.
Trippi worked with Atiku Abubakar on a presidential bid in 2007 and then with Jonathan on his successful 2011 election campaign.
Alongside Trippi and well placed for another contract with Jonathan is Bell Pottinger, a British company whose founder Tim Bell helped Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher win three consecutive elections in Britain.
Nigeria is, just ahead of Egypt and Morocco, Africa's biggest spender on image-making.
Each year it spends tens of millions of dollars on registered lobbyists, law firms and public relations companies to get its case across to foreign governments and media.
Egypt and Morocco hire lobbyists in Washington DC with specific goals: Cairo wants to protect its billions of dollars of US military aid, and Rabat wants to build US support for its claims on Western Sahara.
Beyond state spending, Africa's political parties and companies are fuelling a massive expansion in the communications business, in and about the continent.
Foreign campaign advisers are a feature of almost every African election, from Angola to Zimbabwe.
African companies are raising capital and their profiles across the world, and hiring image-makers to help them. This is by far the biggest growth sector.
Back in Nigeria, the gloves are off ahead of the 2015 election. A colleague of Trippi's tells The Africa Report that Jonathan is clearly headed for victory as the opposition politicians struggle to pick a presidential candidate.
READ MORE....
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
BandAid30: Have we learned nothing?
Cecelia Lynch
AFRICA IS A COUNTRY | November 18th, 2014
Have we learned nothing?! Thirty years ago, the Band-Aid video
showed pop stars with 1980s hair raising funds for “Africa.” But it
wasn’t for Africa, even though the resulting record featured a guitar in
the shape of a continent. It was Ethiopia, and the resulting “documentary”
began with BBC clips of starving people lined up for food in a camp,
with the usual flies swarming, hollowed eyes, and white doctors being
interviewed regarding their plight. The songs, the recordings, the
video — all identified all of Africa with these images of helplessness,
sounding the call of the “white savior industrial complex”for
a new generation. Despite the feel-good super sales of the song,
controversy continues around the question of whether the effort did more
material harm than good.
Fast forward to today: the just-released remix of the principal song of the 1984 Band-Aid concerts — Do they know it’s Christmas — plays to the same sentiments with many of the same stars (and some new ones, like One Direction) — and has all of the same problems. Again, have we really learned nothing??? The video opens with what was known in the 1990s as “aid pornography” (a term and debate which unfortunately has dropped from the radar screen )– [see my post on the film "When the Night Comes" and Ayesha Nibbe'spost on #KONY2012]– shots of dying people — shots that these stars would never allow of themselves. Then we see them filing into the studio one-by-one in the requisite shades, every move (but looking good, not in the throes of death) captured by paparazzi, then emotionally singing, then holding each other, giggling and smiling after they have done their good deed.
READ MORE.....
AFRICA IS A COUNTRY | November 18th, 2014
Fast forward to today: the just-released remix of the principal song of the 1984 Band-Aid concerts — Do they know it’s Christmas — plays to the same sentiments with many of the same stars (and some new ones, like One Direction) — and has all of the same problems. Again, have we really learned nothing??? The video opens with what was known in the 1990s as “aid pornography” (a term and debate which unfortunately has dropped from the radar screen )– [see my post on the film "When the Night Comes" and Ayesha Nibbe'spost on #KONY2012]– shots of dying people — shots that these stars would never allow of themselves. Then we see them filing into the studio one-by-one in the requisite shades, every move (but looking good, not in the throes of death) captured by paparazzi, then emotionally singing, then holding each other, giggling and smiling after they have done their good deed.
READ MORE.....
How to write about children in Africa
Maria Hengeveld
AFRICA IS A COUNTRY | November 8th, 2012
READ MORE....
AFRICA IS A COUNTRY | November 8th, 2012
In early October this year, PBS released the documentary ‘Half the Sky’, based on the book by frequent AIAC target and New York Times journalist Nicholas Kristof
and his wife Sheryl WuDunn (a former Times journalist) focusing on the
lot of girls and women in the Global South. As part of Kristof’s mission
to replace their oppression by opportunity, he visits a number of
sites. The action usually revolves around Kristof accompanied by a
famous American actress. The first stop had to be in Africa, of course.
Kristof visits Sierra Leone where he, along
with actress Eva Mendes, takes on the case of a 14-year old girl
Fulamatu, who has been raped repeatedly by a next door neighbor, passing
as a “pastor.” Kristof and Mendes visit the shelter where the girl was
taken by her mother. Over the next few minutes, Kristof proceeds to do
his own police work, and takes it upon himself to arrest the rapist. He
also counsels the young girl. By the end of the segment however, it is
unclear whether the rapist will stay in prison and pay for the crime and
whether Fulamatu will be safe (her father throws Fulamatu and her
mother out of the house because of the “shame” and attention they bring
to the family). The whole ends with an odd scene, with Mendes — who
looks as she does not want to be there — saying goodbye to Fulamatu,
offering her a necklace and hugging her: “You are so beautiful, brave
and strong.” Kristof then moves on to Thailand and Mendes goes back to
the US.
READ MORE....
Consuming Africa (at Christmas Time)
Elliot Ross
Africa is a country | December 24th, 2012
In 2004, the British press reported that the album cover Damien Hirst had designed for Band Aid 20’s re-recording of the 1984 single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” had been rejected by the organizers, for fear it would frighten small children. “The record, that’s the important part,” explained Midge Ure. “The cover doesn’t really matter. Throw the cover away. Buying it is the important thing.”
Hirst had depicted an emaciated black child perched on the Grim Reaper’s knee, while on the other side of the album a white child cradled in Santa’s lap clutched wads of banknotes. There was a sense that this particular juxtaposition could be considered distasteful, but the reason that got around was that the kids would be scared. An alternative cover arrived, in which an emaciated black-and-white black child walks naked through the snow into a full-color fairytale landscape, menaced on either side by a herd of outsized cartoon reindeer and a large family of hungry looking polar bears. Hirst’s excessively disturbing double image had been replaced by what was plainly a playful riff on “Vulture stalking a child,” the world-famous photograph of a Sudanese girl taken in 1993 by South African photographer Kevin Carter, who committed suicide months after the image was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
READ MORE....
Africa is a country | December 24th, 2012
In 2004, the British press reported that the album cover Damien Hirst had designed for Band Aid 20’s re-recording of the 1984 single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” had been rejected by the organizers, for fear it would frighten small children. “The record, that’s the important part,” explained Midge Ure. “The cover doesn’t really matter. Throw the cover away. Buying it is the important thing.”
Hirst had depicted an emaciated black child perched on the Grim Reaper’s knee, while on the other side of the album a white child cradled in Santa’s lap clutched wads of banknotes. There was a sense that this particular juxtaposition could be considered distasteful, but the reason that got around was that the kids would be scared. An alternative cover arrived, in which an emaciated black-and-white black child walks naked through the snow into a full-color fairytale landscape, menaced on either side by a herd of outsized cartoon reindeer and a large family of hungry looking polar bears. Hirst’s excessively disturbing double image had been replaced by what was plainly a playful riff on “Vulture stalking a child,” the world-famous photograph of a Sudanese girl taken in 1993 by South African photographer Kevin Carter, who committed suicide months after the image was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
READ MORE....
Why I had to turn down Band Aid Fuse ODG
Saying no to Bob Geldof was hard, but when I saw how negatively the lyrics portrayed Africa I had no choice
The Guardian - Wednesday 19 November 2014
Saying no to Bob Geldof
is one of the hardest decisions I have had to make this year. However,
seeing what looked like the corpse of an African woman being carried out
of her home on primetime TV when the video was premiered on X Factor crystallised my concerns about this strategy to combat the Ebola crisis. For me it is ultimately flawed.
A week before the recording of Band Aid 30, I received a call from Geldof asking if I would take part. I was honoured to be asked and, connecting with his passion for wanting to tackle the Ebola crisis, said I wanted to offer my support.
But I also had my concerns. I was sceptical because of the lyrics and the videos of the previous charity singles, and I worried that this would play into the constant negative portrayal of the continent of Africa in the west. Geldof and I spoke at length about this and he agreed with me on many levels, assuring me that we could use it as an opportunity to showcase the positives of Africa.
READ MORE.....
The Guardian - Wednesday 19 November 2014
A week before the recording of Band Aid 30, I received a call from Geldof asking if I would take part. I was honoured to be asked and, connecting with his passion for wanting to tackle the Ebola crisis, said I wanted to offer my support.
But I also had my concerns. I was sceptical because of the lyrics and the videos of the previous charity singles, and I worried that this would play into the constant negative portrayal of the continent of Africa in the west. Geldof and I spoke at length about this and he agreed with me on many levels, assuring me that we could use it as an opportunity to showcase the positives of Africa.
READ MORE.....
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Burkina Faso Coup Leader Trained By Pentagon:
Lt. Col. Yocouba Isaac Zida Follows Pattern Of Other Military Officers Who Enter Politics
By Abayomi Azikiwe (Pan-African News Wire)
Modern Ghana - 10 November 2014
After over a week of intense discussion between opposition parties, mass organizations and religious leaders of Burkina Faso, there was an announcement made on Nov. 10 that a roadmap had been agreed upon for a transition to civilian rule.
This consensus among the political parties and mass organizations must now be negotiated with the military to set the terms of the transition.
Popular organizations had rejected the military’s attempt to lead a transition team. Three leaders from Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal representing the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) visited the capital of Ouagadougou on Nov. 7 calling for a rapid process that would lead to national elections. The plan put forward from discussions among the opposition parties and mass organizations is calling for elections by Nov. 2015 after the appointment of an interim civilian president to guide the entire process.
Earlier on Oct. 30, demonstrations attended by hundreds of thousands demanded the resignation of the 27-year dictator President Blaise Compaore. When members of parliament were set to approve a bill that would have provided legal cover for Compaore to run for another term of office, thousands gathered outside the Place de la Nation while many stormed the parliament, the ruling party headquarters and other symbols of authority, setting them on fire.
READ MORE....
By Abayomi Azikiwe (Pan-African News Wire)
Modern Ghana - 10 November 2014
After over a week of intense discussion between opposition parties, mass organizations and religious leaders of Burkina Faso, there was an announcement made on Nov. 10 that a roadmap had been agreed upon for a transition to civilian rule.
This consensus among the political parties and mass organizations must now be negotiated with the military to set the terms of the transition.
Popular organizations had rejected the military’s attempt to lead a transition team. Three leaders from Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal representing the regional Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) visited the capital of Ouagadougou on Nov. 7 calling for a rapid process that would lead to national elections. The plan put forward from discussions among the opposition parties and mass organizations is calling for elections by Nov. 2015 after the appointment of an interim civilian president to guide the entire process.
Earlier on Oct. 30, demonstrations attended by hundreds of thousands demanded the resignation of the 27-year dictator President Blaise Compaore. When members of parliament were set to approve a bill that would have provided legal cover for Compaore to run for another term of office, thousands gathered outside the Place de la Nation while many stormed the parliament, the ruling party headquarters and other symbols of authority, setting them on fire.
READ MORE....
The World War One in Africa Project
What happened in Africa should not stay in Africa
By Jacques Enaudeau and Kathleen Bomani
Africa is a country | July 30th, 2014
For the next four years, the world is celebrating the Centenary of World War I, and once again Africa is not invited to the party.
The story of Africans’ involvement in the Great War is unheard of outside of academia, and thus remains to be told: the tens of thousands of African lives lost at home and abroad, defending the interests of foreign powers and the lives of complete strangers; the forced recruitment of African soldiers to fight Europe’s war, and of African workers to replace the labour force gone to the front; the battles between colonies pitting Africans against each other on their own soil; the reshaping of Africa’s borders and inner workings after the war under new rulers.
It was supposed to be the “war to end war” and yet, by the proxy of colonial empires, it created war where no one cared for it, dragging an estimated two million Africans into the conflict, originating from Algeria to South Africa. Such bitter irony is lost on today’s France, Britain, Germany, Belgium and Portugal, all colonial powers who sat at the Berlin conference in 1885 to finalise the scramble for Africa.
READ MORE.....
By Jacques Enaudeau and Kathleen Bomani
Africa is a country | July 30th, 2014
For the next four years, the world is celebrating the Centenary of World War I, and once again Africa is not invited to the party.
The story of Africans’ involvement in the Great War is unheard of outside of academia, and thus remains to be told: the tens of thousands of African lives lost at home and abroad, defending the interests of foreign powers and the lives of complete strangers; the forced recruitment of African soldiers to fight Europe’s war, and of African workers to replace the labour force gone to the front; the battles between colonies pitting Africans against each other on their own soil; the reshaping of Africa’s borders and inner workings after the war under new rulers.
It was supposed to be the “war to end war” and yet, by the proxy of colonial empires, it created war where no one cared for it, dragging an estimated two million Africans into the conflict, originating from Algeria to South Africa. Such bitter irony is lost on today’s France, Britain, Germany, Belgium and Portugal, all colonial powers who sat at the Berlin conference in 1885 to finalise the scramble for Africa.
READ MORE.....
Monday, November 10, 2014
Flying under the radar in Central Africa, Chinese companies may be wreaking environmental havoc
Daniel Stiles - Mongabay Special Reporting Assignment Fellow
Mongabay.com - November 07, 2014
"Tchimpounga is not just a sanctuary," shouted Rebeca Atencia above the din of the outboard motor, as she pointed to our progress up the Kouilou River on her tablet, donated by Google, which included access to high-resolution satellite maps. The GPS tracking showed us as a small, blue diamond moving slowly up the murky river. I marveled once again at 21st Century technology. Here we were, in a remote part of the Republic of Congo (RoC) in Central Africa, with thick tropical jungle on both banks and no roads inland, yet there was access to GPS tracking and cell phone service. Atencia was giving me the history of the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre as we headed for three islands in the Kouilou River that were being transformed into chimpanzee preparation sites for pre-release into the wild. Here orphaned chimpanzees would learn, under supervision, how to fend for themselves.
READ MORE....
Mongabay.com - November 07, 2014
"Tchimpounga is not just a sanctuary," shouted Rebeca Atencia above the din of the outboard motor, as she pointed to our progress up the Kouilou River on her tablet, donated by Google, which included access to high-resolution satellite maps. The GPS tracking showed us as a small, blue diamond moving slowly up the murky river. I marveled once again at 21st Century technology. Here we were, in a remote part of the Republic of Congo (RoC) in Central Africa, with thick tropical jungle on both banks and no roads inland, yet there was access to GPS tracking and cell phone service. Atencia was giving me the history of the Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Centre as we headed for three islands in the Kouilou River that were being transformed into chimpanzee preparation sites for pre-release into the wild. Here orphaned chimpanzees would learn, under supervision, how to fend for themselves.
READ MORE....
The US ruined Libya
By Stephen Kinzer
The Boston Globe | November 07, 2014
Just three years have passed since an American-led bombing campaign destroyed the regime of Moammar Khadafy in Libya. At first that operation felt like a victory for peace and freedom. By bringing down the dictator, we presumed we had “liberated” Libyans and that they would quickly settle into pro-American democracy.
READ MORE.....
The Boston Globe | November 07, 2014
Just three years have passed since an American-led bombing campaign destroyed the regime of Moammar Khadafy in Libya. At first that operation felt like a victory for peace and freedom. By bringing down the dictator, we presumed we had “liberated” Libyans and that they would quickly settle into pro-American democracy.
The speed with
which we have been proven disastrously wrong, however, is breathtaking.
So is the sweeping scope of unintended consequences that have flowed
from this intervention. Not even those who opposed it imagined how
far-reaching its effects would be. This is likely to go down in history
as the most ill-conceived intervention of the Obama era.
READ MORE.....
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Chinese Corporations in Africa: Saints or Sinners?
A China in Africa Podcast
By ERIC OLANDER, COBUS VAN STADEN, OJUMI OKUMU
China File - 10.20.14
“The African way of life is under attack by Chinese corporations,” argues University of Technology, Sydney doctoral candidate Onjumi Okumu. The Kenya native contends that a combination of weak governance in African mixed with no legal restraints on Chinese corporate behavior encourage PRC companies to behave illegally and destructively in Africa, destroying the continent’s fragile social capital. Okumu focuses, in particular, on the effects Chinese investments are having on the people of Kenya. It’s a provocative, controversial, and fascinating thesis.
READ MORE....
By ERIC OLANDER, COBUS VAN STADEN, OJUMI OKUMU
China File - 10.20.14
“The African way of life is under attack by Chinese corporations,” argues University of Technology, Sydney doctoral candidate Onjumi Okumu. The Kenya native contends that a combination of weak governance in African mixed with no legal restraints on Chinese corporate behavior encourage PRC companies to behave illegally and destructively in Africa, destroying the continent’s fragile social capital. Okumu focuses, in particular, on the effects Chinese investments are having on the people of Kenya. It’s a provocative, controversial, and fascinating thesis.
READ MORE....
Friday, November 7, 2014
The Spectre of Global China
Ching Kwan Lee
New Left Review 89, September-October 2014
After three decades of sustained growth China, an economic powerhouse of continental proportions, is becoming choked by bottlenecks: overcapacity, falling profits, surplus capital, shrinking demand in traditional export markets and scarcity of raw materials. These imbalances have driven Chinese firms and citizens overseas in search of new opportunities, encouraged by Beijing’s ‘going out’ policy. Their presence in Africa has drawn a vast amount of attention, despite the fact that the prc only accounts for a tiny fraction of foreign direct investment there—4 per cent for 2000–10, compared to 84 per cent for the Atlantic powers. [1] In the ensuing rhetorical battle, the Western media has created the spectre of a ‘global China’ launching a new scramble for Africa, while Beijing for its part claims simply to be encouraging South–South cooperation, free of hegemonic aspirations or World Bank-style conditions. These seemingly opposed positions, however, share the implicit assumption that Chinese investment is qualitatively different from conventional foreign investment. What, if any, is the peculiarity of Chinese capital in Africa? What are the consequences of China’s presence, and what prospects does it offer for African development?
READ MORE....
New Left Review 89, September-October 2014
After three decades of sustained growth China, an economic powerhouse of continental proportions, is becoming choked by bottlenecks: overcapacity, falling profits, surplus capital, shrinking demand in traditional export markets and scarcity of raw materials. These imbalances have driven Chinese firms and citizens overseas in search of new opportunities, encouraged by Beijing’s ‘going out’ policy. Their presence in Africa has drawn a vast amount of attention, despite the fact that the prc only accounts for a tiny fraction of foreign direct investment there—4 per cent for 2000–10, compared to 84 per cent for the Atlantic powers. [1] In the ensuing rhetorical battle, the Western media has created the spectre of a ‘global China’ launching a new scramble for Africa, while Beijing for its part claims simply to be encouraging South–South cooperation, free of hegemonic aspirations or World Bank-style conditions. These seemingly opposed positions, however, share the implicit assumption that Chinese investment is qualitatively different from conventional foreign investment. What, if any, is the peculiarity of Chinese capital in Africa? What are the consequences of China’s presence, and what prospects does it offer for African development?
READ MORE....
Belonging–why South Africans refuse to let Africa in
Sisonke Msimang
Africa is a country | October 22nd, 2014
Any African who has ever tried to visit South Africa will know that the country is not an easy entry destination. South African embassies across the continent are almost as difficult to access as those of the UK and the United States. They are characterised by long queues, inordinate amounts of paperwork, and officials who manage to be simultaneously rude and lethargic. It should come as no surprise then that South Africa’s new Minister of Home Affairs has announced the proposed establishment of a Border Management Agency for the country. In his words the new agency “will be central to securing all land, air and maritime ports of entry and support the efforts of the South African National Defence force to address the threats posed to, and the porousness of, our borderline.”
Political observers of South Africa will understand that this is bureaucratic speak to dress up the fact that insularity will continue to be the country’s guiding ethos in its social, cultural and political dealings with the rest of the continent.
Perhaps I am particularly attuned to this because of my upbringing. I am South African but grew up in exile. That is to say I was raised in the Africa that is not South Africa; that place of fantasy and nightmare that exists beyond the Limpopo. When I first came home in the mid 1990s, in those early months as I was learning to adjust to life in South Africa, I was often struck by the odd way in which the term ‘Africa,’ was deployed by both white and black South Africans.
READ MORE....
Africa is a country | October 22nd, 2014
Any African who has ever tried to visit South Africa will know that the country is not an easy entry destination. South African embassies across the continent are almost as difficult to access as those of the UK and the United States. They are characterised by long queues, inordinate amounts of paperwork, and officials who manage to be simultaneously rude and lethargic. It should come as no surprise then that South Africa’s new Minister of Home Affairs has announced the proposed establishment of a Border Management Agency for the country. In his words the new agency “will be central to securing all land, air and maritime ports of entry and support the efforts of the South African National Defence force to address the threats posed to, and the porousness of, our borderline.”
Political observers of South Africa will understand that this is bureaucratic speak to dress up the fact that insularity will continue to be the country’s guiding ethos in its social, cultural and political dealings with the rest of the continent.
Perhaps I am particularly attuned to this because of my upbringing. I am South African but grew up in exile. That is to say I was raised in the Africa that is not South Africa; that place of fantasy and nightmare that exists beyond the Limpopo. When I first came home in the mid 1990s, in those early months as I was learning to adjust to life in South Africa, I was often struck by the odd way in which the term ‘Africa,’ was deployed by both white and black South Africans.
READ MORE....
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Documentaries: Ancient Africa and Prof.Ali Mazrui: Tools of Exploitation In Africa
Lost Civilizations: Africa
Prof.Ali Mazrui: Tools of Exploitation In Africa
Prof.Ali Mazrui: Tools of Exploitation In Africa
100 African Cities Destroyed By Europeans
WHY there are seldom historical buildings and monuments in sub-Saharian Africa!
Did you know that in the 14th century the city of Timbuktu in West Africa was five times bigger than the city of London, and was the richest city in the world?
By Mawuna Remarque KOUTONIN
Silicon Africa - Saturday, November 1st, 2014
When tourists visit sub-Saharan Africa, they often wonder “Why there are no historical buildings or monuments?”
The reason is simple. Europeans have destroyed most of them. We have only left drawings and descriptions by travelers who have visited the places before the destructions. In some places, ruins are still visible. Many cities have been abandoned into ruin when Europeans brought exotic diseases (smallpox and influenza) which started spreading and killing people. The ruins of those cities are still hidden. In fact the biggest part of Africa history is still under the ground.
In this post, I’ll share pieces of informations about Africa before the arrival of Europeans, the destroyed cities and lessons we could learn as africans for the future.
The collection of facts regarding the state of african cities before their destruction is done by Robin Walker, a distinguished panafricanist and historian who has written the book ‘When We Ruled’, and by PD Lawton, another great panafricanist, who has an upcoming book titled “The Invisible Empire”.
All quotes and excerpts below are from the books of Robin Walker and PD Lawton. I highly recommend you to buy Walker’s book ‘When We Ruled’ to get a full account of the beauty of the continent before its destruction. You can get more info about PD Lawton work by visiting her blog: AfricanAgenda.net
READ MORE....
Did you know that in the 14th century the city of Timbuktu in West Africa was five times bigger than the city of London, and was the richest city in the world?
By Mawuna Remarque KOUTONIN
Silicon Africa - Saturday, November 1st, 2014
The reason is simple. Europeans have destroyed most of them. We have only left drawings and descriptions by travelers who have visited the places before the destructions. In some places, ruins are still visible. Many cities have been abandoned into ruin when Europeans brought exotic diseases (smallpox and influenza) which started spreading and killing people. The ruins of those cities are still hidden. In fact the biggest part of Africa history is still under the ground.
In this post, I’ll share pieces of informations about Africa before the arrival of Europeans, the destroyed cities and lessons we could learn as africans for the future.
The collection of facts regarding the state of african cities before their destruction is done by Robin Walker, a distinguished panafricanist and historian who has written the book ‘When We Ruled’, and by PD Lawton, another great panafricanist, who has an upcoming book titled “The Invisible Empire”.
All quotes and excerpts below are from the books of Robin Walker and PD Lawton. I highly recommend you to buy Walker’s book ‘When We Ruled’ to get a full account of the beauty of the continent before its destruction. You can get more info about PD Lawton work by visiting her blog: AfricanAgenda.net
READ MORE....
Monday, November 3, 2014
Funding: Mind the gap
The Africa Report - Monday, 03 November 2014
Finding money for transformative investment has always been a struggle in Africa - but now banks and governments are joining forces to mobilise Africa's own resources, and find long-term funds. Africa has development challenges that require immediate attention, like roads, housing and agriculture.
Glossy brochures in the reception rooms of upmarket private equity funds in the United States (US) and Great Britain vaunt the upward trajectory of the continent, but these vital sectors do not attract many financiers from outside the continent, except for a few backing self-contained projects such as high-end apartments, plantation agriculture for export and toll roads.
Local banks, despite the recent progress and pauses, often lack the asset bases to do the heavy lifting associated with infrastructure.
They do not have the long-term funds needed to provide housing finance, and they do not trust farmers or utility companies to pay them back. This is changing, and banks in some countries are now large enough to tackle expensive projects.
Wole Tinubu, chief executive of Nigeria's Oando used local banks to finance about 50% of the $1.5bn purchase of ConocoPhillips's Nigerian assets in July.
READ MORE.....
Finding money for transformative investment has always been a struggle in Africa - but now banks and governments are joining forces to mobilise Africa's own resources, and find long-term funds. Africa has development challenges that require immediate attention, like roads, housing and agriculture.
Glossy brochures in the reception rooms of upmarket private equity funds in the United States (US) and Great Britain vaunt the upward trajectory of the continent, but these vital sectors do not attract many financiers from outside the continent, except for a few backing self-contained projects such as high-end apartments, plantation agriculture for export and toll roads.
Local banks, despite the recent progress and pauses, often lack the asset bases to do the heavy lifting associated with infrastructure.
They do not have the long-term funds needed to provide housing finance, and they do not trust farmers or utility companies to pay them back. This is changing, and banks in some countries are now large enough to tackle expensive projects.
Wole Tinubu, chief executive of Nigeria's Oando used local banks to finance about 50% of the $1.5bn purchase of ConocoPhillips's Nigerian assets in July.
READ MORE.....
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Tanzania says construction of China-funded port to start in 2015
By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala in Dar Es Salaam
The Africa Report - 27 October 2014
Construction of a Chinese-funded port and special economic zone in Tanzania worth at least $10 billion will start in July 2015, the East African country's president's office said in a statement on Monday, for the first time setting a start date for the delayed initiative. Tanzania aims to build a huge port at Bagamoyo, 75 km (47 miles) north of commercial capital Dar es Salaam, the site of the country's main port, where shippers complain of congestion and inefficiencies.
A construction agreement for the port and associated zone was signed on Sunday and follows a framework deal signed last year.
An official said a start date for building work had taken time to set because of other negotiations about infrastructure to link the port to national transport networks.
The planned Bagamoyo port, new investment in Dar es Salaam and other spending on roads and railways are part of Tanzania's efforts to become a transport hub that could challenge the dominance of Mombasa in neighbouring Kenya.
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The Africa Report - 27 October 2014
Construction of a Chinese-funded port and special economic zone in Tanzania worth at least $10 billion will start in July 2015, the East African country's president's office said in a statement on Monday, for the first time setting a start date for the delayed initiative. Tanzania aims to build a huge port at Bagamoyo, 75 km (47 miles) north of commercial capital Dar es Salaam, the site of the country's main port, where shippers complain of congestion and inefficiencies.
A construction agreement for the port and associated zone was signed on Sunday and follows a framework deal signed last year.
An official said a start date for building work had taken time to set because of other negotiations about infrastructure to link the port to national transport networks.
The planned Bagamoyo port, new investment in Dar es Salaam and other spending on roads and railways are part of Tanzania's efforts to become a transport hub that could challenge the dominance of Mombasa in neighbouring Kenya.
READ MORE.....
Chinese Corporations in Africa: Saints or Sinners?
ERIC OLANDER, COBUS VAN STADEN, OJUMI OKUMU
CHINA FILE - 10.20.14
“The African way of life is under attack by Chinese corporations,” argues University of Technology, Sydney doctoral candidate Onjumi Okumu. The Kenya native contends that a combination of weak governance in African mixed with no legal restraints on Chinese corporate behavior encourage PRC companies to behave illegally and destructively in Africa, destroying the continent’s fragile social capital. Okumu focuses, in particular, on the effects Chinese investments are having on the people of Kenya. It’s a provocative, controversial, and fascinating thesis.
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CHINA FILE - 10.20.14
“The African way of life is under attack by Chinese corporations,” argues University of Technology, Sydney doctoral candidate Onjumi Okumu. The Kenya native contends that a combination of weak governance in African mixed with no legal restraints on Chinese corporate behavior encourage PRC companies to behave illegally and destructively in Africa, destroying the continent’s fragile social capital. Okumu focuses, in particular, on the effects Chinese investments are having on the people of Kenya. It’s a provocative, controversial, and fascinating thesis.
READ MORE....
Mozambique: Asian buyers line up to import natural gas
By REUTERS
The Africa Report - Friday, 31 October 2014
Countries across Asia are quietly reaching deals to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Mozambique, which could transform its economy and give it a front-row seat in tapping rising global gas demand. The unannounced agreements, five in total, show how war-scarred Mozambique is elbowing past rivals from the United States to Australia by offering flexible contract terms on 20-year deals. U.S. oil major Anadarko Petroleum is building the first two of up to 10 plants in Mozambique to liquefy gas for export. Preliminary deals have been reached to sell its LNG to China National Offshore Oil Corp, Japan, Indonesia's state-run Pertamina, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand's PTT and companies in India, according to company and industry sources close to the talks. If all goes as planned, Africa-focused Standard Bank expects an LNG windfall to swell the state purse of the former Portuguese colony, one of the world's least-developed nations.
READ MORE.....
The Africa Report - Friday, 31 October 2014
Countries across Asia are quietly reaching deals to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Mozambique, which could transform its economy and give it a front-row seat in tapping rising global gas demand. The unannounced agreements, five in total, show how war-scarred Mozambique is elbowing past rivals from the United States to Australia by offering flexible contract terms on 20-year deals. U.S. oil major Anadarko Petroleum is building the first two of up to 10 plants in Mozambique to liquefy gas for export. Preliminary deals have been reached to sell its LNG to China National Offshore Oil Corp, Japan, Indonesia's state-run Pertamina, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand's PTT and companies in India, according to company and industry sources close to the talks. If all goes as planned, Africa-focused Standard Bank expects an LNG windfall to swell the state purse of the former Portuguese colony, one of the world's least-developed nations.
READ MORE.....
Saturday, November 1, 2014
"Beijing Road" in Algiers tells China-Algeria stories
By Qian Ruisha
Xinhua - 2014-11-01
There is a street, called "Beijing Road" in downtown Algiers, which zigzags uphill about one kilometer, linking the presidential office at one end, and the city's bustling commercial district at the other.
Many old locals are familiar with the "China story" on the road, and there are always visitors coming from distant China to pay a visit to this road and have a photo with it.
Walking in a sunny October day along the road to trace its history and Chinese element, you will meet a lot of local residents greeting you naturally with Chinese "ni hao", equivalent to "hello" in English.
In a coffee bar on the road, an old man in his 70s, who grew up there, was very delighted when he saw Chinese visitors.
He put his index fingers together, a gesture meaning that Algeria and China are "good brothers."
READ MORE....
Xinhua - 2014-11-01
There is a street, called "Beijing Road" in downtown Algiers, which zigzags uphill about one kilometer, linking the presidential office at one end, and the city's bustling commercial district at the other.
Many old locals are familiar with the "China story" on the road, and there are always visitors coming from distant China to pay a visit to this road and have a photo with it.
Walking in a sunny October day along the road to trace its history and Chinese element, you will meet a lot of local residents greeting you naturally with Chinese "ni hao", equivalent to "hello" in English.
In a coffee bar on the road, an old man in his 70s, who grew up there, was very delighted when he saw Chinese visitors.
He put his index fingers together, a gesture meaning that Algeria and China are "good brothers."
READ MORE....
Chad to double oil output by 2016, develop minerals
THE AFRICA REPORT - Tuesday, 07 October 2014
Chad expects to double oil production by the end of 2015 as new fields come on stream and has appointed firms to inventory potential mineral deposits in an effort to diversify the economy, its finance minister said. The former French colony, one of the poorest nations in the world, has been rocked by humanitarian crises over the past decade including conflicts in the east and south, drought in the arid Sahel region and flooding. That has been compounded since 2012 by instability on its borders with Libya, Nigeria and Central African Republic, forcing Chad to increase its security budget to handle thousands of new refugees and counter a growing cross-border threat. The landlocked central African country has, nevertheless, seen strong growth over the past decade as it has become an oil producer, although GDP growth slowed to 3.5 percent in 2013 due primarily to lower income from ageing wells in its Doba oilfield.
READ MORE....
Chad expects to double oil production by the end of 2015 as new fields come on stream and has appointed firms to inventory potential mineral deposits in an effort to diversify the economy, its finance minister said. The former French colony, one of the poorest nations in the world, has been rocked by humanitarian crises over the past decade including conflicts in the east and south, drought in the arid Sahel region and flooding. That has been compounded since 2012 by instability on its borders with Libya, Nigeria and Central African Republic, forcing Chad to increase its security budget to handle thousands of new refugees and counter a growing cross-border threat. The landlocked central African country has, nevertheless, seen strong growth over the past decade as it has become an oil producer, although GDP growth slowed to 3.5 percent in 2013 due primarily to lower income from ageing wells in its Doba oilfield.
READ MORE....
Mubi battle: 300 Nigerian soldiers flee to Cameroon again
By Bisong Etahoben
Punch - November 2, 2014
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Punch - November 2, 2014
No fewer than 300 Nigerian soldiers fled
to Cameroon when Boko Haram insurgents overran Mubi, the second largest
city in Borno State from security forces on Wednesday, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.
Cameroonian
military sources told our correspondent that Nigerian soldiers fled the
north-eastern part of Nigeria, where the insurgency launched by the
sect was raging, and crossed the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
The
sources also said more Nigerian troops might have fled to other border
towns in Cameroon after the Mubi attack. However, he added that their
number had yet to be ascertained.
READ MORE....
Botswana: Angolan President Salutes Botswana Counterpart
AllAfrica - 31 October 2014
The Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos Thursday in Luanda congratulated his counterpart of Botswana Ian Khama on his victory in the recent election for one more presidential term.
In his message, president Dos Santos says that the choice of the Botswana people expresses, in an unequivocal way, their trust in the governing action of the Botwana Democratic Party and in the leadership of president Ian Khama in favour of stability, sustainable development and prosperity of the country.
According to a press release from the Civil Affairs Office to the President of the Republic, José Eduardo dos Santos reiterated the Angolan Government's wish to have the ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries reinforced.
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The Angolan head of State José Eduardo dos Santos Thursday in Luanda congratulated his counterpart of Botswana Ian Khama on his victory in the recent election for one more presidential term.
In his message, president Dos Santos says that the choice of the Botswana people expresses, in an unequivocal way, their trust in the governing action of the Botwana Democratic Party and in the leadership of president Ian Khama in favour of stability, sustainable development and prosperity of the country.
According to a press release from the Civil Affairs Office to the President of the Republic, José Eduardo dos Santos reiterated the Angolan Government's wish to have the ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries reinforced.
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Zooming in on Namibia's fashionable, young OvaHimba men
By Sean O’Toole
Mail and Guardian - 31 Oct 2014
It is a 700km drive northwest of the Namibian capital of Windhoek along a tarred road to Opuwo, a town of roughly 15?000 people. The OvaHimba, pastoralists, who tend Nguni cattle in the drought-prone Kunene region and sometimes pose for photographs taken by travellers, speak of the settlement as a place of “iron oxen” and drunkenness.
A German anthropologist, who for more than a decade studied the broader economics and culture of boozing here, has characterised Opuwo as “a frontier town drinking its way into modernity”. But a very different version of Opuwo’s modernity caught the attention of 22-year-old Kyle Weeks when he passed through the town by car early last year. Driving north along Mumbijazo Muharukua Avenue, the Windhoek-born photographer saw a group of fashionable young OvaHimba men wearing traditional neck rings and shirts declaring allegiance to global fashion brands and faraway football clubs. Their noticeable self-confidence intrigued Weeks.
READ MORE....
Mail and Guardian - 31 Oct 2014
It is a 700km drive northwest of the Namibian capital of Windhoek along a tarred road to Opuwo, a town of roughly 15?000 people. The OvaHimba, pastoralists, who tend Nguni cattle in the drought-prone Kunene region and sometimes pose for photographs taken by travellers, speak of the settlement as a place of “iron oxen” and drunkenness.
A German anthropologist, who for more than a decade studied the broader economics and culture of boozing here, has characterised Opuwo as “a frontier town drinking its way into modernity”. But a very different version of Opuwo’s modernity caught the attention of 22-year-old Kyle Weeks when he passed through the town by car early last year. Driving north along Mumbijazo Muharukua Avenue, the Windhoek-born photographer saw a group of fashionable young OvaHimba men wearing traditional neck rings and shirts declaring allegiance to global fashion brands and faraway football clubs. Their noticeable self-confidence intrigued Weeks.
READ MORE....
Senegal’s Child Beggars On Increase
by Momodou J Darboe, News Editor
JOLLOF NEWS - Friday, 31 October 2014
Despite efforts in combating street begging in Senegal, child beggars are increasingly visible on the streets of Dakar and other cities and towns of the West African state. Hundreds of children at residential Quranic schools in Senegal are subjected to slavery-like conditions and severely abused.
Children, as young as five years in rags and with empty tomato paste tins in hand, are familiar sights in many busy places of Dakar, the Senegalese capital and other cities.
Child begging is seemingly becoming an insurmountable problem in Senegal as children come from across the border from Guinea Bissau, neighbouring Gambia and Mali to Senegal as the country is a source, transit, and destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labour and commercial exploitation.
Internally, Quranic teachers traffic boys, commonly referred to as Talibe, by promising to teach them the Quran but subjecting them instead to force begging and physical abuse.
READ MORE....
JOLLOF NEWS - Friday, 31 October 2014
Despite efforts in combating street begging in Senegal, child beggars are increasingly visible on the streets of Dakar and other cities and towns of the West African state. Hundreds of children at residential Quranic schools in Senegal are subjected to slavery-like conditions and severely abused.
Children, as young as five years in rags and with empty tomato paste tins in hand, are familiar sights in many busy places of Dakar, the Senegalese capital and other cities.
Child begging is seemingly becoming an insurmountable problem in Senegal as children come from across the border from Guinea Bissau, neighbouring Gambia and Mali to Senegal as the country is a source, transit, and destination country for children trafficked for the purposes of forced labour and commercial exploitation.
Internally, Quranic teachers traffic boys, commonly referred to as Talibe, by promising to teach them the Quran but subjecting them instead to force begging and physical abuse.
READ MORE....
Mozambique elects Nyusi as new president
By Agency Staff
BUSINESS DAY - October 30 2014
Mozambique has elected Filipe Nyusi of the governing Frelimo party as the next president, the National Electoral Commission said on Thursday in announcing final results of polls two weeks ago.
The former defence minister won 57% of the vote — which is sharply down on Frelimo’s 75% victory in the 2009 presidential election. Mr Nyusi’s nearest rival, Afonso Dhlakama of the former rebel Renamo party, garnered 37% of the votes — more than double the 16% he won in 2009.
Incumbent Armando Guebuza, who was constitutionally barred from seeking re-election to a third term, will hand over early next year to Mr Nyusi, ho will steer the country as it starts to tap vast natural gas resources recently discovered in the north.
Frelimo, which has ruled the former Portuguese colony since independence nearly 40 years ago, also won the majority of seats in parliament, taking 144 to Renamo’s 89. A new party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement gained 17 seats.
READ MORE....
BUSINESS DAY - October 30 2014
Mozambique has elected Filipe Nyusi of the governing Frelimo party as the next president, the National Electoral Commission said on Thursday in announcing final results of polls two weeks ago.
The former defence minister won 57% of the vote — which is sharply down on Frelimo’s 75% victory in the 2009 presidential election. Mr Nyusi’s nearest rival, Afonso Dhlakama of the former rebel Renamo party, garnered 37% of the votes — more than double the 16% he won in 2009.
Incumbent Armando Guebuza, who was constitutionally barred from seeking re-election to a third term, will hand over early next year to Mr Nyusi, ho will steer the country as it starts to tap vast natural gas resources recently discovered in the north.
Frelimo, which has ruled the former Portuguese colony since independence nearly 40 years ago, also won the majority of seats in parliament, taking 144 to Renamo’s 89. A new party, the Mozambique Democratic Movement gained 17 seats.
READ MORE....
Angola brings oil firm Sonangol into local BES bank
LISBON
Reuters - Thu Oct 30, 2014
Angola's central bank has brought in state oil company Sonangol as a shareholder in the rescue of the BES Angola (BESA) bank, despite the objections of BESA's former parent, Portugal's bailed-out lender Banco Espirito Santo (BES). National Bank of Angola said in a statement the move, which included renaming BES Angola as Banco Economico, was approved on Wednesday by the shareholders of BESA, and that BES's working successor Novo Banco would get a 9.9 percent stake as previously announced. The central bank did not say what stake Sonangol will have in Banco Economico nor indicate the size of the bank. Some Portuguese media reports said the oil company would hold 35 percent.
READ MORE....
Reuters - Thu Oct 30, 2014
Angola's central bank has brought in state oil company Sonangol as a shareholder in the rescue of the BES Angola (BESA) bank, despite the objections of BESA's former parent, Portugal's bailed-out lender Banco Espirito Santo (BES). National Bank of Angola said in a statement the move, which included renaming BES Angola as Banco Economico, was approved on Wednesday by the shareholders of BESA, and that BES's working successor Novo Banco would get a 9.9 percent stake as previously announced. The central bank did not say what stake Sonangol will have in Banco Economico nor indicate the size of the bank. Some Portuguese media reports said the oil company would hold 35 percent.
READ MORE....
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