Quote of the week
“There is comfort though, as infrastructure has collapsed, in how the Sudanese people have pooled their few resources and opened up their homes to each other, in how volunteers have set up their community kitchens, and how resistance committees, local civil disobedience units that were set up before and thrived during the 2019 revolution have been repurposed to provide medical aid, food and shelter. In these acts, there is still a reminder that a country is not a place but a spirit.” – Nesrine Malik, on Sudan
A year of war in Sudan
It’s been a devastating year of violence in Sudan. Sudan’s war is destroying its culture and heritage, and the country is now a failing state. The country is on the brink of famine. This is how two generals wrecked the country, leading to eight million displaced people. Violence is ripping through Darfur. Nesrine Malik summarizes the devastation as the UN emphasizes rape, murder, and hunger. Watch this documentary for more. While the world looks away, the war necessitates urgent action and a global approach. CSIS outlines potential next steps.
Remembering the Rwandan Genocide
Chris Ògúnmódedé argues that the West learned the wrong lessons from the Rwandan Genocide. Bronwen Everill explains the long cultural legacy of the Genocide. This photo essay captures three decades of life after the violence. Learn more about reconciliation and unity in Rwandan villages.
South Africa’s upcoming election
South Africa awaits its most important election since Apartheid. Jacob Zuma’s new party is impacting the race. Is it the beginning of the end of ANC dominance? What happened after Mandela’s iconic election?
Senegal’s new president
Bassirou Faye’s inauguration lasted five minutes. Senegal’s new leader is breaking old ties, but maintains the same limits on women. He makes cautious economic hires on his cabinet. We learned one thing: The will of the people is sacrosanct.
Violence in DR Congo
This is a helpful report on M23’s activity in DR Congo. UN’s rights chief says eastern Congo’s violence is being forgotten by the world. Learn more about the legacy of the Genocide in the conflict in neighboring DR Congo.
Struggle for rights and freedom
Congrats to Ugandan LGBTQ activist Frank Mugisha for being a Time 100 Most Influential People 2024. He’s probably not celebrating with William Ruto while listening to Burna Boy (both on the list).
A helicopter crash kills Kenya’s military chief. This report examines perceptions of peace in South Sudan. South Sudan is amidst a refugee crisis. This story tells what happened to one of the Chibok girls who was kidnapped ten years ago. Magufili’s legacy persists in Tanzania despite Samia Hassan’s reforms. This report offers some lessons from humanitarian aid in protracted displacement. The 2024 Population census in The Gambia sparked controversy over the classification of the Fulani tribe in the questionnaire, dividing them into Fula, Tukulur, and Lorobo.
Swazi Secrets exposes the illicit economy in eSwatini. Ghana’s NPP Presidential candidate Bawumia says he opposes same-sex relations. Liberia’s senate votes to establish war crimes court. Stephen Zunes tackles the importance of occupation in Western Sahara. Learn about the economic and political history of Niger. Mali’s Junta suspends political party activities for “reasons of public order.” What’s at stake in Algeria’s upcoming election?
And lots of good things happening at Nordic Africa Institute.
Resistance and urban redevelopment
Abidjan authorities demolished hundreds of structures in coastal neighborhoods over alleged health concerns, leaving many people homeless. Lagos State authorities are doing the same. The Continent covers the redevelopment of Cairo while it destroys the past. Residents of Piasa in Addis remember their demolished past (photos here).
Africa’s rapid urbanization
More than 600,000 people are waiting for homes in the Western Cape. This is a cool exhibit on nature-based solutions in Nairobi’s informal settlements. Lagos has zero free public beaches. Addis Ababa’s Metro is already crumbling, signaling the failure of China’s borrowing policies. Should African mayors be concerned about urban migration?
This is a helpful article on Harare’s infrastructure crisis. Learn more about governance in Ghana’s marketplaces during the time of COVID. This is a great study on public support for participation in local development. Make sure to read Lena Gutheil’s report on decentralization and urban governance in Africa. And radical housing justice within and beyond caring.
Sean Fox, Felix Agyemang, Laurence Hawker, and Jeffrey Neal published this new article on social vulnerability and global flood-risk mapping (summary thread here).
Research corner
This is cool: Social media images as digital sources for West African urban history. Beth Whitaker and Elizabeth Wellman explain how the diaspora influences elections in Kenya. Learn more about the mobility of Somali youth and their relationship to violence. This study examines the abortion preferences of Zambian politicians. Thalia Gerzso examines bicameralism in African legislatures. Learn more about taxes during the time of revolution in Algeria. Tim Glawion discusses access and voice in African Studies publishing. Samuel Mark Anderson’s article is very cool: “Crosscurrents of Contagion: Snakes, Rumours, Rivers, and Ebola in Sierra Leone's Borderlands.” Martin J. Williams takes us beyond state capacity.
Social Status and Political Participation of Rich and Poor Citizens in Africa is out. Chris Tounsel’s Bounds of Blackness: African Americans, Sudan, and the Politics of Solidarity looks great. I’m looking forward to Paul Lovejoy and Nielson Bezerra’s Mahommah Gardo Baquaqua’s An Enslaved Muslim of the Black Atlantic. Check out Zeinab Badawi’s An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence. I can’t wait to read Tom Gardner’s The Abiy Project: God, Power and War in Ethiopia.
APCG Colloquia
Join the upcoming APCG Colloquium on April 25 for Blair Welsh’s paper on the reintegration of female and child ex-combatants in Somalia and on April 30 for Matthew Ribar’s study on land values and property rights in 21 African countries. Attend CODESRIA’s Social Policy in Africa Conference.
Understanding cocoa
The price of chocolate is skyrocketing. Ken Opalo explains what the current cocoa boom tells us about the current state (and future) of African agriculture. Kwame Asamoah Kwarteng discusses whether cocoa farmers are unknowingly financing their own oppression.
The week in development
Scaling up energy access in Africa. The IMF and World Bank are under pressure to get Africa back on track (from who?). Here are some lessons to redress the unequal power distribution in the global developmental sector. Inflation fuels a food crisis in West and Central Africa. Learn more about African innovations in this roundup. Ghana wants to become a leader in electric mobility.
Jed Kolko explains the economic research policymakers actually need. Naira’s rebound brings no respite for struggling Nigerians. Maternal mortality continues to devastate Nigeria. Ghana’s debt restructuring plan falters. Nigeria’s power grid fails following an increase in tariffs. Tanzania’s state can’t keep the lights on, either. Somalia’s EAC contribution depends on cutting organised crime. A resilient global economy masks growing debt and inequality. The US Congress has authorized $21 billion in lending to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust to provide access to financing for low- and middle-income countries.
Is rising developing nation debt a blessing or a curse? Oumar Ba asks: Now What?
Webinars on development
Watch this good panel on Africa’s debt impasse and the future of democratic governance in Africa. GLD’s roundtable on Gender and Local Politics is great. This roundtable discusses the term Genocide.
Mining and extraction
The United Arab Emirates has set its sights on Africa’s critical minerals. Greening the global economy undermines prosperity in the Congo. African countries are shifting mineral resources strategies. Niger and China sign a $400 million deal for oil.
Africa and the environment
Drought pushes millions into acute hunger in southern Africa. Tanzania floods kill nearly 60 in the first half of the month. Flooding displaces 15,000 Kenyans. A Dubai energy company is investing huge in opaque land deals. Traditional herders are trying out a milk-producing animal that is more resilient to climate change. The deadly African heat wave is impossible without human-induced global warming.
This report assesses climate adaptation plans in the Middle East and North Africa. This is how climate change could be driving killer cold outbreaks in oceans. South Africa’s solar boom is worsening inequality. Madagascar fishermen are adapting to deadly seas due to climate change. The future of Africa’s flamingoes are threatened by rising lakes.
And read this: The Great Serengeti Land Grab.
Building sustainable cities
Join us for the workshop “Building sustainable cities: The politics of provision, implementation and management” at APSA in September 4 in Philadelphia. The short course seeks papers that examine how residents demand rights to the city; the politics of service provision; the process of implementation, and; the long-term management of cities. Sign up here by May 15 if you are interested in presenting.
Daily life
The metalheads of Nairobi. Sammy Baloji’s work captures DR Congo’s vibrant arts and culture. Léonard Pongo, The Uncanny. Criticism meets optimism at the Nigeria Pavillion. Nigerian fashion, beyond the catwalk. What did Pelumi Nubi learn on her drive from London to Lagos?
Peace Medie reads her way through Accra.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil
Such a diverse and dynamic range of links this week! Thanks guys - such a great source of info on issues that are going under the radar in the MSM. Especially appreciate the link to the short Sudan documentary.