This Week in Africa
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Does Africa need more urban planning? Here is the week in Africa:
Quote of the week
“The day every Ethiopian has sacrificed for, hoped and prayed for, is finally here.” – Ethiopia’s PM Abiy Ahmed
Russia invades Ukraine
Clearly the news of the year. Maybe the decade, or more. Kenya makes a strong statement opposing the move at the UN. The speech is worth watching. The invasion has huge implications for African students studying in Ukraine. Many are very scared about what comes next. The conflict could drive up food prices on the continent. Where do African states stand on the matter?
Electricity production at the Nile dam
Ethiopia began electricity production at the controversial Nile mega-dam. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam will be the largest hydroelectric project in Africa, and doubles Ethiopia’s power output. This is what it looks like. Sudan slammed the move.
Europe-Africa relations
Nina Wilén discusses France’s withdrawal from Mali. Mali bets big on sovereignty. Africa doesn’t share Europe’s enthusiasm for the EU-Africa summit. Zainab Usman and Jonathan Glennie critically examine UK’s integrated review and its implications for Africa-UK relations. What is the future of Africa-EU relations?
Kenya’s election
Kenyans go to the polls in October, but the campaigning has begun. Kenyans lack confidence in the electoral process, but still want democracy and will vote. Uhuru Kenyatta officially endorses opposition candidate Raila Odinga for President.
Struggle for rights and freedom
Africans are generally open to foreign engagements on the continent. Here are three steps to better policies to prevent coups. These are the complexities of calling a coup a coup. A fuel tanker crash killed more than ten people in Nigeria. Nigeria’s looted Benin bronzes are returned, more than a century later.
Hundreds participated in an anti-foreigner march in Hillbrow, Johannesburg. Learn more about how South Sudan’s Salva Kiir has stayed in power for so long. Meet Mnangagwa’s oligarchs. This is a very helpful report about the Cabo Delgado conflict and its regional implications. Africans want consensual democracy.
Is long-lasting peace in Ethiopia possible? Can US’ Africa policy look beyond China?
Africa’s rapid urbanization
Accra needs more green space. This looks like a great workshop on African cities. A Ghanaian entrepreneur is building affordable housing from plastics. Contribute to this volume on Public Space and Placemaking in African Cities. Check out Charter Cities Institutes’ Research Agenda.
Research corner
This looks great: Roger Southall’s Whites and Democracy in South Africa. So does this: Domestic Interests, Democracy, and Foreign Policy Change. Check out Toyin Falola’s Decolonizing African Studies: Knowledge Production, Agency, and Voice. Queer and Trans African Mobilities : Migration, Asylum and Diaspora is out soon. Cinematic Independence Constructing the Big Screen in Nigeria looks cool.
Ken Opalo examines the mixed legacies of colonial legislatures in Ghana and Kenya. Matthew Mitchell has two new articles to check out: “Indigenous Land Rights and Contentious Politics in Africa: The Case of Uganda” and “Land reform and peacebuilding in Côte d'Ivoire: Navigating the minefield.” Check out this new report on borders and conflicts in North and West Africa. Read this alongside Robert Braun and Otto Kienitz’ “Comparative Politics in Borderlands: Actors, Identities, and Strategies.” Also check out this piece on the timber trade in the Gambia/Casamance Borderlands. Activating “big-man status” curbs pro-social behavior in Uganda. Learn more about inclusive development for informal workers in Ghana. Do bureaucrats contribute to the resource curse?
Join V-Dem for the launch of Democracy Report 2022.
The week in development
How to solve Africa’s infrastructure paradox. Nigeria’s economy grew faster than expected in 2021. Site selection for Ghana’s first nuclear plant to be concluded this year. Mali’s workers feel the squeeze as sanctions take hold. Learn more about ID Insight’s Dignity Initiative. This figure shows South Africa’s stagnating economy. Weiwei Chen argues that it is important to distinguish between the Chinese State and Chinese private Chinese investors when considering China’s role in Africa. Kenya’s horticulture export earnings are up. Tunisia’s public sector workers are not getting paid. This article takes a deep dive into the impacts of the world’s largest COVID school closure on the lives of young people in Kampala. Malawi reports the first case of wild polio in over five years.
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is right: “Shout out to Botswana tho.”
Tech in Africa
Learn more about investing in Africa’s digital transformation. A Swedish nonprofit is creating the largest startup hub in east Africa. Go inside Facebook’s Africa sweatshop. The digital economy isn’t all its made out to be. Nick Bernards investigates Kenya’s uneven Fintech boom.
Africa and the environment
Check out this roadmap for minibus electrification. There was no Green Revolution. Wildfires to increase by 50 percent by the end of the century. This project is helping African reporters cover climate change. A Canadian oil company illegally bulldozes protected land in Africa. Rwanda blames recent disasters on climate change. Drought worsens humanitarian crisis in east Africa. South Africa’s High Court sides with indigenous communities.
What do the protectors of Congo’s peatlands get in return?
Paul Farmer
Paul Farmer died this week at the age of 62. Ruth Levine explains his enormous impact on global development. He wanted to make the world his patient, writes Tracy Kidder.
Daily life
Featurism: An Ode to my African Face. With cinemas closed, Ghana’s hand-painted movie posters find homes abroad. Read the story of how Swahili became Africa’s most spoken language.
RIP Amos Sawyer.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil