This Week in Africa
June 7, 2024
Quote of the week
“Maybe they had a plan to fight apartheid, but not a plan for the economy.” --South African Buhle Mathivha on the ANC
Governing South Africa
The ANC lost its parliamentary majority in a major political realignment. ANC total supremacy is over. This portrait of two voters explains the logic for why some citizens moved away from the ANC, which is now a rural party. Others simply did not vote.
The ANC now attempts to form a coalition government. It has reached out to the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters to form a unity government. It wants to avoid Jacob Zuma and his MK party, as Zuma challenges the result of the election. Ivor Chipkin explains the negotiations. Race still divides the country. Dan de Kadt argues that the ANC must now improve governance to defeat populism. Ramaphosa attempts to do just this.
Lydia Polgreen explains what it all means: South Africa is not a metaphor.
Sudan’s civil war
The world has forgotten Sudan in what has been a collective failure. Two generals have wrecked the country. At least 150,000 people have died in the last year. Sudanese are forced to help themselves through war and famine.
The RSF massacred another village in central Sudan this week, killing at least 150 people. This video offers a rare glimpse inside war-ravaged El Geneina. Sudanese refugees abandon a UN camp in Ethiopia in protest of attacks against them by Fano militias. The world’s refugee program is broken.
Amel Mukhtar remembers: The Land that Time Forgot.
Authoritarianism in Ethiopia
This piece discusses the limits to press freedom in Ethiopia. 200 journalists have been arrested in the country since 2019. This New Lines Institute report outlines the genocide in Tigray and breaches of international law.
LGBTQ+ rights
Daniel Kalinaki argues that it is time for Uganda to focus on real issues, rather than continue to use the anti-gay card. This is what African LGBTQ+ activists need from donors amid the anti-gay law surge.
Struggle for rights and freedom
Learn more about the future of Europe-Africa relations. Check out what the New South Institute has been up to. The Africa Center for Strategic Studies has published lots of great articles on Rule of Law and Security Sector Governance. Watch Prof. Gyimah-Boadi discuss the state of African democracy. Get all your Sahel news here.
On the economic and geopolitical history of Congo-Brazzaville. The Africa-South Korea summit kicked off last week. Learn more about Bola Tinubu’s first year in office. Isaac Samuel writes on the forgotten ruins of Botswana. A Russian drone factory uses a workforce of East Africans, and it could reshape the war in Ukraine. Nathaniel Powell explains why Washington failed in Niger.
Africa’s rapid urbanization
Lagos is sinking. Check out the Kigali Innovation City project. This project goes deep inside the Agbogbloshie scrapyard. These are some clever insights into mapping informal settlements. Kikachi Memeh argues that Lagos should get over itself. Kenya’s government demolishes buildings in Mathare, claiming they are on riparian lands. But the homes in Runda remain standing!
I look forward to this book: Local Officials and the Struggle to Transform Cities: A view from post-apartheid South Africa. This report helps put cities at the forefront of combatting climate change.The Urban Reform in African Cities database is cool. And join Nordic Africa Institute's webinar on urban bonds and continental ties.
West Coast Regional Conference on West Africa
The West African Research Association and the Center for African Studies at the University of California are hosting the 2nd West Coast Regional Conference on West Africa on June 10-11. Register here for the excellent online conference.
Research corner
As always, GLD is on it. Kristina Pikovskaia examines the myths of Zimbabwean urban nationalism. This is a cool article on debt, credit, and obligation in Kenya’s 2022 election. Alex Dyzenhaus examines the political economy of the sugar sector in South Africa. This article discusses how to make the Ethiopian banking sector ready for green growth and development.
Get your copy of Children of a Modest Star: Planetary Thinking for an Age of Crises. Dan Honig’s Mission Driven Bureaucrats is out soon.
The week in development
Check out the African Economic Outlook 2024. The new malaria vaccine would avert ~40% of all child malaria cases, leading to 600-700 fewer child deaths per 100k vaccinated at a low cost of $1.3-2.4m. Billions of dollars of African gold is smuggled to United Arab Emirates each year. An African credit rating agency could help fight bias against African economies. Senegal raises $750 million in Eurobonds. Are African countries too dependent on the IMF? How is China’s economic transition impacting its relations with Africa? What are the power metals of DR Congo?
And Hippolyte Fofack argues that Africa’s culture and philosophy is the key to development.
Africa and the environment
There are new causes of concern over the high water levels in the Rift Valley. The new Drakensberg nature reserve in South Africa will protect ancient rock art, wildlife, livelihoods, grasslands and water. Read about the audacious plan to seed a global green hub in Namibia’s desert. This is why nomadic communities in North Africa need climate finance. The World Food Program issues an urgent call to action to address historic El Niño drought in Southern Africa. The UN chief warns of missing a crucial climate target to confront rising global temperatures.
Daily life
This is a neat photo essay of young Tunisians. Nigerian filmmaker Daniel Oriahi hopes to take Nollywood to new heights. Check it out: A Tribe Called Judah.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil