This Week in Africa
November 11, 2022
Making our way through November. Here is the week in Africa:
Quote of the week
“The government is afraid of the F-word — famine, that is.” – Aid worker in Somalia
Ethiopia’s peace process
The Ethiopia-Tigray peace agreement is a decisive victory for Ethiopia’s government. Alan Boswell provides his take on the truce, which signals an end to the fighting. Learn more about Eritrea’s reaction to Ethiopia’s cessation of hostilities. This is an interesting investigation that looks for clues in a video of a forgotten massacre. Will justice follow peace?
Protests in Ghana
Ghanaians marched in the streets to protest the country’s government over its worsening economic situation. Ghana’s leaders must look inward to fix the economy.
Plane crash in Tanzania
A Tanzanian airplane crashes into Lake Victoria, killing at least 19 people. Larry Madowo explains the situation.
Struggle for rights and freedom
What is the future of migration in Africa? Cyril Ramaphosa is losing credibility, which is hurting his agenda to reform the country. Police killings in Kenya point to systemic rot in a failing justice system. Rwanda allegedly fed false intelligence to the US as it pursued political dissidents abroad. Kenya has sent 1,000 troops to DR Congo to fight M23 rebels. Jude Mutah examines global responses to Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis. Police escape accountability in Sudan after prisoner death. This is an interesting look at patriarchy in Kenya’s social justice movement.
Paul Poast asks: What if genocide, not war, was considered the central problem of international relations? Why have so many scholars of “Fanon studies” in the US overlooked the role of the Algerian Revolution?
Africa’s rapid urbanization
Lagos is prioritizing profits over preparing for climate devastation. Activists are tackling urban inequalities in Sierra Leone. This podcast explains more. Freetown’s mayor is battling flooding in the city. There is no fast lane to altering political behaviors in urban Africa. This is why cities in the global south should collaborate on mobility. Africa needs to address its dependency on used vehicles. Can Bola Tinubu replicate Lagos success at the national level?
Check out this great IJURR symposium on African urban futures. Jennifer Robinson’s pathbreaking new book Comparative Urbanism: Tactics for Global Urban Studies is out. This report examines distributed energy technologies for African cities.
Urban Africa Book Series
Jennifer Robinson and I are editing an exciting new Urban Africa Book Series jointly published by The International African Institute (IAI) and UCL Press. We provide critical, in-depth analysis of key contemporary issues affecting urban environments across the continent. The series will provide a wide-ranging and rigorous analysis of the urbanisation processes shaping African urban contexts, and also provide African perspectives on the nature of global urbanisation. Reach out with any questions—and submit proposals!
Research corner
Learn more about the decolonization of Namibia. I love Aili Tripp’s new article: “The Social and Political Lives of Women in an Egalitarian Matricultural Society: The Case of Western Sahara.” Dar Es Salaam is on the frontlines of global decolonization. This is an intriguing article on space, power, and meaning in post-liberation Africa. Learn more about radio battles in Sudan’s second civil war. Check out “Complements or Substitutes? How Institutional Arrangements Bind Traditional Authorities and the State in Africa.” Lots of great articles in the new issue of JMAS. And read my Working Paper with George Bob-Milliar: “The social embeddedness of elections: Ghana’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns.”
Powerful Devices: Prayer and the Political Praxis of Spiritual Warfare looks great. I’m looking forward to Rachel Sigman’s Parties, Political Finance, and Governance in Africa: Extracting Money and Shaping States in Benin and Ghana.
The week in development
The whole world is facing a debt crisis. Stay up-to-date on the Ebola outbreak in Uganda. Floods may worsen Nigeria’s inflation and revenue woes. Somalis are going hungry but their government won’t call it a famine. Go inside the hunger crisis here. Africa moves closer to a trade bloc with the Caribbean. Kenya discloses part of its secret contract for the railway that China built. Global Twitter employees describe chaos as layoffs gut their teams. How did Botswana’s economy beat South Africa’s?
Africa and the environment
Shame in the age of climate coloniality. A rise in Ebola outbreaks is linked to climate change. This is how how climate change influences the spread of disease. A new report claims that climate change will force up to 113 million people in Africa to relocate by 2050. CO2 emissions increased in 2022. South Africa says it needs $84 billion for energy transition in next five years. Global warming and overuse threaten the Nile River. The UN claims that Kilimanjaro and Africa’s last glaciers will melt by 2050. Is economic development the pathway out of our climate crisis?
COP 27
This is the state of Africa’s climate heading into COP 27. Developing nations make this point at COP 27: Polluting nations, pay up. Wealthy nations must pay if Africa is to adapt to climate change. These plans could unlock trillions for poor countries. Muhammad Buhari explains how not to talk with Africa about climate change.
Daily life
Check out Aníkúlápó on Netflix. Abdi Abdirahman ran his last competitive New York City marathon last week. Digital Benin. Inheriting Wakanda. Celebrating jollof rice. Maxine Angel Opoku is Ghana’s only openly transgender musician, but every day is dangerous. Sharon Lokedi and Evans Chebet complete a Kenyan sweep at the New York City marathon. Kenyans swept all six of the world marathon majors this year. Tolu Ogunlesi on disaster journalism. Lagos art fair tackles climate and culture. This exhibit is cool: Everyday life in Ekangala and Hawassa.
Dakar is beautiful.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil