Quote of the week
“Forbidden from returning home, I was cut off from Nairobi and my memories eventually narrowed down to one episode: the night my friends and I were robbed in the middle of the city before one of the robbers recognised me and returned our belongings. To me, Nairobi is special. It is the only city in the world where even the robbers recognise me.” – Asad Hussein, on Nairobi
Ghana’s debt deal
Ghana’s leaders face a dilemma with respect to their newly signed debt deal: rein in spending to prove to investors it won’t default, while campaigning and trying to win the upcoming election. Learn more about the debt agreement here. The Eurobonds rose after the deal. Is there light at the end of the debt tunnel?
Challenges of democratization
Ken Opalo argues that there needs to be more investments in Africa’s democracies, and that voters need to feel that their lives are getting better. Rachel Riedl and her colleagues explain the global decline of democracy in this new article. Regional organizations need to do more to ensure free and fair elections, as the recent case of DR Congo illustrates. Learn more about the recent election in Comoros. A surge in small arms could threaten Ghana’s upcoming election. These are the policy shifts and political challenges as Algeria prepares for upcoming elections. The ANC has everything to play for in its election, as the party turns 112 years old.
Voting for development in Ghana.
War in Sudan
Sudan’s war has gutted Khartoum’s buildings and built environment. The physical toll is devastating, as the fighting has even spread to a World Heritage Site. Meanwhile, the UAE is funding the RSF militia. Elshafie Khidir Saeed provides these four conclusions about the war.
Struggle for rights and freedom
Eritrea’s domestic discontent has gone global, as clashes break out at cultural festivals in Canada. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Cabo Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Angola. Kristof Titeca explains the foreign and national influences behind Uganda’s anti-homosexuality act. This is why young Africans aren’t disrupting authoritarian regimes.
Chad’s military leader is designated as a presidential candidate. The international community needs to rethink its approach to the Sahel. Somalia threatens conflict with Ethiopia over its port deal with Somaliland. Burundi shut its border with Rwanda. Kunle Adebajo returned to where girls were abducted by Boko Haram, and tells the story of how they are faring now. Africa’s humanitarian crises are unreported amid conflicts in Europe and the Middle East.
Africa’s rapid urbanization
Asad Hussein discusses the city light and silent nights in Nairobi. Learn more about the city’s new boroughs. The Congo River floods Kinshasa. This is how African cities are managing climate-induced migration. My awesome colleagues Kristine Höglund and Emma Elfversson explain why urban Kenyans mistrust police more than rural residents (see article here). Can satellite cities solve Africa’s urbanization challenges?
Research corner
Giulia Paoletti’s Portrait and Place: Photography in Senegal, 1840-1960 looks great. This review essay sheds light on Ethiopia’s civil war through a close reading of Martin Plaut and Sarah Vaughan’s Understanding Ethiopia’s Tigray War. I can’t wait to read Jennifer Hart’s Making an African City: Technopolitics and the Infrastructure of Everyday Life in Colonial Accra. Get your copy of Revolutionary Movements in Africa: An Untold Story. Wow: Sishuwa Sihuwa’s Party Politics and Populism in Zambia: Michael Sata and Political Change, 1955–2014.
Learn more about decentralisation and the (violent) struggle for public authority in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This article explains how a mutiny became another coup in Niger. Check out these new Afrobarometer publications. This is an important article about jobs, electricity, and unemployment in Africa.
Is political science in Africa relevant?
The week in development
Ghana is expected to pay US$83 million as its initial subscription capital to the proposed Africa Energy Bank (AEB). Uganda is rehabbing its old railway line. This is an interesting article about how localization of the oil sector in Nigeria reduces oil theft. Nigerian businessman Adebayo Ogunlesi sold his infrastructure investment firm to BlackRock for $12.5 billion. African criticism of credit ratings is a red herring.
Listen to this: Unlocking the SDGs for the future. This is how the Uganda AGOA ban affects east African investments. Nigeria’s inflation hits a 27-year high. This evidence from Comoros presents the constraints to migration. Cote d’Ivoire’s economy booms while other big African economies falter. Cape Verde becomes third African country to eliminate malaria. Genuine trust can help break the mold around international aid.
Dani Rodrik and Joseph Stieglitz offer a new growth strategy for developing nations.
Africa and the environment
This is an important special issue about the climate emergency in Africa. It includes a cool piece on green imperialism and the quest for sovereignty in the DR Congo. Southern Africa temperatures will rise past rhinos’ tolerance.
African Cup of Nations
AFCON kicked off in Cote d’Ivoire. The world is now watching African football. This is how Senegal came to dominate African football. Learn more about China’s role in the tournament. Chuka Onwumechili explains everything you need to know about the event. Is it the latest case of sportswashing?
Daily life
Check out the best African books of 2023. This piece remembers the devastating 1993 Zambia football team plane crash. The hip hop African is cool. Learn about how Spotify helped turn Afrobeats into a global phenomenon.
What did Frantz Fanon and Ian Fleming agree on?
All the best,
Jeff and Phil