This Week in Africa

April 5, 2024

As always, GLD is doing a lot. Here is the week in Africa:

Quote of the week

“It’s my heritage that’s been destroyed in front of my eyes, without any consultation at all. We were never told the plan.” – Former resident of Addis Ababa neighborhood Piassa

Senegal’s democracy

44-year-old Bassirou Diomaye Faye was inaugurated as president this week, promising ‘Systemic change.” He was joined at the ceremony by his two wives, the new first ladies. Learn more about his electoral victory in this helpful analysis. He selected well-known politician Ousmane Sonko as prime minister. Sonko is Faye’s political mentor. Gilles Yabi and Saskia Holman document the shift from constitutional crisis to democratic restoration. Pro-democracy organizations celebrated the outcome. The March 24 polls restored confidence in the resilience of democracy, which might even signal a trend toward democracy on the continent. Or is democracy backsliding in Africa?

The election of Faye gives young African hope. Chris Ogunmodede argues that viewing Senegal’s president through the lens of “youth” is misguided. Catherine Lena Kelly provides this excellent analysis.

LGBTQ rights

Uganda’s court upholds its draconian anti-LGBTQ law. The legislation sparked a wave of anti-LGBTQ activity across the continent. Adrian Jjuuko provides this analysis. Ghana Studies Association publishes this statement on Ghana’s anti-LGBTQ bill. President Nana Akuffo-Addo is yet to make a decision on the bill.

Doctors strike in Kenya

Kenyan doctors reject government offer to end strike. There is a huge employment shortage as the government cannot pay bills. The World Bank is set to give $1.2 billion budget financing to Kenya. William Ruto faces a “tax nightmare.”

Challenges of democratization

There are some great articles in this month’s Journal of Democracy, including Ken Opalo’s “The Truth about Africa’s Coups,” Kim Yi Dionne’s “Why Malawi’s Democracy Endures,” and Michael Wahman’s “How Strategic Violence Distorts African Elections.” Larry Diamond summarizes the importance of power, performance, and legitimacy.

Struggle for rights and freedom

Chad’s ruler Mahamat Déby’ tightens his grip on power in the lead up to elections in May. South Sudan’s scheduled December elections are in question. Judith Suminwa Tuluka is the new prime minister of DR Congo. Gino Vlavonou discusses belonging, conflict, and identity in the Central African Republic. Here are the human rights trends in Zambia. Ex-leader of South Africa’s top house of Parliament Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was arrested on corruption charges this week. The US is rebuilding a legal pathway for refugees. Oscar Gakuo Mwangi discusses Kenya’s proposed police mission to Haiti. Ghanaians are outraged that an influential 63-year-old traditional priest marries a 12-year-old girl.

On the limits of international solidarity.

Security and instability

Kunle Adebajo shows how the fight against Boko Haram leaves a trail of ruin and ashes. Drones are changing warfare in Africa. Nina Wilèn explains how West Africa’s juntas govern by proxy. Is the African Union evolving in the right direction?

I enjoyed reading the first edition of “The Raleigh Report” by ACLED’s Clionadh Raleigh, which provides useful commentary on political violence—and more.

Rebuilding Addis Ababa

Authorities demolished the historic neighborhood of Piassa as part of a “road-widening project.” Residents were given little time to vacate their homes, and told to relocate to new housing schemes. The demolitions are part of President Abiy’s makeover of the city, which involves modernizing the city but also destroying history and heritage. Rachel Dubale argues that it shows a central contradiction of modernization: the desire to improve the country while devaluing its people and culture. Marco Di Nunzio provides his take. Who is Addis Ababa for?

Tom Gardner’s forthcoming book The Abiy Project: God, Power, and War in the New Ethiopia will shed light on the political project. For context and analysis, check out Marco DiNunzio’s excellent ethnographic work here and here, Biruk Terrefe’s analysis of urban infrastructural development (here and here), and Ezana Weldeghebrael’s articles here and here.

Africa’s rapid urbanization

Learn more about gentrification in Lagos. I look forward to reading the report “The Post-networked City: Reflecting on Heterogeneous Service Delivery in African Cities.” Learn more about NXT50 Cities. Alice Sverdlik and her colleagues outline a new framework to understand the interplay of occupational, public health, and climate-related risks for informal workers, with evidence from Zimbabwe and India.

Research corner

This article examines the shifts in the Angola-China relations of the post-dos Santos era. This is a really good article on South Sudan’s revenue complex throughout the years. Learn more about claiming rights and organizing dissent in post-2011 Tunisia. This study shows how epidemics affect marginalized communities in Liberia. This paper examines forced migration, refugees, and social integration. This article examines cyberspace and African agency. Join us for short term research stays at the Swedish Collegium in Uppsala!

This looks good: Architecture, Empire, and Trade: The United Africa Company. Check it out: Ethiopia Unbound: A Critical Edition. Make sure to read Moses Khisa’s Autocratization in Contemporary Uganda: Clientelism, Coercion, and Social Control (and join the upcoming book launch). Meron Zeleke and Lahra Smith edit this important volume African Perspectives on South-South Migration. Join Gunvor Jónsson for the launch of her awesome new book Urban Displacement and Trade in a Senegalese Market: An Anthropology of Endings.

Oh, how I can’t wait to read this: “Intellectual Diary of an Iconoclast” by James Scott.

The week in development

Poor nations are writing a new playbook for getting rich. Justin Sandefur and Arvind Subramanian explain what could boost Africa’s exports (nice summary thread here). Ken Opalo sees the positive potential of Africa-Gulf states relations. This report makes the case for African social infrastructure. Learn more about the rise of private equity on the continent. Nigeria will triple energy prices, but keep subsidies for the poor. Uber’s largest financing partner is an African startup chasing profitability. Learn more about the Sisyphean struggles of Africa’s aspirant middle class.

Is Africa’s debt crisis back? Should we use the term “the global south”? Comfort Ero provides these thoughts.

Africa and the environment

Global forest loss remains high despite recent progress. This report digs into how Congo’s trees are smuggled through East Africa. Botswana’s president threatens to deport 20,000 elephants to Germany as the countries argue over hunting trophies. Heat waves are moving slower and staying longer.

Jonathan Blake and Nils Gilman outline a new framework for planetary governance in Children of a Modest Star: Planetary Thinking for an Age of Crises.

Food and water shortages in southern Africa

Extreme drought and floods create severe water and food shortages in southern Africa. Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa declares national disaster over drought. Can Africa one day feed the world (even when a hunger crisis spreads across the continent)?

Daily life

South African footballer Luke Fleurs was shot dead in a hijacking incident in Johannesburg. This is what African architecture can teach the world. Luxury African fashion wows Europe’s catwalks. Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama wins the inaugural Sam Gilliam Award. Celebrate Ramadan and break the fast with Africa’s newest migrants in Brooklyn.

Ahh, Karura Forest.

All the best,

Jeff and Phil