This Week in Africa
October 6, 2023
Get all your Sahel news here and GLD updates here. Here is the week in Africa:
Quote of the week
“This upcoming election is not the end, but it might be the beginning of the end.” —Political analyst Maged Mandour on Egypt’s President el-Sisi
Elections in Liberia
Liberians go to the polls next week to vote for President. Former Vice President Joseph Boakai has formed an alliance with powerful former warlord Prince Johnson, bolstering his chances against incumbent George Weah. Afolabi Adekaiyaojo provides this helpful overview of the coalitions, counties, and contests that will shape the vote. Robtel Neajai Pailey argues that George Weah must go, democratically.
Kenyan police to Haiti
Kenya pledges to send 1,000 troops to Haiti to combat gang violence. The US would help fund the initiative. Kenya’s police are notorious for widespread violence. President Biden discussed the arrangement with Kenya’s President William Ruto. Can this foreign intervention save Haiti from gang violence?
#OccupyBOG in Ghana
Protesters in Ghana are demonstrating against the governor of the Bank of Ghana and his two deputies over the loss of billions of dollars. There is a lot of disillusionment with Ghana’s current government in the lead up to 2024 elections.
Struggle for rights and freedom
A fire in Egypt kills at least 38 people. Ademola Adesola discusses race, identity, and belonging. This piece examines human rights threats in Botswana’s online realm. Human Rights Watch claims that the EU fails Ethiopia’s victims. Stella Nyanzi argues that state-led homophobia threatens African academic freedom.
This piece outlines lessons for better civil society engagement. Solen Feyissa argues that Ethiopia’s government chases shiny big projects while neglecting its rich, cultural heritage. Check out the Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim digital archive. Will President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi win Egypt’s president in December?
Security and instability
Divided loyalties change the politics of Somalia. This piece analyzes progress and setbacks in Somalia’s fight against Al-Shabaab. Learn more about Ethiopia’s plan to rebuild after its brutal war. Hager Ali explains how Al-Burhan’s political system can still derail peace in Sudan. Local partners are key to fighting violent extremism. Kinshasa balances relations between Kyiv and Moscow.
Keeping up with the Coupdashians.
Africa’s rapid urbanization
World Habitat Day was this week! William Ruto’s promise to improve slums receives mixed reactions. This documentary uncovers the politics of title deals in Nairobi. Amazon’s plan for a South African headquarters pits indigenous and environmental activists against city authorities.
Astrid Haas and Gundula Loffler discuss ways to bridge Africa’s infrastructure gap. Check out this review symposium on Jennifer Robinson’s Comparative Urbanism. Check out Tom Goodfellow and David Jackman’s Controlling the Capital: Political Dominance in the Urbanizing World (thread here). I look forward to reading The Urban Question in Africa: Uneven Geographies of Transition. Abdoumaliq Simone discusses urban entanglements. This looks neat: an article on American University in Cairo’s suburban desert campus. Join the African Informal Economies Research Network.
And a research note on Accra’s strangers.
Research corner
Isaac Abotebuno Akolgo examines the political economy of debt and how history has repeated itself in Ghana. This is cool: Mapping urban living standards and economic activity in developing countries with energy data. Learn more about money and currency in Africa’s history.
Check it out: Tessa Dooms and Lynsey Chutel’s Coloured: How classification became culture. Emmanuel Kwaku Akyeampong’s Independent Africa: The First Generation of Nation Builders looks great. The Political Economy of Food System Transformation is out. Take a look at Foreign Aid and its Unintended Consequences. Egypt Under Sisi looks good.
The week in development
This piece examines job creation in Rwanda. Tolu Ogunlesi discusses ports in his new Substack about Nigeria’s infrastructure. The new malaria vaccine will prevent many deaths but it’s not the end of the disease. An invasive mosquito threatens catastrophe on the continent. A new road from DR Congo through Zambia to Tanzania could speed up copper exports. Check out this new campus of the University of Gambia. Here comes Kenya’s first locally manufactured electric bus.
Learn more about China-Africa relations in the Belt & Road era. Uganda’s charcoal ban ignites a transition debate. These lessons from Somalia shed light on partnerships in development. Ian Birrell explains the corrosive legacy of Live Aid. Nigeria’s President Tinubu increases wages as national strikes loom. This piece outlines China’s space collaboration with Africa. Small scale farmers in Tunisia are caught between international actors and a domestic policy that protects corporations.
Africa and the environment
At least 11 people are dead after floods hit Western Cape Province in South Africa. Wow, Baidoa floods. Elephant conservation is helping combat climate change in Africa. Sweat is helping you survive climate change. Activists are worried about Uganda’s China-backed oil pipeline. South Africa culls millions of chickens in an effort to contain bird flu outbreaks. This brief outlines climate security and displacement in the borderlands of the Horn. A Dubai firm wants a fifth of Zimbabwe’s landmass for carbon credits.
Daily life
Ghana’s beautiful Upper West. Sure, I’ll eat this delicious-looking Nigerian food in Dubai. Eat this Somali pantry pasta with warming spices.
And the world is ready for African stories.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil