This Week in Africa

August 16, 2024

Quote of the week

“The detection and rapid spread of a new clade of mpox in eastern D.R.C., its detection in neighboring countries that had not previously reported mpox, and the potential for further spread within Africa and beyond is very worrying.” –WHO director general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

Mpox emergency

The World Health Organization declares a global health emergency over the new Mpox outbreak. The outbreak sparks fear because of low awareness of the disease. Vaccine access is only one of the many challenges to containment. Can Africa tackle the Mpox public health emergency? How can the world address the nexus of climate change, migration, and infectious diseases?

Protests in Africa

The lessons of Africa’s tax revolts: If states want to raise money, they need to deliver services in return. Freetown City Council is trying this approach. “Enforced disappearances” send a chill through Kenya’s protests. CNN continues to cover the demonstrations. Kenyans wear their flag proudly.

War in Sudan

Ken Opalo explains the geopolitics of Sudan’s war and the failures of the African Union. Cameron Hudson discusses recent peace negotiations for Sudan happening in Geneva. The US pushes for a new ceasefire. Three fallacies have damaged US diplomacy efforts. Civilians continue to suffer the fallout of the war. Massive flooding contributes to the humanitarian disaster as 68 people recently died.

UN Security Council

Africa needs more seats on the UN Security Council. The secretary general argues that Africa needs a permanent seat at the table. Sithembile Mbete argues that the continent should have two permanent seats.

Challenges of democratization

This report outlines what impact South Sudan’s 2018 peace agreement will have on its December election. Senegal’s democracy prevails. This is what Twaweza has learned after conducting 74,000 hours of conversations about civic engagement with citizens in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The eternal sunshine of Rwanda’s spotless election. Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu arrested in latest crackdown.

Why is Africa more violent in 2024? Are Africans considering authoritarian alternatives to democracy? Is the continent facing a democracy crisis or state crisis?

Africa’s rapid urbanization

Astrid Haas is on it: what African cities might learn from Hong Kong’s unique land-lease system. Johannesburg needs $12 billion to fix infrastructure. Akon needs to begin building his futuristic city or he will lose his financial incentives.Ghana fails to deliver water to Tamale, Yendi, Damongo after sod-cutting spree. Check this out: Everyday Urban Practices in Africa: Disrupting Global Norms. This volume looks great: Handbook of Urban Politics and Policy.

Cycling Cities.

Research corner

Wale Adebanwi’s How to Become a Big Man in Africa: Subalternity, Elites, and Ethnic Politics in Contemporary Nigeria is out soon. Ernest Harsch’s Corruption, Class, and Politics in Ghana looks great. Check out Sam Klug’s The Internal Colony: Race and the American Politics of Global Decolonization. I look forward to reading Lauren Coyle Rosen’s forthcoming Law in Light: Priestesses, Priests, and the Revitalization of Akan Spirituality in the United States and Ghana. Ian Scoones’ Navigating Uncertainty: Radical Rethinking for a Turbulent World looks great. Aditi Malik’s Playing with Fire: Parties and Political Violence in Kenya and India is out. This looks fascinating: Fifteen Colonial Thefts: A Guide to Looted African Heritage in Museums.

A new special issue asks: Does legacy news help or hurt in the fight against election misinformation? This new study finds that religious messaging in WhatsApp does not impact civic education in Zambia. This report outlines ways to complement RCTs with qualitative research. Learn more about elite persistence in Sierra Leone. This report examines checkpoints and state-building in Somalia. This is an important special issue on moral economies of distribution and redistribution in Africa.

On African knowledge production.

The week in development

Could Africa become the world’s largest manufacturing hub? Ghana’s inflation slows to 28-month low. South Africa to align foreign policy with economic interests. Learn more about AI’s potential in Africa’s data desert (and more good analysis here).

Branko Milanovic explains why inequality matters.

Africa and the environment

Africa is not Europe’s battery. Saber Ammar writes: “Resisting the new green colonialism.” Extreme heat increasingly endangers children in West and Central Africa. Somalis try to embrace alternative energies as climate change wreaks havoc. Deforestation amplifies climate change effects on warming and cloud level rise in African montane forests. New initiative explores innovative financing solutions for improving ecosystems and public health in Africa. Ethiopia launches its “Climate Action” pledge to plant 100 million trees around refugee hosting areas to counter deforestation. This is how extreme heat is threatening education progress worldwide.

Daily life

Exploring Tanzania and Morocco’s Majestic Atlas Mountains. Letsile Tebogo returns home to Botswana a legend: from grass to grace.  Tanzania will welcome a Ritz Carlton. Podcasts bring southern Africa’s liberation struggle to life. Injera is the soul of Ethiopian cuisine. This is how African countries performed at the Olympics. More Africans will switch countries in the future. Emmanuel Wanyonyi is fast. So is Faith Kipyegon. Is Michelin finally starting to notice African cooking?

Xenophobia and Miss South Africa.

All the best,

Jeff and Phil