This Week in Africa
July 1, 2022
How can we bridge the research-policy divide to promote local development? Here is the week in Africa:
Quote of the week
“The platform is not only allowing this harmful content to be published, but it is also algorithmically amplifying it.” -- Odanga Madung on hate speech in Kenya on TikTok
Kenyan elections
Online disinformation raises tensions in the lead up to August’s polls. TikTok contributes to the problem. Here is a good overview of what is at stake. Meet the woman who rallies crowds, but won’t vote. Ruto goes to war with the “deep state.” Catch up on Kenya’s election hustle.
And watch this great webinar on “The Road to the 2022 Kenyan Elections.”
Economic protests in Ghana
Protesters are taking to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with the state of Ghana’s economy. The police are gearing up for multiple day protests. Stay tuned.
Ethiopia’s civil war
What’s behind the recent ethnic violence in Ethiopia? Food insecurity contributes to the devastation of the war. Learn more about the politics of genocide in Ethiopia.
Governing South Africa
The ANC is losing Gauteng. Ramaphosa could have done more to curb corruption. 17 young people were found dead at a tavern in East London, South Africa. Something they drank or smoked likely poisoned them.
Challenges of democratization
Check out the excellent “Architecture of Government” Conference which explores the potential configuration of government to realize better a democratic government’s goals. The Continent is still awesome. Jon Temin explains why the US needs to fight AIDS in Africa, not democracy. This is how military control of the economy obstructs democracy in Sudan. It is a stress test for Somaliland’s democracy.
Struggle for rights and freedom
Martin Odei Ajei provides a philosopher’s perspective on homosexuality in Africa. 20 migrants die in a stampede trying to get into Spain. The scene is devastating and gruesome. This is an important account of the execution of Patrick Lyoya, a Congolese refugee in Michigan and the unfulfilled promise of resettlement in America. Read Isaac Samuel’s new post: “Revealing African spatial concepts in external documents.” Citizens face stigma and neglect at a Nigerian leprosy colony. Following the Maasai evictees in Loliondo. Jamie Hitchen and Idayat Hassan explain fake news in West Africa. Our new GLD podcast has important insights into chiefs and governance in Ghana and beyond.
Why does the United States have a military base in Ghana?
Africa’s rapid urbanization
Africa’s urban population boom is upon us. Learn more about Uganda’s sub-national “presidents.” Salih Yasun’s article about co-partisanship with mayors and trust in local government in Tunisia is an important read. This article examines African urbanization at the confluence of informality and climate change. “Governing polycentric urban regions” is out.
World Urban Forum
The #WorldUrbanForum is this week. Danielle Resnick discusses the basics of realizing the New Urban Agenda in Africa. Better cities are possible. ICLD explains what urban innovation can teach us. Secondary cities are vital for Africa’s future.
Research corner
Burleigh Henderson’s Decolonizing 1968: Transnational Student Activism in Tunis, Paris, and Dakar is out soon. Lots of great articles in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies. Evan Lieberman’s Until We Have Won Our Liberty: South Africa After Apartheid is out. Check out Peacemaking and Peacebuilding in South Africa.
Abosede Babatunde explains how to empower African scholars. Natasha Iskander and Loren Landau edit this excellent special issue about arrival at the margins.
Decolonizing African Studies
This is a cool primer on African liberation and African scholarship. Kathryn Mara Thompson responds to critics of her autoethnography keyword article. African Studies Review provides this statement.
The week in development
What motivates China’s investment and lending practices in Africa? Is eastern Africa’s drought the worst in African history? When you say US foreign assistance is corrupt, where are you pointing the finger?
Africa is looking to indigenous crops like cassava and fonio to tackle its worsening food crisis. Invasive mosquito species could bring more malaria to Africa’s urban areas. Higher oil prices help Angola pay off debts to Chinese banks. Advocating for African solutions to illicit financial flows. Artisinal mining in Niger. The importance of pre-colonial legacies. Check out global inflation visualizations here. The war in Ukraine is intensifying demand for natural gas in Africa.
Africa and the environment
What is the impact of climate change on women and girls in Mozambique? Will a Nile Canal project dry up Africa’s largest wetland? WHO is gearing up for heightened food insecurity in the Horn of Africa. Child marriage is on the rise in Horn of Africa during the food crisis. UK to guarantee $2 billion of AfDB debt to boost climate fight. Learn about the Great Blue Wall initiative.
Daily life
The growing influence of Turkey in Africa represented by a tuktuk. Google in Ghana. Fast food and the NBA. Yum.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil