This Week in Africa
October 13, 2023
The new GLD website is live! Here is the week in Africa:
Quote of the week
“It’s [an election] not a priority, I’ll tell you that clearly, it’s security that’s the priority.” – Burkina Faso leader Captain Ibrahim Traore
Liberian elections
Liberians went to the polls to vote in the first round of the presidential and legislative election. It is largely a referendum on incumbent George Weah’s first term. Here is what election day looked like. The day was tense, but peaceful. Corruption and economic management are the main issues at stake in the election. Weah also faces demands for a war-crimes court. He casts his vote for president in Monrovia. This is a brief explainer on democracy in the country. Liberians await results.
The Resistance Bureau provided this Election Day Special.
Struggle for rights and freedom
This piece outlines how the Economic Freedom Fighters rose to become the third-largest political party in South Africa in a short ten years. Afrobarometer concludes its Round 9 survey. Learn more about African digital culture in context.
Underground politics under Senghor.
Security and instability
Religious tension is getting worse in Ethiopia. Burkina Faso’s leader says elections are not a priority as he seeks constitutional changes. Ahmed Ibrahim examines how Somalia never got up after Black Hawk Down. Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi outlines the hostile governance trends spreading in Africa, again. What explains Ghana’s stability among West Africa’s instability?
Africa’s rapid urbanization
Benjamin Bradlow analyzes urban social movements and local state capacity in São Paulo and Johannesburg. This study examines housing and urbanization in Nigeria’s Enugu State. Prince Guma analyzes displacement, out-of-placeness, and urban research in the global south. These are useful graphics on South Africa’s 2022 census. Simone Cupido argues that Cape Town has been AirBnB-ified. Traffic shifts to the Nairobi Expressway.
Research article
This study outlines the role of civil society organizations in the COVID-19 response across the Global South. Yonatan Morse examines democratic contestation, organised labour, and pension reform in Ghana and Malawi. This article rethinks African encounters through artist’s Meleko Mokgosi’s Your Trip to Africa. This is how informal ties matter in Ghana’s road encroachments. Kofi Akpabli discusses young Africans supporting European football clubs. Dalton Lin analyzes the Belt and Road Initiative and China’s pursuit of agenda-setting power.
I look forward to Tom Lavers’ Ethiopia’s ‘Developmental State’: Political Order and Distributive Crisis (helpful summary thread here). Wendy Salkin’s Speaking for Others: The Ethics of Informal Political Representation looks fascinating. This book looks helpful: Deliberative Constitution-Making: Opportunities and Challenges. Warigia Bowman’s Digital Development in East Africa is out.
The week in development
Canada’s nurse recruitment leaves Ghana shorthanded. Bill Gates announced $30 million for AI in Africa. Karim Karaki examines China’s role in Africa’s sovereign debt. Check out this regeneration plan for Kakuma Refugee Camp. Joeva Rock discusses land, labor, and knowledge exploitation as the real reasons for food “scarcity.” Algeria moves to limit bedbug infestation from France. Dr Congo inaugurates a new Chinese-funded Germanium plant.
This report explains how to deliver growth to people through better jobs. Ghanaian fintech Dash shuts down after raising $86.1 milion in five years. Kenyan President William Ruto visits Silicon Valley to make the pitch that his country has lots of talent to offer. Make sure to check out this study on qualitative experiences with dignity.
How did Ghana go from economic darling to economic chaos?
Africa and the environment
Better state governance, not corporate governance, matters to reduce local environmental impact from drilling. Angola clamps down on Namibia cattle farmers. IMF and World Bank face pressure to increase funding for countries facing climate change and conflict. Malawi is set to face a heatwave. In a NYT op-ed, William Ruto and others call for wealthy nations to cancel debt so African countries can make progress combatting climate change. The Pope offers a treatise to a warming world.
Daily life
The Zologo beat. El Anatsui builds monumental art from daily life. Eliud Kipchoge discusses the 2024 Olympics. Cool: The Oromo Festival. Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum smashes Eliud Kipchoge’s world record at the Chicago Marathon.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil