This Week in Africa
December 13, 2024
Quote of the week
“The people have voted for change.” Mahamudu Bawumia, who conceded Ghana’s presidential election
Ghana’s election
Ghana’s former president John Mahama returns to the presidency after defeating Mahamudu Bawumia in Saturday’s election. He won with 56 percent of the vote in a strong rebuke of the incumbent regime. The NPP failed to live up to its huge expectations. Mahama has an uphill battle to dig the country out of a difficult economic mess. Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang is the country’s first female vice president. For NDC supporters, it is a party through the streets.
Despite Ghana’s electoral progress, women are still underrepresented in Parliament (though their small percentage steadily rises). This piece examines the role of swing voting during the polls. George Bob-Milliar attributes Ghana’s electoral success to improved coordination, issues-based debates, and international support. Our election overview offers a preview of the election, while Joseph Asunka outlines the important issues that were at stake.
Inside civil wars
Make sure to read Alexis Okeowo’s investigation into the devastation that Ethiopia’s war has had on its people. A gold rush is at the heart of Sudan’s civil war.
Struggle for rights and freedom
Kenyans are changing how they get their news. This is how SADC is changing after recent southern African elections. This is what the Afrobarometer teaches us about peace, security, and democracy in the Sahel. Joseph Asunka shows how important the rule of law is to the success of democracy. Somalia and Ethiopia sign an agreement, while being hosted by Turkey’s Erdogan.
Kenyan police teargas protesters attending an anti-femicide march. Zambia’s constitutional court bars former president Edgar Lungu from standing for re-election. Assad’s fall in Syria might limit Russia’s operations in Africa. Scott Pegg breaks down Somaliland’s 2024 elections. Colonial atrocities are catching up with France. What else did Biden do in Angola beyond the Lobito Corridor?
Outsourcing academia to Africans. On the “invention of Africa.”
Africa’s rapid urbanization
Jennifer Robinson and her team reframe urban development politics. There is no cure for the growing pains of African cities. Joburg’s water restrictions set to tighten. This article decodes the logic behind the demolition and rebuilding of the Agbogbloshie scrapyard. This piece explores Accra’s street economy. Are charter cities key to Africa’s urban development?
Research corner
This looks like a must read: Conspiracy Narratives from Postcolonial Africa: Freemasonry, Homosexuality, and Illicit Enrichment (see summary post here). Check out John Quinn’s Majority State Ownership of Oil and Mining Sectors in Africa: The Resource Curse Undermined. Uchenna Okeja’s Deliberative Agency: A Study in Modern African Political Philosophy is great.
Some interesting ethnography, here.
The week in development
Learn more about the health burden of e-waste. The big ships are not sailing into Kigoma anymore. China is urging EV firms to invest in South Africa. Nigerians pay a premium for dodgy fuel. Ethiopia and Rwanda try to reshape visions of development.
Watch the Nobel Prize in economics lectures here.
Africa and the environment
The UN reports that three-quarters of earth’s land got drier in recent decades. Rising sea levels threaten the Seychelles. Debt-for-nature swaps is a game changer for the DRC’s climate action. Learn more about the not-so-renewable energy in Zambia. Grassland holds climate-fighting powers.
And this is cool: Zambia is working to build a more sustainable mining legacy for the continent through the newly launched pan-African timbuktoo MineTech Hub.
Daily life
Lagos’ nightlife has lost its energy. A love letter to attiéké. Lesotho is Africa’s coolest country. Rwanda is bidding for F1. Netball!
All the best,
Jeff and Phil