This Week in Africa

November 22, 2024

Quote of the week

“The looting of the Sudan National Museum is part of a wider trend of cultural destruction in the conflict.” – Dr. Ikhlas Abdel Latief, Sudan’s director of Museums for the National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums in Cairo, Egypt

Senegal’s legislative elections

Senegal’s governing party won big at its legislative elections, giving it a mandate to carry out President Faye’s policies. Alex Thurston breaks down the elections.

Kizza Besigye’s abduction

Uganda is accused of abducting opposition leader Kizza Besigye while he was in Nairobi, Kenya. Amnesty International warns of the growing trend of transnational abductions. Besigye is now facing a military court in Uganda.

Ghana’s presidential election

Get ready for Ghana’s presidential election between NDC’s John Mahama and NPP’s Mahamadu Bawumia.

Governing Kenya

William Ruto has fallen out with Kenya’s churches. Ruto cancels major contract with the Adani Group after the company’s founder was charged with fraud in the US.

Protests in Mozambique

Mozambique’s opposition protests continue. But it is not easy for the human rights defenders. Learn more about Venâncio Mondlane, the main opposition figure in the country. Nonetheless, FRELIMO stands poised to win the constitutional battle despite the entrenched corruption that Mozambicans continue to protest against.

Trump 2.0

Trump might recognize Somaliland as a state. Will Trump renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act? How should Africa prepare for Trump 2.0? These authors weigh in.

Migration and displacement

This is an important fact check of African migrants in Europe. Spain will grant residency to nearly one million undocumented migrants. Caroline Kihato and Loren Landau examine the politics of localizing forced migration governance in the Horn’s secondary cities. Imraan Buccus analyzes the escalating xenophobia in South Africa.

Challenges of democratization

Idayat Hassan calls for robust dialogue with regional actors and Special Envoys in the fight against democratic backsliding. Larry Diamond explains how to end the democratic recession. Joseph Asunka provides a behind-the-scenes tour of the Afrobarometer.

On the trendlines and transformations of democratic governance in Africa.

Struggle for rights and freedom

An Australian mine company will pay Mali’s junta $160 million after CEO and two employees were detained. An angry mob beat four men accused of homosexuality in Benin City. A museum director discusses the looting and pillaging of Sudan’s national treasures during the civil war. Illegal miners engage in a tense standoff with South African police. This is a must-read article on the killing of four of Kenya’s women runners. What does the Boer War teach us about the future of weapons?

Learn more about conflict prevention and transitional justice in Sierra Leone. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shifts toward seeking global legitimacy. The UK imposes sanctions on Isabel dos Santos. Cameroon has become trapped in a forgotten standoff. Most of the looted artifacts from Europe’s colonial rule has never been returned to the continent. Kristof Titeca explains the “bad politics” behind the EU’s new €20 million for the Rwandan army.

Recruiting Russia’s “Africa corps.”

Africa’s rapid urbanization

Jason Warner and Toyosi Ajibade examine China’s smart cities in Africa. This article examines chiefs and floods in Tamale, Ghana. Learn more about chiefs and local government in Ghana’s smaller cities. The launching of Zanzibar’s Africa Urban Lab!

Research corner

This article reconciles the environmental security and political ecology approaches to explain farmer-herder conflicts in Africa. This is an interesting article about Zambia’s “colonial African.” Peter Lockwood examines Kenya’s dirty politics of predation and patronage. This article examines colonial Angola’s diamond mines. On the peace journalists of East Africa.

Check out it: Modern Rwanda: A Political History. Get this: Can Africans do Economics?

The week in development

Zimbabweans take matters into their own hands as they confront drought. An American startup is building a crypto market in Africa. Ghana is a dumping ground for the world’s unwanted used clothes. The oil industry is polluting South Sudan.

Some scholars of economic history. And growth soars while wealth lags.

GM crops in Africa

This is why GM crops are not feeding Africa. The article draws on information from the mBio Project, a project that includes my colleague Brian Dowd-Uribe and former colleagues Joeva Rock and David Uminsky. Kenyans’ fight against GM crops head to the courts next week.

Africa and the environment

Giraffes need protection. Climate-driven floods mix with oil in South Sudan. Malawi struggles to grow crops. This is the state of the climate in Africa. Madagascar’s lychee growers in crisis as production plummets. Vulnerable countries seek $1.3 billion to fight climate change. Climate experts are outraged by the funding coming out of COP29. TotalEnergies blamed of COP29 greenwashing.

Daily life

Lagos according to six musicians. I am excited for Nigeria’s art museum for the 21^st century. Tsibbu, magic, and Hausa medicine.

A tale of Casablanca.

All the best,

Jeff and Phil