This Week in Africa
April 22, 2022
Check out my thread on local governance, state building, and peacebuilding. Here is the week in Africa:
Quote of the week
“There was a change in terms of law that people can live wherever they want to live, but the difficulty is that there wasn’t an economic policy to match that.” -- Researcher Edward Molopi on South Africa’s housing crisis
Floods in South Africa
The floods that swept through South Africa is one of the worst natural disasters in the country’s history. Mudslides destroyed roads and homes, and more than 400 people died. The floods hit informal settlements especially hard, where millions of people are forced to live. The floods exposed a large housing crisis, as well as geological challenges. Flood victims are searching for shelter after the destruction. The government deployed the security forces to assist with relief efforts, and is now tasked with rebuilding. The government has also enacted new measures to tackle climate change. Green policies are in place for Durban but the perspectives of residents are not taken into account. Political changes are needed too.
Xenophobia and governance in South Africa
Ramaphosa’s warnings about xenophobia might be too little, too late. Remember, all South African parties have xenophobic strands. Migration scholars set the record straight on migration in the country. South Africa is having an interesting public debate about the role of the judiciary and constitution in its country’s democracy.
Global asylum policy
Britain wants to outsource refugees to Rwanda. This is what Britain’s deal with Rwanda means for the U.K. asylum system. These programs don’t work. Rwanda boosts its diplomatic clout as an indispensable ally. Ken Opalo suggests that Rwanda is this desperate for aid. The world has broken its promise on asylum.
Challenges of democratization
Contrary to what you might think, Evan Lieberman and Rorisang Lekalake argue that “South Africa’s multiracial democracy offers a powerful example of what is possible with well-designed democratic institutions.” Patrick Heller discusses “Democracy in the Global South” in his annual review article. Listen to the Into Africa podcast where Ken Opalo explains why public institutions are the backbone of democracy.
Struggle for rights and freedom
Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu Hassan wants to open her country to the world. Learn more about Sierra Leone’s village that cares for orphans. The Biden administration will grant temporary protection to Cameroonians. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza explains what it’s like to be an opposition figure in Rwanda. Read these six questions with presidential candidate Martin Fayulu on democracy in DR Congo.
Make sure to read Catherine Lena Kelly’s excellent piece on how questions of justice, governance, and rule of law surround the local elections in Senegal. Zanzibar is in the spotlight over alleged sexual assault involving a Nigerian woman in a hotel. Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa is losing key allies. Botswana’s former president faces criminal charges. Ugandan cartoonists wonder how long they can criticize without attracting Museveni’s ire. Learn more about election and TV news in South Africa. There are no signs of a transition in Chad a year after Idriss Deby’s death. The latest approach to Kenya election hate speech raises more questions.
What’s the most under covered news story of 2022?
Security and instability
The US approves a nearly $1 billion weapons sale to Nigeria. This will not improve its security. Coordination is key to the success of African solutions for Mozambique. Ethiopia launches a national dialogue, but divisions run deep. The Tigray war risks wiping out centuries of the world’s history. Jason Stearns discusses the new face of warfare in Africa (summary thread here). How can Sahelian states protect their civilians from attacks by non-state groups?
Africa’s rapid urbanization
What role do mayors play in migration policy? I look forward to reading this article on co-production, urban up-scaling, and governance change in Uganda. This is a good thread on local approaches to fighting climate change. This piece explains how small-scale, incremental housing can help tackle the housing shortage in Freetown. Big development projects can have negative effects on nature and people. Read about the cities of the #TheAfricaWeWant. The UN’s New Urban Agenda is needed in Africa now. African cities can do more to protect children from climate change.
Research corner
Mai Hassan provides new insights on Africa’s autocratic past. This article provides a framework to improve transparency in text-based sources. A new article shows how DR Congo built taxation capacity by working with city chiefs on tax collection. Learn more about negotiations with China over rehabilitating the Tanzania-Zambia railway. Lauren Carruth and Lahra Smith have this fascinating new article: “Building one's own house: power and escape for Ethiopian women through international migration.” Check out the new issue of African Studies Review. How did Islam spread across Africa? Who registers to vote in rural Uganda?
This book provides a theological perspective of domestic violence in Kenya. Check out Sonia Le Gouriellec’s Geopolitique de L’Afrique. Victor Gwande’s Manufacturing in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1979 is out soon. Check out Adam Day’s States of Disorder, Ecosystems of Governance: Complexity Theory Applied to UN Statebuilding in the DRC and South Sudan. Get your copy of Beyond Piety and Politics: Religion, Social Relations, and Public Preferences in the Middle East and North Africa.
The week in development
This is how the IMF and World Bank can support African economies hit hard by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nigeria plans first census in 17 years after security delay. Learn about the doctors and scientists in Dakar fighting the world’s deadliest diseases. Somalia is on the brink of famine. World Bank projects Africa growth to drop to 3.4 percent. I enjoyed this event on Africa’s post-COVID economic recovery. Ghana’s economy grew better than expected in the fourth quarter 2021. University of Ghana owes millions of dollars in electricity payments. Asante Gold Corporation set to acquire Ghana’s Chirano mine. Chris Blattman discusses his new book Why We Fight on the Charter Cities podcast. The Great Gender Divergence is now on Instagram. Peter Lorentzen talks to John List about how to make great ideas scale.
Why is the US fixated on China’s rise in Africa? Can mobile phones save lives? Can Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway unlock development? What were the effects of the Atlantic slave trade on African societies? Is the global food system on the cusp of a major shift? Is Substack the new thing in global development?
And submit a paper to present in GLD’s Work-in-Progress workshops in Fall 2022.
Africa and Tech
Facebook is investing in digital infrastructure in Nigeria. Google to set up first Africa product development center in Nairobi. South Africa’s surveillance machine is fueling a digital apartheid. African startups drew a record number of venture capital last year. Swedish Fund Norrsken 22 continues its funding in Africa.
Africa and the environment
Olumide Abimbola and Zainab Usman explain how the G7 can support Africa’s climate agenda. Check out Farhana Sultana’s article “The unbearable heaviness of climate coloniality.” As Kenyans farm in forests, incomes rise and deforestation falls. A drought in East Africa threatens 20 million people. A warming climate threatens Africa’s endangered forest elephants. Africa’s creatives are promoting sustainability to combat climate change. This is how the African rainforest is helping fight climate change. Can coconuts help prevent future mudslides? How is South Sudan grappling with and adapting to climate change?
Daily life
Embodying trash. Read the people’s history of Zimbabwe’s first mbira punk band, Chikwata 263, who wanted a soundtrack for the country’s post-post colonial blues. This video explores Sadio Mané growing up in Bambali, Senegal. Bénédicte Savoy’s new book explores the forgotten movement to reclaim Africa’s stolen art. Check out these six flagship projects by Burkina Faso’s Diébédo Francis Kéré, the 2022 Pritzker Prize winner. Meet the master builder. Julius Nyerere’s room at Makerere University will be preserved as a heritage site. Yeah, this is a good reason not to leave Houston. Kenya will host inaugural marathon on the new Nairobi Expressway. Paragliders return to Ghana for Easter!
Listen to Periloux Peay’s sounds of protest Spotify playlist. And the political importance of Afrobeat.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil