Quote of the week
“I am very worried anyone can snitch on me, even in my own neighbourhood. It's going to be very hard to live here.” – A young Ghanaian man who identifies as LGBTQ
Anti-LGBTQ bill in Ghana
The LGBTQ community is under threat in Ghana: They fear what will happen to them if the President signs the anti-LGBTQ bill that was passed in Parliament last week. The bill threatens the rights of all Ghanaians. A challenge to the bill was presented to the Supreme Court. President Nana Akuffo-Addo delays his decision until the Supreme Court offers a ruling. The World Bank threatens to pull its funding if it is passed, which would cost the country $3.8 billion. The Finance Ministry urges the president not to sign the bill into law.
Election in Senegal
Macky Sall announces that Senegal will hold elections on March 24. Citizens fought hard to uphold democracy and reshape the social contract. The government considers amnesty for protesters. Sall’s actions illustrate one of the many ways that leaders cling to power. State brutality has a long history in the country.
Corruption in Uganda
An online movement agitates against corruption in Uganda. The movement is rattling officials after exposing mismanagement.
Sudan’s hunger crisis
The Sudan War may spark the world’s largest hunger crisis. The World Food Programme is struggling to access those who need food. Refugees face an uncertain pathway to peace. This piece examines the role of networks and weapons in the escalation of violence. Sudan’s resistance committees are trying hard to keep its revolution alive. Meanwhile, meet Sudan’s artists in exile.
Mercenaries in Africa
This is a helpful discussion of military rule and Russian mercenaries in the Sahel. Learn more about Wagner’s war on civilians. Erik Prince reemerges in the DR Congo, creating new risks for the region.
African international relations
The African Union is weak because its members want it that way. South Africa-US relations are at a crossroads. Howard French reframes history with Africa at the center. How should the US promote democracy in Africa?
Read this: Achille Mbembe outlines future knowledges and their implication for the decolonization project.
Struggle for rights and freedom
Watch the launch of Democracy Report 2024. Check out the results of round nine Afrobarometer survey in South Africa. Farmers in Virunga National Park face violence and threats from rangers. Human Rights Watch accuses the Ethiopian government of silencing dissent and targeting journalists. New abductions in northern Nigeria threaten peace and stability.
John Githongo reflects on thirty years of fighting corruption. Kenyans use humor to counter unpopular state policies. Max Gallien and Othman Selmi provide this cool piece (with neat graphics!) on smuggling in Tunisia. Boniface Dulani discusses the democratic landscape in Africa. Is Mandela for sale?
Migration and displacement
Africans are flying to Nicaragua to begin their journey to the US. This is interesting: A human smuggler’s love story. Traditional authorities ordered the demolition of structures where thousands of Liberian refugees have lived for decades in Ghana. Learn more about the migration story behind Io Capitano. Remember: migrants are people too.
Africa’s rapid urbanization
Check out Age of the City: Why our Future will be Won or Lost Together. This looks good: Urban Informality: An Introduction. Brandon Marc Finn examines informality on the Zambian Copperbelt. Michaela Collord discusses how informal transport offers social protection from below. Tom Goodfellow discusses how policy meets politics on the frontiers of world urbanization. Learn more about green streetism in Kumasi.
Former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba calls himself proudly xenophobic and seeks power in upcoming elections. Kenyan youth strengthen urban resilience through this innovative public works pilot. Meet the tree-planting mayor of Freetown. I look forward to watching the new documentary of Yvonnne Aki-Sawyerr “Mayor on the Front Line: Democracy in Crisis.” Lagos’ megarail expands!
This looks like a great workshop: “New frontiers of urban informality research.”
Research corner
Carl Müller-Crepon explains how administrative units shaped ethnic groups in Africa. This article examines international norms and land politics in Kenya. Portia Roelofs discusses her book Good Governance in Nigeria on this podcast. Check out this review article “Land rush.” Kate Baldwin, Kristen Kao, and Ellen Lust report from a large survey in Malawi, Kenya, and Zambia: “Is authority fungible? Legitimacy, domain congruence, and the limits of power in Africa.” This paper offers a new way to measure poverty. This new article argues that international borders in Africa were not drawn arbitrarily.
Check out Law, Order, and Empire: Policing and Crime in Colonial Algeria, 1870–1954. This looks good: Black Soldiers in the Rhodesian Army: Colonialism, Professionalism, and Race. Noah Nathan speaks about his book The Scarce State. Securing Peace in Angola and Mozambique is out. Portrait and Place: Photography in Senegal, 1840-1960 unearths a buried history of photography in West Africa. And what an important book: Africanizing Oncology.
The week in development
MTN Ghana has experienced solid growth under its current CEO. The IMF agrees to a much larger rescue package for Egypt. This is an interesting investigation into anti-poverty RCTs in Kenya (this is a nice take). Solar panels for all?
Mining and extraction
Glencore’s loan to Chad has devastated the country. Mining development helps South Africa avoid a recession. Washington wants to revive a critical minerals mega-railway through Africa. And Johannesburg in 1935: High rises and mine dumps.
Africa and the environment
What is causing Kenya’s unusually hot weather? Abiy Ahmed has created a famine in Ethiopia.
Daily life
Is it worth it for Ghana to host the African Games 2024? Ghana calls it a “golden opportunity.” Peace Medie’s Nightbloom is longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024. South Sudanese Khaman Maluach is a 7-foot-2 basketball player who wants to change the game. This is cool: BMW’s art car. Yes, it’s safe to travel in Egypt. African fashion wows Europe’s catwalks.
The football stadiums of Africa.
All the best,
Jeff and Phil