Africa Unchained

Onye Anyanwu's "Narcocorrido"

2012-01-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Shadow and Act highlights an Onye Anyanwu production Narcocorrido:

Narcocorrido Trailer 1 min from Narcocorrido on Vimeo.
In the film, Nicki Michaeux plays "Naija Dillion a Yuma county Sheriff’s deputy, an outsider and minority in her community. Gravely ill, Naija robs a notorious cartel shipment in a last-ditch scramble for survival. When the robbery spirals out of control, Naija finds herself caught up in a Narcocorrido made real."

Entrepreneurship key to escaping poverty

2012-01-29T06:00:00.003-05:00

Reuben Abraham writing in CNN:

image courtesy of Business Edge
Entrepreneurship and business are rarely accorded a serious place in discussions around drivers of economic development. A cursory look at the numbers makes this seem very surprising. China has pulled approximately 600 million people out of absolute poverty since Deng Xiaoping unleashed market reforms in the late 1970s. Never in human history have so many people been pulled out of grinding poverty is such a short span of time.

Similarly, South Korea has gone from a per-capita income of $291 in 1970 to $20,000 today. Even reform laggards like India have managed to pull a couple of hundred million people out of grinding poverty since economic reforms were initiated. Across the world, we find countries that created an entrepreneurship and business friendly environment were successful in reducing poverty drastically.

Despite the evidence, there are strong lobbies in emerging markets that make the claim that business friendly policies are anti-poor. Personally, I am in favor of redistribution, like these lobbies claim to be. However, what do you redistribute? One cannot, after all, redistribute poverty. One can only redistribute wealth, and to redistribute it, you have to create the wealth first...[continue reading]

The AU and the Tragedy of a New Headquarters

2012-01-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

More on the vacuous institution called the African Union, Chika Ezeanya writes:

The New AU Building Courtesy of Chinadaily.com.cn
On the 28th of January, 2012 African countries will collectively descend to a new low on the global index of state sovereignty, territorial integrity and actual independence of nations. On that day, Chinese President Hu Jintao will be in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to commission the new $124 Million African Union Headquarters built and donated to the continent by China. Termed “China’s gift to Africa”, the edifice was constructed by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation with over 90% Chinese labor.

According to Zeng Huacheng, a special councilor to the AU headquarters project from China’s Ministry of Commerce, “The panoramic view of the conference center is like two hands holding each other, signifying the strengthening friendship between China and Africa.”

It is to the discredit of the African Union and therefore, every individual and country within that regional body that in 2012, a building as symbolic as the African Union Headquarters is designed, built and maintained by a foreign country, it does not matter which country...[continue reading]

The Music of Ablaye Ndiaye Thiossane

2012-01-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Clyde Macfarlane writing in Think Africa:

Released this month, the debut album of veteran Senegalese musician Ablaye Ndiaye Thiossane has been a long time coming. Now 74 years old, his story - and the story of modern Senegalese music - begins in 1960, with independence and the emergence of Star Band.

Star Band formed as a celebration of Senegal's independence, taking as its symbol the green star of the new flag. The resident band of Dakar’s Miami Club, it found its defining sound a decade later in the rousing Wolof vocals of a teenage Youssou N’Dour.
Watch related video after the jump.

More here

Fury in Senegal as president seeks third term

2012-01-28T05:30:00.000-05:00

Al Jazeera reporting:

Protesters in Senegal have clashed with police after a court approved President Abdoulaye Wade to seek a highly disputed third term, but barred music icon Youssou Ndour from running.
Senegal's constitutional court approved late on Friday a list of 14 candidates who had met the requirements to run for president in the February 26 election, and among them was the 85-year-old Wade...[more]

Issues of Informality

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

A Design Indaba preview of the recently concluded South African Informal City exhibition:

Informal city. Photo: Tanya Zack.
The South African Informal City is an initiative of the Architects’ Collective and forms parts of the technical site visits offered by the Local Government Programme for COP17...Looking at South Africa’s most relevant and innovative design and research projects in terms of urban migration issues, the 20 works featured in the exhibition aim to promote dialogue around informality and urban development.
Inner city informality, in-situ upgrading, catalytic projects, un-built projects and backyard interventions are the five categories in which the projects are presented.

Cooperation, information sharing and positive action between policy makers, practitioners, academics and civil society is what the exhibition aims to promotion, together with taking a critical look at informality and urban development. “The exhibition will provide opportunities for peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, and for existing research and realised projects to become part of a greater public debate,” says Karen Eicker, Architects’ Collective director.

More here

Dyana Gaye | Filmmaker

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

In Shadow and Act:

French/Senegalese director Dyana Gaye, whose short film, the vibrant, unorthodox musical Saint Louis Blues, was one of 5 projects selected, financed and produced under the Focus Features Africa First program (she was part of the very first class, announced in 2008), will be making her feature film directorial debut with a project titled Des Etoiles (or, in English, Stars). Watch related interview after the jump

Commodity Resource - African Footballers

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

We have highlighted the commodity resource characteristics of football players within the continent.I would like to ask, why cant we build up an African football space comparable to South America's professional leagues with all its consequent non-material and financial benefits? John Wilson expands on the African state of affairs in the Guardian:

Image courtesy of orble
...there's something distasteful about an economic system that means the best players from Africa, if they're to be properly remunerated, have to move to a different part of the world to perform for western Europe's benefit. That's true of other parts of the globe, of course, but the economic imbalance isn't as stark and, elsewhere, doesn't have the same awkward echoes of colonial exploitation.

Talk of a new slave trade is unhelpfully emotive, but there is an unpleasant traffic in vulnerable and often naive young players, and it seems hard to deny that the demands of the European market have shaped the tactical development of African football. Tom Vernon, who runs an academy near Accra in Ghana and scouts for Manchester United, speaks of the "Pape Bouba Diop" template: having seen the success of big, muscular west African players, clubs go to west Africa looking for more big, muscular players and so that sort of player is prioritised, something that in part explains the dearth of west African creative players in the decade between Abedi Pelé, Jay-Jay Okocha and Kanu and the emerging generation of Kwadwo Asamoah, Dede Ayew and Gervinho.

It even suits the football administrations of individual countries within Africa to pretend that all is well, that things are developing. Not to do so, after all, would be to admit failure, and to do that would be to risk the sinecures that bring wealth, prestige and influence. The myth of Progress is sustained by a conspiracy of the complacent and the self-interested.

More here

John Akomfrah | Filmmaker

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

SCAD speaks with John Akomfrah:

Niger Delta: a quiet resistance

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

In Red Pepper:

Sokari Ekine meets women’s movements in the Niger Delta and discovers that in this militarised country even small acts take courage
The Niger Delta has been at the centre of Nigeria’s post‑independence military project from the first coup in 1966 through to the present. To the outside world it remained a forgotten outpost, however, until the 1990s and the rise of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP). Since then, unequivocal evidence has emerged of how the region and its commerce – primarily the oil industry – has been systematically militarised, with violence by the state, multinationals and local militias deployed as an instrument of governance and intimidation to force the people into total submission...[continue reading]

Ike Okonta | Analyst

2012-01-22T06:30:00.000-05:00

An Open Society Foundation profile:

© Jeff Hutchens for the Open Society Institute
Nigerian political analyst and writer Ike Okonta examines the failure of democratic and civic institutions in Nigeria four decades after the end of the bloody civil war in Biafra. As an Open Society Fellow, Okonta, an expert in ethnic identity and resource conflict in West Africa, is looking at the lingering effects of the war and the increase in oil revenues on the formation of the post-war Nigerian state.

More here

Spoek Mathambo | Musician

2012-01-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

In Boing Boing:

Johannesburg’s Spoek Mathambo (real name: Nthato Mokgata) makes music that blends traditional African sounds with very current electronica, goth, rock and dubstep elements. He’s described it as “township tech” and the result is extremely weird and addictive.

More here

Ndere Dance - Uganda

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Eye's profile of the Ndere Dance troupe :

Image courtesy of building tomorrow
The word “Endere” means flute. Ndere Troupe, therefore, means Flute Troupe. The flute was chosen as a symbol of beauty and unity. All peoples of the world have a flute in their cultures; it is a most versatile instrument that can express all our moods love, sorrow, happiness, anger and hope.

But the Ndere Troupe itself is not only a dance and performance group, the goals are as well in social education. The Troupe Members are mainly young people who are artistically talented but socially disadvantaged, so the Troupe provides them an opportunity to break the vicious cycle of poverty and realize their full potential, personal goals and ambitions.

Mr. Rwangyezi Stephen who founded the Troupe in 1984 is convinced that art is one of the most powerful ways of transforming Ugandans to be proud of themselves.

More here

Being Garifuna | A Question of Identity

2012-01-19T06:30:00.000-05:00

A follow-up of sorts on the Neo African-American conversation within the US.The Garifuna contest that "When Roots Are Complex, Census Boxes Don’t Fit"

Celebrating Women Scientists

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

SciDev highlights the OWSD awards that support female scientists.In their own words:

..."[Winning the award] gave me a huge push forward to write research proposals, mentor new graduate students and spend more time in the lab," Lubna Tahtamouni, chair of the department of biology and biotechnology at the Hashemite University in Jordan, and a recipient of an OWSD award, tells Times Higher Education.
She says that, in Jordan, smart women are "labelled as unattractive, not feminine enough or even masculine," and told to prioritise their family and household, adding that "many times over the years I thought of leaving academia because of the frustrations".

"It is important to highlight that women, even from developing countries, are doing great things: making breakthroughs, contributing to advances in medicine, science, chemistry and engineering — becoming leaders and experts in their fields," says another researcher honoured in the 2011 awards, Denise Evans from South Africa.

More here

'The Nile Project'

2012-01-18T07:58:00.001-05:00

Support Meklit Hadero's Nile Project on Kickstarter:

The Assassination of Patrice Lumumba

2012-01-18T06:30:00.000-05:00

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja writing in the Guardian:

Image of Patrice Lumumba via Wikipedia
When the atrocities related to brutal economic exploitation in Leopold's Congo Free State resulted in millions of fatalities, the US joined other world powers to force Belgium to take over the country as a regular colony. And it was during the colonial period that the US acquired a strategic stake in the enormous natural wealth of the Congo, following its use of the uranium from Congolese mines to manufacture the first atomic weapons, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.

With the outbreak of the cold war, it was inevitable that the US and its western allies would not be prepared to let Africans have effective control over strategic raw materials, lest these fall in the hands of their enemies in the Soviet camp. It is in this regard that Patrice Lumumba's determination to achieve genuine independence and to have full control over Congo's resources in order to utilise them to improve the living conditions of our people was perceived as a threat to western interests. To fight him, the US and Belgium used all the tools and resources at their disposal, including the United Nations secretariat, under Dag Hammarskjöld and Ralph Bunche, to buy the support of Lumumba's Congolese rivals , and hired killers.

In Congo, Lumumba's assassination is rightly viewed as the country's original sin. Coming less than seven months after independence (on 30 June, 1960), it was a stumbling block to the ideals of national unity, economic independence and pan-African solidarity that Lumumba had championed, as well as a shattering blow to the hopes of millions of Congolese for freedom and material prosperity.

More here

The "Refined" but Dysfunctional Victorian Elite of Lagos

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

A recent Bombastic Element's post reveals the aspirations of an emerging elite in Victorian Lagos. It also lays bare the dysfunctional foundation on which the society itself was being built:

Image of James Pinson Labulo Davies & Sarah Forbes Bonetta (Victoria's godchild) via Shadow and Act
They wanted good education for their children to be "refined," and so they frequently sent them to England. These children had to be in the smart circles of Lagos, so thay went into the right professions--law, medicine and the Arts. Educated Lagosians wanted to associate themselves with the usual recreations of a sophisticated Europe, and so went to the Races, to Fancy Dress balls, to the Gymkhana games, and to cricket.

Meiji Restoration

Victorian Britain had reached its heights of power and influence by building,warring,trade and manufacturing,the refinement came later. The "right"professions might have been so for a rich empire at the apogee of its influence but not for an assemblage of peoples who had barely framed their national identity. Contrast this with Japanese experience of roughly the same time. Their Meiji restoration, the antithesis of refined African elites behavior transformed Japan into an industrialized nation in about two generations.Most of Africa still awaits its version of "enlightened"-Meiji type- rule

" I am infuriated — and puzzled"-Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2012-01-17T07:39:00.000-05:00

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writing in the NYTimes:

Economic arguments are useful, but so are human arguments, which seem alarmingly lost on the Nigerian government. Prices have gone up but salaries remain the same. A driver in Lagos who earns 25,000 naira, about $152 a month, would have had to spend almost three-quarters of his salary on transportation to and from work, and this is before he would have to pay for food and, if he has children, for school fees. In Nigeria we like to say that we can “manage,” but it is almost impossible to see how many people could manage that.

We are an oil-producing nation and it is not unreasonable for Nigerians to expect affordable petrol, nor is it unreasonable for Nigerians to expect more from a democratic government. A friend of mine, after calculating how much she would now spend getting to work in Lagos, said, with her eyes alive with rage, “Our senators make $100,000 a month if you count their salaries and allowances. A month! In dollars! They live in government houses and have government cars. And none of them pay for their own petrol.”

More here

Stay Curious

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

From the folks at Skillshare "The Future Belongs to the Curious":

The Future Belongs to the Curious from Skillshare on Vimeo.

"How to Start a Revolution"-Gene Sharp

2012-01-16T11:25:00.001-05:00

From We Make Money Not Art:

Gene Sharp believes that non-violent struggle has a greater chance of success than violent resistance, because violence is typically the most powerful weapon used tyrannical regimes and they will always have the upper hand. His booklet From Dictatorship to Democracy (which you can download as a PDF) provide a list of 198 "non-violent weapons", including mock awards, alternative communication system, wearing of symbols, pray-in, boycott of elections, withdrawal of bank deposits, consumers' boycott, renouncing honours, etc.

The book was first published in 1993 to support the opposition movement in Burma and was circulated among dissidents. Anyone seen carrying the book around was sentenced to seven-year prison terms by the regime. This kind of manual for toppling dictators has since inspired opponents of oppression in places as far apart as Thailand, Ukraine, Serbia, Estonia, Iran, China, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, and more recently in Syria, Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East.

More here

Guitar fretting courtesy of Botswana

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

Simply wonderful guitar technique:via Boing Boing

"Nigeria is about oil and nothing but oil"

2012-01-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

Sokari Ekine writing in Pambazuka:

...I believe the majority of the country is behind not just the strikes but the Occupy Nigeria movement which seeks to seriously challenge the status quo and once and for all end the rule by kleptocracy. However there are other small but extremely powerful interest groups working for and against the government: Boko Haram and whoever is behind them; Jonathan and possibly some of the ex-Niger Delta militants; Senators and Governors who fear loss of their power and wealth; the trade union movement particularly the oil workers - how trustworthy are they? – the independent oil marketers or cabal. And of course there is the religious factor, the cozy relationship between an all-powerful state and a powerful highly influential set of religious institutions. Nigeria is about oil and nothing but oil...

more here

Quick Hits

2012-01-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Specialized corridors and other innovations for improving Agricultural productivity
Boughezoul: A Flawed "New Model of Urbanism" in Algeria?
Arabs and the long revolution, by Brian Whitaker
Intra-regional trade booming
Can Technology End Poverty?
A Book: The Trouble with Africa: Why Foreign Aid Isn't Working

#OccupyNigeria satire bites back

2012-01-14T08:41:00.001-05:00

From Storyful:

The ongoing Nigerian protests against the scrapping of the fuel subsidy have garnered the support of musicians and even invoked the spirits of some dead ones...demonstrators ‘resurrected’ dead afrobeat legend and human rights activist Fela Anikulapo Kuti to join their rally. Protesters have also shown how to ‘occupy’ Nigerian-style as some all but moved their sitting rooms out onto the street...[continue reading]

The 10 People You Meet in Nigeria by SugaBelly

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Over at Sugabelly No. 3 in The 10 People You Meet in Nigeria' series - The Ajepako Pastor ( religiosium hungrius ) :

General Characteristics: Instantly identifiable by his 'jump-up' trousers, over long tie, and 'I swear to God' shoes, the Ajepako pastor always has a battered Bible in hand and is covered in sweat from jumping up and down to get the gospel across and call down Holy Ghost Fire on the never-ending swarm of ‘enemies’ that every Nigerian Christian is guaranteed to have.

Image courtesy of Suga Belly

Forget flashy cars, and private jets, the Ajepako Pastor’s message is one of righteous suffering. The rich are evil, the poor are good, and never mind that you’re dying of malaria, one day God go make you bigger. The only thing the Ajepako Pastor has in common with his more successful and well fed cousin (The Ajebutter Pastor) is their unified belief that miracles happen on the daily. Got a new job? It’s a miracle! Marriage proposal? It’s a miracle! Broke your leg? Don't worry, that’s a miracle too.

Goodluck Jonathan's losing gamble

2012-01-13T15:56:00.000-05:00

The FT reports:

By gambling that public anger would dissipate after a few days, Mr Jonathan placed and lost the biggest bet of his presidency. He has now opened talks with labour leaders that will resume on Saturday. If no solution is found, the main oil union says that, from Sunday, it will start shutting down crude production, which provides four-fifths or more of government revenues.

More here

Nigeria and Accountability

2012-01-13T15:47:00.000-05:00

Onno Ruhl of the World Bank writes:

Accountability cuts across all aspects of governance: it forces leaders to articulate a vision, puts a premium on sound planning, strengthens implementation, and holds those who steal to account. Accountability can be achieved in many ways: through effective elections, tax payers demanding services for their money, greater transparency about results planned for and achieved, citizens monitoring results and reporting on them, and… ending impunity for those who steal. All of these together would start making a system that works; a system that can transform a country like Nigeria.

More here

Voices from #OccupyNigeria

2012-01-13T14:53:00.000-05:00

ChopCassava Voices from the Lagos, Nigeria:

Villages in Action - Let the Village Voices be Heard

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

In rural Uganda:

...September 2010, international organizations, heads of state, celebrities and specialists gathered to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).As you may know, the MDGs were set in 2000 to achieve eight anti-poverty goals by 2015. In the midst of the coverage of these grand events, high profile attendees wined, dined and debated the relative merits of each MDGs plan, while the actual “poor,” were not invited to these elite events.
Via 2010 from Project Diaspora on Vimeo.
Project Diaspora decided to change perceptions about the poor by building the Villages in Action platform whereby the voices of the poor can be heard. On November 27, 2010, the first conference was held in a village outside Masindi, Uganda. The goal of this one-day conference was to showcase the grassroots efforts driving economic development and improving the lives of the community – all with little or no assistance from international aid organizations...[continue reading]

Ngozi Okonjo Iweala "Second Time Around"

2012-01-12T18:00:00.000-05:00

Jeremy Clift writes:

Amid the drab suits of international finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s colorful and vibrant traditional African attire always guarantees she will stand out in a crowd. Often wearing a coordinated head wrap, Okonjo-Iweala is a big personality with matching opinions. “I feel very Nigerian, very African, and I love it,” she says.

On where her grit comes from

Okonjo-Iweala tells how during the civil war, while her mother was ill and her father away in the army, she rescued her three-year-old sister who was sick with malaria and at death’s door. She put her sister on her back and walked 10 kilometers to a clinic in a church, where she’d heard there was a good doctor. When she arrived, there were a thousand people outside, trying to break down the door. Undeterred, she crawled through their legs with her sister on her back and climbed through the window to see the doctor. “I knew if she didn’t get help she’d die,” says Okonjo-Iweala.The doctor gave the girl a shot of chloroquine and put her on rehydration therapy, and within hours she was back to health. The injection saved her sister’s life. “The 10 kilometers home with her on my back, that was the shortest walk of my life. I was so happy,” she said.She has shown the same pluck and determination ever since.

...and manner

Affable, approachable, and hardworking, she was known for her rigor and strong technical knowledge. “I would say she is an eternal optimist and a straight shooter,” says Tijan M. Sallah, who currently heads the Capacity Development and Partnerships Unit for Africa in the World Bank and who wrote a book with Okonjo-Iweala (see Box 2). “She is also a strong advocate for women,” he adds, pointing to her efforts to help promote promising young women into managerial positions in the World Bank. She also helped set up a private equity fund to invest in African women–owned businesses.

More here

Chinua Achebe on the Occupy Nigeria strikes

2012-01-12T17:30:00.000-05:00

CS Monitor interviews Chinua Achebe:

Question: In your 1960 novel, "No Longer at Ease," you write about the coming problem of official corruption in Nigerian society, told through the rise and fall of your main character Obi. What do you think are the roots of corruption in Nigerian society – colonial legacy, corporate power, local business elites – and what will it take to uproot it?

Everything you mentioned has played a part. Nigeria has had a complicated colonial history. My work has examined that part of our story extensively. (No longer at ease, A man of the people and later Anthills of the savannah also tackle Nigeria’s burden of corruption and political ineptitude…) At this point in Nigeria’s history, however, we can no longer absolve ourselves of the responsibility for our present condition. Corruption is endemic because we have had a complete failure of leadership in Nigeria that has made corruption easy and profitable. It will be controlled when Nigerians put in place checks and balances that will make corruption “inconvenient” – with appropriate jail sentences and penalties to punish those that steal from the state.

The first republic produced political leaders in all the regions who were not perfect, but compared to those that came after them they now appear almost “saint like” – they were well educated, grounded politicians who may have embodied a flawed vision or outlook for the country (in my opinion); but at least had one.

Read the rest of the interview here

SUBsidy (Freestyle)

2012-01-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

Creative piece of protest music. Would have been pitch perfect if not for its unfair perpetuation of unfounded ministerial malfeasance:

The fuel subsidy crisis has woken Nigerians up

2012-01-12T14:00:00.000-05:00

Tolu Ogunlesi writing in the Guardian:

REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye
...With inspiration from the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and the power of social media, more people than ever before in Nigeria are aware of and angered by the corruption in the system. Never before in the country's history have ordinary citizens been inspired to discuss budget items line by line. The questions are mounting. For example, how can N1bn ($6.25m) be allocated to the president and vice-president's catering budget, in a country stalked by hunger?
The target of the protests is a system constructed to oppress the poor and protect wealthy criminals. Every day since 2 January, the day after the fuel price increases, protesters have been assembling across several Nigerian states, marching and sharing their messages. And in many cases, enduring police harassment.
Young Nigerians are waking up and realising that we are where we are today because previous governments – maintainers of the corrupt system – were hardly ever seriously challenged, or rigorously questioned.
Now, having woken up, we will not be going back to sleep.

More here

#OccupyNigeria "Its a fight against Corruption"

2012-01-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

VOA reports:

Pius Utomi Ekpei / AFP - Getty Images
Executive Director of Nigeria’s ‘Enough is Enough’ coalition, Yemi Adamolekun was on her way home from an Occupy Nigeria protest in Lagos Tuesday when she offered two fellow protestors a ride home.“People are walking two hours to get to protest sites because they are that passionate about what is going on," said Adamolekun. "I gave two gentlemen a ride today on my way back home, and they told me it took them almost two hours to get to the site this morning and they’re coming back tomorrow.”
Enough is Enough has been calling on the youth of Nigeria, where 75% of the population is under the age of 30, to provoke change for almost two years.
But President Goodluck Jonathan’s New Year’s decision to remove a fuel subsidy – an act that doubled the price of fuel for Nigerians overnight – catapulted the movement, which has dubbed itself, Occupy Nigeria. "Really from our perspective it was just a trigger," said Adamolekun of the end of the fuel subsidy. "Nigerians have been very quiet for so long. The corruption in the system is known at home and abroad. Lack of infrastructure, rising costs of goods and services.”

More here

Nigerian Anger Boils Over

2012-01-12T12:30:00.000-05:00

Anene Ejikeme writing in the NYTImes:

Image by Raquel Marín
On Jan. 1 Nigerians awoke to find that the price of gasoline had gone from just under $2 a gallon to almost $4 a gallon. Since the beginning of this week, tens of thousands of angry protesters have taken to the streets all over the country; several are dead. Apart from nationwide protests, the country faces continuing sectarian violence. Many fear Nigeria is on the precipice of total collapse...[continue reading]

#OccupyNigeria

2012-01-12T10:42:00.000-05:00

The Economist on the current protests in Nigeria:

Image courtesy of 360Nobs
A strike over fuel prices and government corruption has brought Nigeria to a standstill. Tens of thousands of workers in Africa’s second-biggest economy have vowed to continue their protests until a popular fuel subsidy is restored.Shops, markets, banks and public offices have been closed for three days. Some international flights have been cancelled. Roads have been empty of cars and buses. Instead, the streets of cities across the country have been filled with thousands of protesters. The demonstrations have mostly been peaceful but at least three people were killed and dozens more injured when police fired on protesters accused of rioting in Lagos and Kano.

More here

Energy Black Swan Update - No. 2

2012-01-12T07:40:00.001-05:00

A 3rd part in our series on 'Energy Black Swans', Watch this presentation from Dr. Joseph Zawodny of Nasa:

Trailer For "Dimanche à Brazzaville" ("Sunday In Brazzaville")

2012-01-12T06:30:00.000-05:00

In Shadow and Act:

A young radio talk host, Carlos La Menace, unveils in his weekend show three figures of Congo’s capital, Brazzaville. The Sapeur Yves Saint Laurent, surrounded by extreme poverty, chooses elegance as a way of life. Cheriff Bakala is not a usual rapper. Mixes hip hop with Congolese folk, and uses local instruments, such as drums made up with water cans. He’s about to record his first album in a country with almost no producers. Finally, Palmas Yaya, Brazzaville’s wrestling champion is relying on voodoo to defend its throne in a crucial moment of his life…
"Dimanche à Brazzaville" Teaser from Tambay Obenson on Vimeo.

Rodney Brooks on the 'Making Revolution'

2012-01-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

Rodney Brooks founder of iRobot writing in Tech Review:

“Making more competitive products relies on a tight intertwining of design and manufacturing. And making it domestically keeps transportation costs low and creates short supply chains that respond quickly to customers.

“More significant, it offers the chance to empower factory workers with information technology, just as the personal IT revolution has empowered office workers. We can create tools for ordinary workers, with intuitive interfaces, extensive use of vision and other sensors, and even the Web-based distribution mechanisms of the IT industry.”

More here

Nigeria sliding into chaos?

2012-01-11T16:47:00.000-05:00

Al Jazeera reporting:

From protests over fuel subsidies to attacks by Boko Haram, the most populous African nation is facing a crisis.

Niyi Osundare on religion and politics in Nigeria

2012-01-11T06:30:00.000-05:00

Niyi Osundare in NaijaBlog:

In the past five years or so, I have been reconsidering my long-held opinion about the relation between leadership and followership. Time there was when I laid all the blame on leadership. Now I’m beginning to say that the followership should also take their fate in their own hands. This is what I see most of the time, for example, in the plays of Femi Osofisan, one of our top writers. Play after play after play; the leaders are there doing things. But the address is to the people. Why must you continue to be ridden like a donkey? Why can’t you, too, get up in the saddle? Nigerians are too docile, too forgiving of bad leadership.

Why are they this way? A number of reasons. The first one is religion. The kind of religion we have in Nigeria is one that puts you to sleep, and after that, puts you to death. It’s not the kind of religion that’s after social justice; it’s not the kind of religion that is after the welfare of the people and the independence of their existence.

More here

Billion Dollar Hippy | Steve Jobs

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

The BBC profiles the life of Steve Jobs:

The Fuel Subsidy Removal Protests for Dummies

2012-01-10T08:31:00.001-05:00

Jeremy Weate writes:

...the lived reality of citizens of the Nigerian state is that it provides little or no security, no infrastructure, no education and no employment opportunities (apart from mostly McJobs in the civil service). Everywhere in Nigeria, the basic elements of civilised existence have to be taken care of house-by-house, compound-by-compound. You must sink your own borehole for water, buy, install and fuel a generator for power, hire security guards to keep the wolves from the door, pay school fees to ensure your kids get a half-decent education because the public school system is in perpetual meltdown. And to earn enough money to get through the day, you must hustle.

The breakdown of a standard tax and political representation based social contract between citizens and the state in Nigeria is almost entirely a result of the past few decades of the so-called ‘resource curse’. Earning billions of dollars each year from crude exports, the Nigerian government has no need to rely on tax from individuals or local companies; tax and royalty payments from the international oil companies (as well as historically, loans from international financial institutions) have been sufficient to fund the annual budget at all levels of government. For the past few decades, cheap fuel has therefore been the only form of social contract between ordinary Nigerians and the state and the principle lever to control inflation during times of rising oil prices. With most Nigerians subsisting on US$2 or less, subsidised fuel has also been a survival mechanism, making life only just bearable.

More here

Forest income and poverty reduction

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

From United Nations University:

Photo | Alan Lew
A recent study co-authored by UNU-INRA’s Director, Elias Ayuk, finds that forest income reduces both income inequality and poverty in rural Nigeria. The analysis presented indicates that the decision to participate in forest extraction increases with more access to community forest areas, larger and poorer households and membership in forest management committees, and decreases with higher educational attainment. Furthermore, the researchers’ poverty and inequality simulations revealed that household welfare in rural Nigeria could be improved through policies and programs that can stimulate earnings from minor forest resources and assist households to earn income from alternative sources such as agriculture and commerce...[continue reading]

Nigeria's finance minister -Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala- speaks to Al Jazeera

2012-01-09T08:33:00.000-05:00

From Al Jazeera:

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan is facing opposition to his decision to cut fuel subsidies, which saw petrol prices double overnight when the decision was made at the start of the year.
Labour unions have now called for a nationwide strike to begin on Monday. This comes following a series of demonstrations held over the past week.
Sectarian violence in the country has also worsened recently, causing a rise in tensions on the street.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's finance minister, spoke to Al Jazeera from the capital Abuja...[more here]

State Of The Nation: Soyinka, Achebe, Clark Warn Against Another Civil War

2012-01-09T08:03:00.000-05:00

From iReports:

image courtesy of iReports
The trio of Nigrian literary icons; Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and J.P. Clark have called for a stop to the spread of violence across the country, warning that the country cannot afford another civil war at this time in history.A statement jointly signed by the trio and entitled “LET NOT THIS FIRE SPREAD!!! An Appeal to the Nigerian Nation Community”, reads in full:“The fears we have all secretly nursed are coming to realisation. The nightmare we have hugged to our individual breasts, voicing them only in family privacy, or within trusted caucuses of friends and colleagues – lest they become instances of materialising evil thoughts – has finally burst through into our social, physical environment. Rumblings and veiled threats have given way to eruption, and the first cracks in the wall of patience and forbearance can no longer be wished away. BOKO HARAM is very likely celebrating its first tactical victory: provoking retaliation in some parts of the nation...[continue reading]

“Un Homme Qui Crie” (“A Screaming Man”) - A Movie

2012-01-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

'A screaming man', the trailer:

Nigerian Christians told to defend themselves

2012-01-08T11:04:00.000-05:00

Al Jazeera reports on the unfolding religious conflict in Nigeria:

MTN | Profiting from Nigeria’s informal economy

2012-01-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

Robert Neuwirth writing in How We Made it in Africa:

Image courtesy of howwemadeitinafrica
Perhaps the most strikingly visible way in which formal businesses make use of System D is in the mobile phone industry. Along every road in many African and Asian countries – on median strips, on the side streets and main drags, in the middle of highways, at almost every intersection – you can find small plastic tables with umbrellas overhead.They’re called umbrella stands and they are the phone booths of the developing world. In the sparse shade offered by those umbrellas, the formal economy meets System D in an extremely direct way.

Nigeria provides a perfect case study. It’s the largest country in Africa, with a mobile phone market that seems to have nothing but upside, and a variety of telecom firms are battling for market share.
MTN, a massive multinational based in South Africa and active in twenty one countries through Africa and the Middle East, had spent years looking for a way to gain a share of the Nigerian market. With a population of close to a hundred and sixty million, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, and one in six Africans is a Nigerian

More here

'South Africa's Victim Ideology'-Moeletsi Mbeki

2012-01-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

Moeletsi Mbeki on the ANC's policies:

We are paying the price for half measures and a victim ideology that drives consumption instead of production...A black upper class is now in place which, despite its size, is significant and established, he says. There has been a badly needed – though at best partial – redistribution of wealth in favour of blacks, not least through the tax system and government expenditure, but also through initiatives such as Black Economic Empowerment, a want-to-be equitable wealth plan closely associated with his older brother Thabo Mbeki, who led the country from 1999 until he was abruptly ousted from office by his own party, the ANC, in 2008.

Continuing...

Such piecemeal efforts do not amount to transformative justice, however, "which in South Africa should be about raising the earning power of the worker. We have a capitalist system and therefore by definition, the productive assets are owned by small groups, for whom large groups work. If their earning power was enhanced, it would have a knock-on effect on so much else, not least our education and health systems. That would have been real transformative justice."

But it didn't happen that way. Instead, the wrong measures were put in place, in his view. "The ANC adopted the Washington Consensus and other policies that began to shrink rather than grow the economy. Today it's stagnated, if not regressing. Look at the manufacturing system, once the main employer. Now it's shrinking and that's critical because it employs the semi-skilled and unskilled who are the bulk of the South African labour force.

More here

Quick Hits

2012-01-07T06:00:00.001-05:00

Calestous Juma on 'Africa's quest for prosperity'
'David Cameron, homosexuality, and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa' by Seye Abimbola
Africa rising, but not necessarily in democracies
Medical devices save lives, but only if they are appropriate and functional: It's the challenge of ensuring quality care in limited-resource settings.
Women scientists honored at the launch of the Pan-African university
Richard Dowden on transforming Nigeria
"The Chinese are not respected by whites because they wear expensive clothes or drink expensive whisky, but because they produce and innovate"-Prince Mashele
Its about time...Nigerians Should Now Ignore the Church

Innovations that are Working to Empower Women

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

Worldwatch reports:

Image courtesy of CIDSE
Although women comprise 43 percent of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, they typically aren’t able to own land. Cultural barriers also limit women’s ability to obtain credit and insurance.Strengthening women’s rights can help strengthen the global food system. According to the World Food Programme, allowing women farmers access to more resources could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 100-150 million people. Nourishing the Planet highlights five innovations that are helping empower women farmers around the world,they are:
-Vertical Farming
-Food, Agriculture & Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network’s (FANRPAN) Theatre
-Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA)
-Women’s Collective
-GREEN Foundation

Read here for details

Seke Somolu | Filmmaker

2012-01-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

From Creative Economy:

Image courtesy of Creative Economy
Seke Somolu has worked variously as a director, writer, producer and editor in a range of formats and genres including short film, documentary, TV drama, music video and TV commercials. Some notable examples of his work include the short films Nkan Mii and Mama Put, the documentary Metamorphosis, and several episodes of the TV drama series Wetin Dey. He has also taught film history and theory and published articles on arts and cultural issues.

Nigeria's Fuel Subsidy: Gone for Good?

2012-01-04T10:55:00.000-05:00

Lagun Akinloye writing in Think Africa:

The removal of Nigeria's fuel subsidy has met much resistance but there could be considerable long-term benefits.

The much touted removal of Nigeria’s fuel subsidy came into force over the New Year’s weekend. Annual spending on the subsidy surpassed the $8bn mark by the end of 2011 and its removal forms a central part of the government’s new economic direction to instil fiscal discipline in the country and invest the money saved from the subsidy into infrastructural projects. However, the battle is far from over, with civil society groups and labour unions sounding the drums of war and ordering their members onto the streets in protest as fuel prices more than double across the country...[continue reading]

3bute "... a mashable anthology of African modernity"

2012-01-04T06:00:00.002-05:00

Founded by Bunmi Oloruntoba of Bombastic Elements:

3bute [pronounced: tribute] is an online anthology devoted to the question of African modernity. Along that theme, we look on the web for what writers--especially African bloggers--have written and we recycle/ adapt selected writing into 3 pages of narrative art. The pages are then delivered through the Comicpress engine combined with ThingLink's unobtrusive rich media tagging tool, resulting in what we like to call a "mashable surface".

Teaser Trailer For “Black Swan Theory” By Nikyatu Jusu (Filmmaker Challenge Winner)

2012-01-04T06:00:00.001-05:00

In Shadow and Act:

...teaser trailer of Black Swan Theory, the short film by Nikyatu Jusu, winner of the Inaugural Shadow And Act Filmmaker Challenge.
[BLACK SWAN THEORY] teaser from Nikyatu Jusu on Vimeo.

Tiata Fahodzi | Theatre Company

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

Founded by Femi Elufowoju:

Image courtesy of Tiata Fahodzi
Tiata Fahodzi commissions and develops new writing as well as reinterpreting African and European classics. We pioneer new modes of engagement between artists and audiences, rooted in the various traditional African theatre and music forms. Our remit is to serve an all-inclusive British audience. We usually stage one major production each year as well as showcasing new, emerging talent through initiatives such Tiata Delights, our festivals of new writing.

Quick Hits

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

Slavery by another Name: CFA Franc
Obiang’s American Enablers
Prosperity may not always directly translate into demand
Waiting for Kabila to be Charlemagne
The Silent Crisis that is Swaziland
Pursuing justice for Gambia's Deyda Hydara
Vast and Fertile Ground in Africa for Science to Take Root
A chat with Priscillia Kounkou Hoveyda, the co-founder of Now AfriCAN,
The industrial organization of motorbike taxis in Africa

Anchoring democracy in indigenous African Institutions

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

Daniel Ayana writes:

Scholars have suggested the importance of integrating African democratization process with grassroots institutions for long-term consolidation. However, the major problem remained the inadequacy of secularism in disentangling the religious from the non-religious intertwined in indigenous African institutions. This essay reconsiders the Burckhardtian notion of secularism for a recalibrated definition that embraces a trajectory of transposed values. Debunking the Burckhardtian notion opens up an analytic terrain relegated to the religious. Thus indigenous African religions are re-conceptualized as civic religions to shed light on their public aspects. The essay then identifies collective ceremonies and the attendant secular/civic rituals as the grassroots institutions housed in indigenous African religions. The analysis also locates the disjuncture between independent African states and the grassroots institutions at this level of collective ceremonies, perceived as sacral or irrational. The objective is to harness them as African building blocks for democratic consolidation

More here

Intellectual Property as framed by the West- Noam Chomsky

2012-01-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

A note of caution for those championing western views of intellectual property in Africa. Noam Chomsky states:

The World Trade Organization proposed new, enhanced intellectual property rights, patent rights, which means monopoly pricing rights, far beyond anything that existed in the past. In fact they are not only designed tomaximize monopoly pricing, and profit, but also to prevent development.That’s rather crucial. WTO rules introduced product patents. Used to be you could patent a process, but not the product. Which means if some smart guy could figure out a better way of doing it, he could do it. They want to block that. It’s important to block development and progress, in order to ensure monopoly rights. So they now have product patents.

Well if you take a look at, say, US history. Suppose the colonies after independence had been forced to accept that regime. Do you know what we’d be doing now? Well first of all there’d be very few of us here. But those of us who would be here would be pursuing our comparative advantage and exporting fish and fur. That’s what economists tell you is right.Pursue your comparative advantage. That was our comparative advantage. Wecertainly wouldn’t have had a textile industry. British textiles were way cheaper and better. Actually British textiles were cheaper and better because Britain had crushed Irish and Indian superior textile manufacturers and stolen their techniques. So they were now the preeminent textile manufacturer, by force of course.

The US would never have had a textile industry. It grew up around Massachusetts, but the only way it could develop was extremely high tariffs which protected unviable US industries. So the textile industry developed,and that has a spin off into other industries. And so it continues.

More here

Nigeria's Religious War

2011-12-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

Temie Giwa writing in NigeriansTalk:

Image of Temi Giwa
...it is not religious in a way that suggests that Boko Haram targets Christians and other religions and excludes Muslims from their terrorism. This war is meant to determine the future of Islam in the Nigerian context. All religions must go through this phase of reformation and self-determination, and Islam, while young, is no different. This struggle traditionally kills more faithfuls of the particular religion than outsiders. While Boko Haram and their terror campaign are irrevocably religious, we cannot ignore the fact that the group has killed more Muslim than Christians so far.

More here

Michael Sata’s unusual populist presidency

2011-12-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

In Africa Works:

Image courtesy of Bongoweekend
African presidents continue to display a preference for pomp and ceremony over practical action. Sata (president of Zambia) suggests an alternative approach — and is backing up his rhetoric with action. On a recent trip to the historic Zambian city of Livingstone, near the border with neighboring Zimbabwe, Sata traveled by public bus to a meeting with president Robert Mugabe — and then afterwards, even more improbably, settled his own hotel bill.

More here
Further reading Zambia’s President Sata: A Populist ‘Clown’ With Interesting Off-the-Wall Ideas

And so, the Looting Goes On | Nigeria's Local Governments

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Salisu Suleiman writes:

Nigeria’s Constitution recognizes local government areas as the third tier of government after the federal and state governments. Their functions are clearly defined. They are entitled allocation of funds from the federation account for use in carrying out their functions. All of Nigeria’s 776 local councils each receive billions of naira in allocations, but nobody knows where these monies end up. Where are the local roads, dispensaries, schools and markets? Where are the projects to speed up development? Where are the trillions? No wonder it is now vogue for chairmen to own houses in London, Dubai and South Africa. And because there are little checks, accountability is weak and audit systems compromised. The public is generally disinterested.

And so, the looting goes on.

That is why today, there are places in Nigeria that cannot be reached by any form of motorized vehicle; reaching those places entails abandoning vehicles and trudging on foot. That is why in some areas today, medical emergencies are transported to clinics on motorcycles or donkeys. That is why in many places pupils still study under trees in lieu of classrooms. That is why we must ask: Where are the boreholes that are supposed to provide potable water? Why do so many people die from preventable diseases like malaria, typhoid, cholera, dysentery, and meningitis? Why do we have mountains of refuse and clogged drainages all over the country?

More here

Toussaint L' ouverture | A movie

2011-12-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

Shadow and Act profiles the upcoming production, 'Toussaint Louverture':

Jimmy Jean-Louis stars as the title character in what will be a 2-part TV-movie, and he's joined by French actresses Aïssa Maïga (Paris, Je T'Aime, Bamako) as Toussaint's wife, Suzanne, and Sonia Rolland (Moloch Tropical, Midnight In Paris) as Marie-Eugénie Sonthonax, wife of abolitionist L.F. Sonthonax

More here

The Real Mohamed Bouazizi and 'System D'

2011-12-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Hernando de Soto writing in Foreign Policy:

To eke out a living, poor entrepreneurs like Bouazizi -- not just in Tunisia, but across the world -- have little alternative but to join the local extralegal economy with its own rules for making transactions and protecting assets. Bouazizi, for example, paid 3 dinars a day for the regular use of a location on the street -- what the ILD calls an "extralegal property right." According to our research, he had worked his entire life to establish a small place in the local market economy -- and lost it in a matter of minutes.

During our research we found hundreds of small enterprises like Bouazizi's, run by Tunisians with no legal identity, no legal address, and no legal right to their shack or market stall. Without legal documents, their ability to make the most of their assets is limited, and they live in constant fear of being evicted or harassed by local officials. According to our research, around half of the entire Tunisian workforce is employed by extralegal businesses of this kind. Around the region, the number is far larger -- over 100 million Arabs.

If committing suicide over the loss of $225 worth of goods and a regular location on the street for a fruit stand seems inconceivable to most people in the United States and Europe, Bouazizi's counterparts throughout Tunisia and in the extralegal economies in the rest of the Arab world understood immediately his desperation. In their eyes, Bouazizi had not been just the victim of corruption or even public humiliation, as horrible as they are; he had been deprived of the only thing that stood between him and starvation -- the loss of his place in the only economy available to poor Arabs.

More here

The Arterial Network

2011-12-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

The creative network highlights the Arterial Network whose goals include:

To build and/or further develop effective, sustainable national, regional and continental networks within and across arts disciplines to play advocacy and lobbying roles within countries, regions, on the continent and internationally as appropriate, and in support of the African creative sector...[continue reading]

The role of women in informal trade in Africa

2011-12-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

From UNECA's Assessing Regional Integration in Africa publication on “Informal Trade in Africa”:

Image courtesy of parallelozero
Women play a prominent role in informal trade, and in informal business activities in particular. These few figures are proof enough: four to five million women in West Africa are involved in collecting, processing and marketing shea nuts and butter, bringing in an estimated 80 per cent of their income (Plunked and Stryker, 2002). In Benin, women are 80 per cent of those involved in informal trade, and the figure rises to 95 per cent for informal marketing of unprocessed goods.
Madam Tinubu’s fame has no doubt been surpassed by the rich merchant women of contemporary Togo, known as the “Nana-Benz.” While these women have followed varying routes to success, they share several characteristics. Then, as now, these women conduct their businesses on the regional, and even international, stage, drawing on a long history of trading experience as informal actors. This results in their economic success, rather than initiating it. The volume of trade that passes through their hands enables them to regularly increase their economic and social capital (Humarau, 1999) even if their absence from or minimal institutional representation in formal political decision-making tends to minimize the crucial role that they could play in the development of intra-African trade. The factors that bring them together also separate them from most of the small-scale West African traders operating daily, who barely succeed in breaking even with their investments. All these groups constitute the major trading agents of both the formal and informal sectors.

via The Prepaid Economy Blog

Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram?

2011-12-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

From Al Jazeera:

Nigeria has experienced one of its worst days of violence in two years. Churches, mosques, banks and police stations were attacked as multiple bomb blasts rocked the city of Damaturu, killing at least 69 people, with some reports putting the number as high as 150. There were also separate bombings in the town of Maiduguri, where at least four people were killed.

And Nigeria's Islamist Boko Haram group, which claimed responsibility for the attacks, has warned that more are planned.

These attacks have fuelled an already steep sectarian divide in Africa's most populous country, but who are Boko Haram and what motivates their violence? How big a threat do they pose to the country's stability and why have they decided to escalate their violence now?...[continue reading]

Terror in Northern Nigeria

2011-12-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

Jack Hamilton writing in Inpec:

Image courtesy of Inpec
The state of Nigeria is facing its largest crisis in over a decade. As the ferocity and popularity of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram rises, the very unity of the state is being challenged. This collection of photos assesses the reasons why the group is becoming increasingly attractive to the disaffected population in the north despite their gruesome tactics.

More here

Critical Thinking and the African Identity

2011-12-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Leo Igwe writes:

Whenever I try to apply logic, critical reasoning and scientific temper to issues during public debates, I am often accused of not thinking like an African. I am always told that I think like a white man or that I have a western mentality. As if critical thinking or the scientific outlook is for westerners alone or that critical thinking can only be exercised by people from a particular race or region. No, this is not the case.Surprisingly, nobody has ever stepped forward to tell me how an ‘African’ thinks. For me it is either this ‘African mode of thought’ is one which nobody knows about or is one that does not exist or qualify to be called a thinking pattern. Nobody has tried to let me know if Africans think at all. Because this misguided view that one is unAfrican or western in outlook is often employed to block or suppress critical reasoning or inquiry particularly when it is used to challenge traditions, positions and opinions informed by blind faith or dogma.

While holding on to beliefs and outlooks informed by superstition and primordial thinking is often glorified as African. Even in this 21st century, reason and science are still perceived as western, and not African values. I have yet to understand how we came about this mistaken idea. Hence, it is often portrayed as if the African does not reason and dare not reason or that the African does not think or cannot think critically. It seems thinking like an African means suspension of thought, logic or common sense. Thinking like an African means not thinking at all- thoughtlessness or thinking in spiritual, occult or magical ways.For instance, whenever I try to challenge or question the irrational and absurd claims of witchcraft, juju and charms, and other ritualistic and religious nonsense that dominate the mental space of Africans, I am often reminded that my mentality is western. And you know what, whenever in the course of a public debate, somebody alleges that a position is western, it means that it is unacceptable though it may be reasonable or may have a superior argument. Is that not unfortunate?

More here

The Enterprising 'Nana Benz' Women of 'System D'

2011-12-24T06:00:00.008-05:00

In Parallelozero a piece about unsung women entrepreneurs:

Image courtesy of Parallel Zero
They started off from nothing in the Fifties and became amongst the richest in their homeland, Togo. They're the Nana Benz, the women who sell traditional African fabrics. Particularly the sought-after “wax” which is printed in Holland. They've made a fortune, they've travelled the world over, becoming a reference point for the fabric trade in Western and Central Africa. They were the first to purchase what, at the time, was a real status symbol: the Mercedes Benz. Hence their name. Today their fame has waned a little. And the economic crisis has affected them too. Turnover has dropped, but they're still here, together with their daughters – the Nanette, - to whom they've entrusted their work. You can find them in the Grand Marché in Lomé or in the boutiques around the city. Keeping always an eye on their businesses.

The Delusion of Positive Thinking

2011-12-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

Barbara Ehrenreich debunks 'Positive Thinking' a belief not dissimilar to 'Prosperity Gospel':via Saving Africa

Art from Nairobi's 'Shadow Cities'

2011-12-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

Craig Halliday writing in Think Africa:

Nairobi’s slums run on a functioning informal economy and have their own bars, restaurants, pharmacies, cinemas and street traders like any other neighbourhood. At the centre of these communities is a vibrant creativity and a visually evident wealth of artistic talent. This can be found in the huge mural in the Mathare slum created by graffiti artist Bankslave (Kevin Esendi), or in the performing arts programmes run by Sarakasi trust and the studio photography sessions held by Peter Olendo
Image courtesy of Think Africa

..."Ghetto" Art from KiberaWith an increase of wasani (artists) operating within Nairobi’s slums, many have come together to form collectives and establish art centres. One such group is Kibera’s "Maasai Mbili", whose name in Swahili means “the two Maasai”. The Maasai Mbili Art Centre was started in 2001 by Otieno Gomba and Otieno Kota, neither of whom are actually Maasai. The name refers to a time when the two artists would dress as Maasai to attract customers to their sign-writing business. Saving their earnings, these two artists rented a small two-storey building in Kibera and created a new art space, which became the "Maasia Mbili Art Centre". The studio attracted many other artists from Kibera who came to learn from one another. Today around ten artists use the studio as a space for their painting and sculpting.

More here

Welcome: The new Nigerian refugees

2011-12-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

Sylvia Ofili writes in the Guardian (Nigeria):

Oh yes, the Nigerian Senate who have so much time on their hands, decided to pass a bill stating that gays shall not be allowed to get married and if they dare do, they shall get fourteen years in jail. Let us face the truth. There are no gay couples applying for marriage certificates in that country. How would they do that? There are no provisions for such a marriage in our system, therefore, this bill is totally redundant. It is like telling me that I am banned from eating eba in my kitchen when I had none in the first place. If eba was available and waiting for me in my kitchen, then that’s another story. But I don’t even have garri or hot water. In fact, I don’t even have a bowl to make the eba in, so what exactly would be the point of such a ban? It’s as simple as that. I can’t be the only one that sees how unnecessary this bill is. A total waste of time and resources. But hey, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

I am surprised about the excitement this bill has caused in our people. People are almost foaming at the mouths because of this useless bill. I wish our Senate could be equally engaged in other serious matters. For example, Boko Haram. Every month, a new bomb and yet, our senators are laughing over homosexual jokes on TV. I would have expected some kind of crack down by now. Or is it only in the Niger Delta that the military enjoys operating? And what do they plan to do about the religious violence in the north? Or is this show of solidarity against homosexuals going to stop the burning of churches over there? Will this be the very act that will unite Christianity and Islam in the north? And if that is so, will it not be strange that it is only in our hatred we can unite and not in love?

More here
For further context read Nigeria’s ‘anti-gay bill’ is another backward step
and Leo Igwe's Gay Marriage and African Politics

Mashup Maghrebi

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

From Africa is a Country:

L’Avion, one of the many fruits from the Beyond Digital mega project in Morocco this past summer, is a breathtaking collaboration between Nettle and Imanaren’s Hassan Wargui...[continue reading]

The Congo and Apathy

2011-12-19T06:00:00.000-05:00

Howard W. French writing in the Atlantic:

The Democratic Republic of Congo's President, Joseph Kabila, has just perpetrated a massive hoax in order to retain power. Bowing in principle to the Western-driven demands the our famous but nebulous "international community," Kabila has held just held elections, which he would like the world to believe he has won.
The overall tally, 49 percent for the "winner," and 32 percent for the first runner up, had a ring to it that at first glance, at least for the uninitiated, sounded both plausible and competitive, which in such matters usually go hand in hand. The results proclaimed the Congo to be the latest African country to have traveled far away from the bad old past of continental elections, which authoritarian rulers once routinely "won" with upwards of 95 percent of the vote.

More here
Related video:
'Congo elections: Why is our revolution not being televised?'

'The Protester'

2011-12-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

Time magazine celebrates the 'The Protester':

Mannoubia Bouazizi holds photo of Mohamed Bouazizi photo by Peter Hapak

It began in Tunisia, where the dictator's power grabbing and high living crossed a line of shamelessness, and a commonplace bit of government callousness against an ordinary citizen — a 26-year-old street vendor named Mohamed Bouazizi — became the final straw. Bouazizi lived in the charmless Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid, 125 miles south of Tunis. On a Friday morning almost exactly a year ago, he set out for work, selling produce from a cart. Police had hassled Bouazizi routinely for years, his family says, fining him, making him jump through bureaucratic hoops. On Dec. 17, 2010, a cop started giving him grief yet again. She confiscated his scale and allegedly slapped him. He walked straight to the provincial-capital building to complain and got no response. At the gate, he drenched himself in paint thinner and lit a match.

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African Abortion Wars

2011-12-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

Alexis Okeowo writing in the NYTimes:

Every sub-Saharan African state already allows pregnant women to abort when their lives are in danger, and in recent years Benin, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Swaziland and Togo have been working at expanding their laws to allow abortions in more circumstances.

Still, in all of sub-Saharan Africa, abortion is legal only in Cape Verde and South Africa. And the number of unsafe abortions on the continent is staggeringly high: every year, there are over six million unsafe abortions conducted in Africa, and about 30,000 women die from the procedure. Unsafe abortions are among the leading causes of death for women admitted to hospitals around much of the continent.

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Joi Ito on Silo Breaking Education

2011-12-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

From Big Think:

Most academics work alongside other academics in the same field to arrive at the deepest possible understanding of a particular subject. At the MIT Media Lab, researchers focus on breadth, not depth, of knowledge.“The world is full of expertise,” says Joi Ito, Executive Director. “What it lacks is agility and context.” Watch here:The mission of the Media Lab - symbolized by its glass walls - is to mitigate the isolating effects of specialization by creating a common space where brilliant people in every field can share ideas, English major to mathematician.

Malick Noël Seck | Pro Democracy Activist

2011-12-15T22:08:00.000-05:00

The brother of the groundbreaking designer Bibi Seck:

Malick Noël Seck, a Senegalese political activist, was arrested on October 10th, 2011, for delivering an open letter to the President of the Constitutional Council stating that the third term candidacy of President Abdoulaye Wade is unconstitutional. He was charged with making death threats against the members of the Constitutional Council and "contempt of the court". The letter contains no death threats. Furthermore, the letter cannot be seen as "contempt of the court," as members of the Constitutional Council are not magistrates of the Senegalese legal or administrative system.

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Celebrating African women filmmakers

2011-12-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Basia Lewadowska Cummings writes in Africa is a Country:

Two recent high profile public events in London this year focused on female filmmakers working in African cinema. We can’t repeat the significance of this enough: This is high exposure for a demographic of the African film industry that is generally low on the radar.
Still from Zina Saro Wiwa's "Phyllis"
Late last month a group of academics, filmmakers and critics from around the world converged at a conference in London to celebrate the work of African women in film. The event was held at the University of Westminster. Those attending heard from important female filmmakers such as Jihan El-Tahri, director of “Behind the Rainbow” (2008) and Yaba Badoe, director of “The Witches of Gambaga” (2010) who discussed their experiences as independent filmmakers. Writing at subtitled,Katy Stewart records that both women passionately broached controversial issues, denying labels that are often imposed upon them for the benefit of funders and commissioners...[continue reading]

The Future Of Capitalism Is Homegrown, Small Scale, And Independent

2011-12-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Bruce Nussbaum writing in Fast Company:

You won’t learn about it in business school, hear about it from Wall Street, or see it in Palo Alto. But if you spend time in Bushwick, Brooklyn, or on Rivington Street in Manhattan, you just might detect the outlines of an emerging “indie” capitalism. This new form of capitalism is not just about conventional startups and technology and venture capitalists. If you add up all the trends under way today, I believe we are beginning to see the start of something original, and perhaps wonderful. It may prove to be the economic and social antidote to the failed financial capitalism and crony capitalism that no longer delivers economic value in terms of jobs, income, and taxes to the people of this country...[continue reading]

Brooklyn Artists Gym

2011-12-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

In Brooklyn, a model for everywhere - Brooklyn Artists Gym:

Brooklyn Artists Gym is an artist studio and gallery facility in the Park Slope/Gowanus area of Brooklyn, New York. BAG’s mission is to help make it possible for artists to further their work and careers at a reasonable cost.

Parkour Egypt

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

In Cairo:

Photo by David Degner

...I ran into one of the folks behind Parkour Egypt. He's also a co-founder of Cairo Hackerspace...connect the dots.

Is Social Entrepreneurship a Ponzi Scheme?

2011-12-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Over at Little Devices that Could:

"Most investment funds that have been set up in the social/impact spaces (i.e. Impact50) are focused on mezzanine and growth stage investments (in other words: if you are already making money, we may invest our money; if you are not, then you are too early)"- Laurie Lane-Zucker

If you combine that fact with the undeniable requirements for investments in risky endeavors, especially when challenges require invention and innovation, you can see not just the Ponzi scheme but a nearsighted lens on executing the hard stuff. Hard stuff is not just collecting information on a mobile phone about health, it's about creating that diagnostic or treatment device for you to do something about it in the first place. Hard stuff is not just creating a super mashed up version of a business model that assumes social entrepreneurs actually enjoy a strange lifestyle that combines exotic conference locations with a struggle-pay-their-student-loan lifestyle. Hard stuff is investing in the SE startup facing the reality that the co-founders have 10 different options in the non-SE space that will be meaningless, yet investible. The hard stuff makes an impact and it's a road worth travelling. We're just going to have to find better vehicles than Cinderella pumpkins.

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Industrialization As a Tool for Job Creation in Nigeria

2011-12-10T06:00:00.000-05:00

From Africa Industrialization Day where Thomas Mattig of Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in conjunction with the Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria stated:

Nigeria is experiencing solid economic growth for several years now. However, employment remains low and can hardly catch up with population growth. The sectors of the economy that are booming such as the banking, telecommunications and insurance industries, do not create many jobs.

continuing:

...even a large bank branch will only employ a handful of people, while a factory can give employment to a whole town.

regarding the oil industry:

The prosperous petroleum sector is built virtually on extraction and not value addition as Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt refineries remain comatose.

and the critical informal sector:

It is also widely acknowledged that the informal sector provides over 70 percent of employment in the country, yet many workers daily face harassment and intimidation from Government officials at all level whilethere is no systematic programme of training and re-training in the face ofchanging technologies and market dynamics, credible programmes ofaccess to credits as well as decent workspaces.. This must change, workersin the informal economy need state support in capacity building, finance and patronage and social protection.

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via All Africa

Africans themselves must instigate reforms from within...

2011-12-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

George Ayittey on the Cheetah Generation and self sustenance:via Independent Global Citizen

Africa’s Knowledge Centers

2011-12-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

In the IMF publication Finance and Development, Calestous Juma writes:

The new African middle class will flourish in knowledge centers that are connected to the global economy. The seeds of such growth can be found in places like Ikeja, the nascent computer-based industrial district of Lagos, and emerging knowledge-based industries such as Nigeria’s movie production network (“Nollywood”) will produce a new crop of entrepreneurs ready to shape the character of the next generation of middle-class Africans.

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Nigeria's Fake Pastors

2011-12-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

Religion as an opiate of the masses can be viewed live in Nigeria's 'churches':
Nigerian Fake Pastors and Church Business Exposed from Maku Zikya on Vimeo.

The Peul Women of Mali

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

In Kilele:

Portrait of a Peul woman wearing amber necklaces from Northern Mali. Photo by Luca Gargano

Free Markets vs. Flea Markets

2011-12-05T06:00:00.000-05:00

At Poptech Rob Neuwirth author of Stealth of Nations:

...tells us about life in the informal economy, what French culture classifies as System D. 1.8 billion people on the planet subsist through economic transactions that happen outside legal spheres and, by 2020, two thirds of our planet will be doing business in this domain. The future is the free market vs. the flea market.

Quick Hits

2011-12-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

The persistence of colonial institutions via Chris Blattman
South-South ties reshape aid paradigm
Mimi Ito on 'Otaku culture' and cultural soft power
Yenesew Gebre of Ethiopia "Give me Liberty or Give me Death!"

Africa Rising

2011-12-03T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Economist on increasing productive growth across the continent:

The shops are stacked six feet high with goods, the streets outside are jammed with customers and salespeople are sweating profusely under the onslaught. But this is not a high street during the Christmas-shopping season in the rich world. It is the Onitsha market in southern Nigeria, every day of the year. Many call it the world’s biggest. Up to 3m people go there daily to buy rice and soap, computers and construction equipment. It is a hub for traders from the Gulf of Guinea, a region blighted by corruption, piracy, poverty and disease but also home to millions of highly motivated entrepreneurs and increasingly prosperous consumers.
Over the past decade six of the world’s ten fastest-growing countries were African. In eight of the past ten years, Africa has grown faster than East Asia, including Japan. Even allowing for the knock-on effect of the northern hemisphere’s slowdown, the IMF expects Africa to grow by 6% this year and nearly 6% in 2012, about the same as Asia...[continue reading]

Africans "want to be entrepreneurs" not Aid recipients - Dambisa Moyo

2011-12-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

CNBC interviews Dambisa Moyo:

The Stripping of Sierra Leone's Timber

2011-12-01T06:00:00.000-05:00

Al Jazeera on commodity corruption in Sierra Leone:

We – the ‘Sudanese’ – have not been Liberated Yet

2011-11-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

Abdullahi Gallab writing in African Arguments:

The Sudanese, who are experienced in leading successful uprisings and civil disobedience movements against dictatorial rule (which they did in 1964 and again in 1985), are certainly able to do it for a third time to finally liberate themselves from the tyranny and totalitarianism of the inherited state and its current and similar regimes. Then, perhaps, there would be a new opportunity for building a new Sudan out of the Sudanese collective order and its emerging good society. By that time, surely, the Sudanese “habits of the heart” that ameliorated and molded the Sudanese character and its deeper sense of civility (not the state or its regimes) would help them examine themselves, create new political communities, produce a new social contract and thus ultimately support and maintain conditions of democracy, freedom, equality and human dignity. Then, the gentler side of the Sudanese life, and the people’s propensity for it, would, should and maybe will, as Alexis de Tocqueville describes, “spontaneously [help create] the bonds of friendship, trust and cooperation that lie at the heart of civil society.” The dominant impulse by that time, I would say, will be that a change for the State of South Sudan will also be a change for the new Sudanese Sudan.

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Examining Other Genocides

2011-11-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

The NYTimes reports on the Shoah Foundation and a broadening of its role:

...in a dramatic expansion of its mission, the foundation is now incorporating testimonies from mass atrocities other than the Holocaust into its archives. Five survivors of the Rwandan genocide are learning the organization’s archiving methods at the Shoah Foundation Institute here, part of an effort to add at least 1,000 interviews with Rwandans to the foundation’s archives. Ten testimonies from Rwanda have been recorded already, with at least 50 more expected next year

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DR Congo: Africa's sleeping giant?

2011-11-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Insights on DRC's potential at Al Jazeera:

The Magic of Diasporas

2011-11-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

The Economist on Diaspora's:

These networks of kinship and language make it easier to do business across borders (see article). They speed the flow of information: a Chinese trader in Indonesia who spots a gap in the market for cheap umbrellas will alert his cousin in Shenzhen who knows someone who runs an umbrella factory. Kinship ties foster trust, so they can seal the deal and get the umbrellas to Jakarta before the rainy season ends. Trust matters, especially in emerging markets where the rule of law is weak. So does a knowledge of the local culture. That is why so much foreign direct investment in China still passes through the Chinese diaspora. And modern communications make these networks an even more powerful tool of business.
Diasporas also help spread ideas. Many of the emerging world’s brightest minds are educated at Western universities. An increasing number go home, taking with them both knowledge and contacts. Indian computer scientists in Bangalore bounce ideas constantly off their Indian friends in Silicon Valley. China’s technology industry is dominated by “sea turtles” (Chinese who have lived abroad and returned).

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