Africa Update Vol. 10
Welcome to the latest edition of Africa Update! We've got bans on fitness in Sierra Leone, the Dalai Lama in Botswana, Somalia's first statistics bureau, the new occupation of Lupita Nyong'o's dad, and more.
Had to lead off with this triumph of concise political analysis from Gaetano Kagwa
West Africa: If you haven't read BBC Pidgin yet, you're missing out. This was an interesting interview with Aliko Dangote on succeeding in business in Nigeria without getting into oil. Sierra Leone has banned jogging in groups, an ostensible public safety measure which some see as a way of curtailing political dissent. Être maire d’une capitale ouest-africaine, c'est une fonction à haut risque. À lire aussi : « La crise au Sahel : pourquoi le Niger s’en sort mieux que le Mali ».
Central Africa: In Rwanda, private schools are rapidly losing students as public schools become more affordable. RFI has a detailed English overview of the ongoing violence in the DRC's Kasaï region, where the army is accused of murdering civilians. Badly short of revenue, the Central African Republic is seeking to lift sanctions on the sales of conflict diamonds.
According to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, East and Central Africa lead the continent in numbers of people displaced by conflict
East Africa: One of the more unexpected outcomes of the Kenyan election: Lupita Nyong'o's father is now the governor of Kisumu County. The Journal of Eastern African Studies has ungated a number of articles on Kenyan politics. In a blow to press freedom, Tanzania has revoked the registration of all newspapers in the country and is asking them to re-register under a new law. Somalia is struggling to chart a neutral course in the conflict between Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Domestic politics are slowing the production of oil across East Africa.
Southern Africa: Botswana welcomed a visit from the Dalai Lama in a snub to China. Even after Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos leaves office, his family will continue to exert control over almost every corner of the country's economy. Zambia is experiencing an FDI-driven mall boom, but this might mask larger capital outflows to the foreign retailers which populate the new shopping areas.
Southern Africa leads the region in abolition of the death penalty (via Sabrina Mahtani)
Foreign investment and trade: A new study finds that Nigerian traders are willing to pay high costs to travel internationally and meet foreign suppliers, because they can't easily assess the quality of their products otherwise. International tobacco companies are crusading against anti-smoking regulations across Africa. Read this interesting article about North Korea's commercial and military investments in Africa. Data from Uganda suggests that access to roads (and thus markets) dramatically reduces the number of people living in extreme poverty.
Tech and data: Somalia has just established its first statistics bureau, and will soon have its first innovation hub. Hopefully they hire some of these young women studying to be electricians to build out their space. A new study finds that access to faster internet along the East African coast boosts local employment by 4 - 10%. Women in Nigeria are reshaping the male-dominated tech space. Calestous Juma argues that tech is promising, but no country has ever reached middle-income status without industrialising.
A concise visual summary of why better tech isn't everything (via Zenaida Machado)
Academia: Oxford has a post-doc for researchers working on infant health in Nairobi (due 15 September). The Africa Initiative for Governance is funding five students from Nigeria and Ghana to do an MPP at Oxord (due 2 October). The Social Science Research Council has a doctoral dissertation fellowship for PhD students from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, or Uganda (due 17 November). The African Economic Research Consortium is offering a PhD short course and a call for papers on land economics (due 31 August). Feminist Foreign Policy is seeking article submissions for their new journal. And I'm looking for resources for my smart and driven Ghanaian friend Noble Nazzah, who was accepted to an MSc programme at LSE but can't afford to attend without a scholarship -- do get in touch if you have ideas!
Culture: Ufuhamu Africa has a great summer soundtrack. Go back in time with this playlist of Somali songs from the 1970s. Check out Media Diversified's top ten fiction reads from Africa and the diaspora.
Twitter: Interesting people I've followed recently include Daniel Finnan (Francophone Africa), Dastan Kweka (East Africa), Allan Ssenyonga (Uganda), Rachel Gichinga (Kenya), Matina Stevis (Kenya), Nancy Kacungira (Kenya), Simukai Chigudu (Zimbabwe), Gilbert Makore (Zimbabwe), Muna Ngenda (Zambia), and Rebecca Engebretsen (Angola).
Cheers,
Rachel