Africa Update Vol. 11
Welcome to the latest edition of Africa Update! Apologies for the long delay since the last edition. I've been quite busy with work, but hope to get back on a more regular schedule for this newsletter now. This week, we've got Benin's reckoning with its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, early access to Black Panther for Kenyans, the reshaping of Ethiopia's religious landscape, and more.
Insight of the day, via Marcus Halley
West Africa: Benin is building a museum that reckons with its own role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Check out this profile of NanaAma Botchway-Dowuona, one of the first female lawyers in Ghana to run her own law firm. In Senegal, a 19th century drought suppressed local indigo production and led to the flourishing of the textile trade with India. Dakar's mayor has been arrested on charges of embezzling US$34 million in public funds, but his supporters say he's being punished for presidential ambitions. This start-up is offering rapid deliveries of blood to hospitals in Nigeria.
Central Africa: This paper looks at the range of factors associated with the improvement in women's rights in post-conflict Rwanda. Au Burundi, la réforme constitutionnelle programmée « exacerbe les tensions », estime le secrétaire général de l’ONU. Read about the under-discussed conflict that continues in the Republic of Congo's Pool region. In the DR Congo, a broken judicial system means that girls and women who have been raped often ask for cash from their assailants, rather than getting justice. If you want to learn more about the Great Lakes region, don't miss this excellent summer course from the Rift Valley Institute.
East Africa: Ethiopia's new railway is proving deadly for camels, although at least one observer has pointed out that herders are compensated at twice the market rate for their animals' deaths. The rise of evangelical Christianity in Ethiopia is reshaping the country's religious landscape. Somalia's Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf has just been elected as the president of the ICC. Parselelo Kantai argues that anti-Somali xenophobia in Kenya is being driven by the commercial success of the Somali-Kenyan community. This was a good summary of Kenya's dynastic politics. Read this moving profile of Tasneem El-Zaki, a Sudanese lawyer forced into exile for defending women who had been raped.
Loved this photo of 10-year old Ugandan girls learning to make robots with Fundi Bots
Southern Africa: Here's how decolonization could reshape universities in South Africa. Abortion has been legal in South Africa for 20 years, but many women still don't know that it is legal, or prefer to avoid abusive and expensive formal clinics.
Politics and economics: Alex de Waal's theory of the political marketplace is one of the most useful analytical tools I've come across for thinking about how governance actually works in weak states. This was an insightful piece about the financial instability that often ensues for African women who are divorced or widowed. Read about the biggest challenges facing African think tanks. Do we need to rethink the role of dignity in development? Don't miss this interactive guide to recent and upcoming elections in Africa from the Africa Research Institute.
In positive economic news, it looks like the Central Bank of Kenya is getting better at its job, as Ken Opalo observes
Education: Meet the mathematician teaching math in Igbo and Nigerian pidgin. In Kenya, fewer than 30% of primary school students can read at grade level in English, and fewer than 50% in Kiswahili. Diversify your syllabi with the excellent resources compiled by Cite Black Women.
Language and literature: Get on the road with Nigeria's first mobile library. Yes, there are bookstores in Nigeria, but with only about 30 of them throughout the country, it's not nearly enough. Read all about the growing poetry scene in the Gambia. Here are all the African literary festivals you can attend in 2018.
Arts and culture: If you're going to SXSW this year, don't miss Africa House curated by Akinyi Ochieng. Black Panther is getting an early release in Lupita Nyong'o's hometown of Kisumu (where, incidentally, her father is the governor). The new Saint-Louis Photography Museum is highlighting local portraiture traditions in Senegal. Quote of the day, from Christine Mungai: "Africa is [probably] the only continent that people come to fall in love with, but no one ever asks if Africa has fallen in love with them."
Do you know any artists working in Turkana? Send them over to Content House!
Fellowships: The African Leadership University is offering Mandela Centennial Scholarships to 100 African students to mark the 100th anniversary of Madiba's birth. The Development Studies Association is offering travel funding for early career researchers from the global South to speak at a plenary panel on global inequalities. Scholars at African universities should apply for the Africa-Oxford visiting fellows program. East African social scientists should check out this fellowship through CEGA at Berkeley. African women who would like to pursue postgraduate study in STEM should apply for the Mwalimu Nyerere African Union scholarship scheme. The African Leadership Centre is offering scholarships for various MSc degrees at King's College London.
Twitter: Interesting people I've followed recently include Robtel Neajai Pailey (Liberia), Kofi Yeboah (Ghana), the pseudonymous Difficult Northerner (Ghana), Eunice Muthengi (Kenya), Chris Orwa (Kenya), James Murua (Kenya), Mwangi Githahu (Kenya / South Africa), Chipo Dendere (South Africa), Patrick Smith (all across Africa), and Peter Blair (don't miss his tweets on economics papers for Black History Month).
Video of the week: Fair warning, if you start listening to Jidenna's new single "Boomerang," you definitely won't be able to get it out of your head!
Cheers,
Rachel