Africa Update Vol. 22
Welcome to the latest edition of Africa Update! We've got the professional mourners of the DRC, Somalia's unique mobile money ecosystem, the Lagos art scene, Rwanda's first female neurosurgeon, and more.
Thought for the day, via Òman Baako
West Africa: This was a difficult but important read about rape culture in Ghana. In Nigeria, "men are always having transactional sex, and they are fine with it as long as they are the ones setting the terms of the transaction." Technology is making it more difficult to rig elections by stuffing ballot boxes in Nigeria. Sierra Leone has declared a national emergency over high rates of sexual assault of teenage girls. Survivors of the West African Ebola epidemic are complaining after it emerged that their blood samples have been shipped worldwide for research without their consent.
Central Africa: Uganda is running sting operations to catch healthcare providers who ask for bribes. If your career is lagging in eastern Congo, you might consider becoming a professional mourner. This is a remarkable story about how one Congolese doctor worked closely with armed groups to vaccinate people in a remote town against Ebola. Rwanda has launched a new University of Global Health Equity to train future doctors. Read this moving piece on Burundi's tiny lesbian community.
Apparently the Congolese dictator Mobutu Sese Seko's former palace in Lisala was turned into a school at one point (via Nicolas-Patience Basabose)
East Africa: Here's some background on the case currently being heard in Kenyan courts that could decriminalize homosexuality. Kenya's new educational policy will give students several more years of instruction in their local languages before switching to English, which should boost their overall literacy. Read about the rise of rollerblading culture in Nairobi. Two Eritrean brothers are bringing solar panels to markets which big Western solar firms won't touch. Tanzania has begun offering land titles to people in poor neighborhoods, rather than driving them away for lacking titles. Here are the historical precedents of the current uprising in Sudan. This is a great profile of the unique mobile money ecosystem in Somalia, where as much as 98% of all paper currency in circulation may be counterfeit.
Southern Africa: More than 900 people, most of them children, have died in a measles outbreak in Madagascar. A hospital in Malawi has carried out its first-ever brain surgery. Malawi's healthcare system calls for women to get regular medical care for themselves and their children, but some are questioning whether this disconnects men from care. South Africa has passed a law which would require disclosure of political parties' funding sources for the first time. Zambia just made a rare move to revert from a value-added tax (VAT) back to a sales tax, which will probably increase tax evasion.
An artistic interpretation of Sudan's current protests by Jaili Hajo, via Shado Magazine
Conflict: Read this critique of the NYT's reporting on armed groups and US counterinsurgency operations in Burkina Faso. France is carrying out airstrikes in Chad against "terrorist" groups which some say are just the government's political opponents. Years of attacks by armed groups have shaped Kenya's public architecture with a focus on (often ineffective) security features. This is a remarkable story about the Kenyan citizens who went to Somalia to fight with al-Shabaab. Here are the roadblocks to integrating rebels into the army in South Sudan. In the Central African Republic, a high profile panel of religious leaders calls for peace but faces obstacles in convincing the public that they're credible.
Politics + economics: African governments are increasingly likely to tax mobile money transactions, but even small taxes may drive so many users back to cash that the revenue effects are null. Here's a good summary of the expansion of welfare programs across Africa. The children of immigrants in Africa face the risk of being stateless, as neither their host country nor their parents' country of origin may recognize their citizenship. Read about the political business cycles which make elections expensive undertakings in many African countries.
Check out all of the wonderful female photographers highlighted by Sarah Waiswa on Twitter. This photo is from Ethiopia's Aïda Muluneh.
Women's empowerment: Check out these books by Nigerian authors on the longlist of the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction. Maria Obonyo of Uganda gave new meaning to "life-long learning" when she enrolled in primary school at the age of 80 to learn how to write. OkayAfrica has released their list of 100 influential African women for 2019. A protest at a Nigerian market has encouraged male vendors to stop catcalling women in order to get them to buy their products. Meet Claire Karekezi, who is Rwanda's first female neurosurgeon.
Arts + culture: This library inside a converted mosque in Niger is beautiful. Nigeria's burgeoning art scene looks amazing. This is a wonderful piece about the place of kitenge fabric in a contemporary pan-African aesthetic. I can't wait to see Blitz the Ambassador's magical realist film "The Burial of Kojo" about one family's life in Ghana. Bakwa Magazine is seeking submissions by March 15 for an issue about the experience of traveling while African.
Facts about African research output via the Mawazo Institute
Academia: The 2nd African Evidence to Action Conference is being held in Accra from July 11 - 12. Submit a manuscript to the Working Group in African Political Economy by March 27 for a meeting held in Cape Town, also on July 10 - 12. African scholars are encouraged to apply to the Africa Research Development Group at the American Political Science Association annual meeting (due March 10; meeting from August 28 - September 1). If you're looking for research collaborators, check out the newly launched Network of Impact Evaluation Researchers in Africa.
Cheers,
Rachel