Africa Update Vol. 6
Welcome to this week's edition of Africa Update! We've got Congolese opinion polls, billion dollar Eurobonds, cheap Nigerian petrol, reflections on decoloniality, and more.
West Africa: Local defense militias are posing new threats to peace in the areas of northern Nigeria which they were supposed to be defending from Boko Haram. The new Emir of Kano / Sarkin Kano is generating controversy with his comments about poverty reduction and women's rights in northern Nigeria. This was a very funny piece from Elnathan John on the challenges of maintaining a long distance relationship with president Buhari. Each Nigerian MP costs the country more than US$500,000 per year. Nigeria's generous fuel subsidies makes its petrol nearly 50% cheaper than elsewhere in the region, so a great deal of it is smuggled to neighboring states.
Central Africa: Violence in the CAR is at its worst level in three years due to new splits between former Séléka militia factions. Dans la RCA, le retrait des forces ougandaises d’Obo va laisser un vide économique. Did you know that Congo-Brazzaville had four internet shutdowns last year? Congo-B is also planning a US$4 billion Eurobond issue, which is fully 50% of national GDP. Burundi wants to expand the legal authority of the police to conduct searches without warrants. More than 4000 inmates have escaped from the DRC's most notorious prison. Lisez l’histoire secrète de la chute de Mobutu en Zaïre. Buried in this story about the deaths of two UN experts in the Congo is a fact which should have been the headline: they were gathering evidence that the country's former minister of development may have incited large-scale violence in Kasaï Province.
Jason Stearns of the Congo Research Group shares a rare opinion poll on the DRC's political leaders
East Africa: Ukraine is being criticized for violating an arms embargo and selling weapons to South Sudan. More than 3.7 million South Sudanese have now been displaced from their homes due to violence. Kenya has an admirable law on the books about reserving 30% of government tenders for disadvantaged groups, but most potential beneficiaries can't take advantage of it. Roughly 2/3 of all gun deaths in Kenya are caused by the police. Read about how the 2007 invasion of Somalia changed the politics of military deployment in Kenya. This is a useful overview of Somalia's new security architecture. Ethiopia is preparing for nearly 400,000 undocumented workers to be repatriated from Saudi Arabia. Here's a portrait of daily life under emergency rule in Ethiopia.
Kenyan election: This was a good overview of the stakes of the Kenyan election in August, which is likely to be the final battle between the two political dynasties that have lead the country since independence. Presidential candidates in Kenya can expect to spend up to US$50 million campaigning. In the fact of rising prices, the Kenyan government is implementing some pre-electoral subsidies for the staple maize meal. PesaCheck and the Daily Nation's NewsPlex are doing great work fact-checking claims about the election.
Education: This was an accessible summary of the history of higher education in sub-Saharan Africa. African countries still have fewer than 200 PhDs per million citizens, compared to 4000 for the US and UK. Somalia is rebuilding its education system, with the number of students sitting for secondary leaving exams having more than tripled from 7,000 to 23,000 over the last two years.
Loved this photo of Somali-American graduates at the University of Minnesota, via فو ز يه
Urbanization: African urbanization is primarily driven by high rates of population growth amongst current residents, not rural in-migration. Residents of African cities pay nearly 35% more for food compared to low income countries in other regions. After the Lagos government demolished a poor waterfront neighborhood, many residents are now living in canoes. Here's a day in the life of Juba's bicycle water vendors.
Public health: Cameroon's "auntie army" of rape survivors is working to reduce sexual abuse of girls. Non-communicable diseases are predicted to be the leading cause of death for African citizens by 2030, but they receive relatively little attention from health funders. The first African director-general of the WHO is Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia, but not all his compatriots are happy with his new position.
Decolonization: Read about what the African Leadership University is doing to decolonize the social sciences. Mahmood Mamdani is speaking about "decolonizing the African university" at Wits School of Governance in Johannesburg on 27 May. African women created the Pan African Women's Organisation a year before the Organisation of African Unity came into existence in 1963. The national anthem of Burkina Faso takes French colonizers to task, calling them "petty local servants." Some Kenyans want to decolonize their diets by reducing dependence on maize, a foreign crop which isn't ideal for the local climate.
Shaping Africa shared this infographic on visa openness for intra-African travel
Literature: Check out the shortlisted works for the 2017 Caine Prize for African Writing. The "Ba re e ne re" literary festival is building a culture of writers and readers in Lesotho. If you're in London from 25 - 28 May, don't miss the Literary Weekender festival on Ghanaian and Nigerian literature.
Twitter: Interesting people I followed recently include Owaahh (Kenya), Larry Madowo (Kenya), Angela Wachuka (Kenya), Yvonne Adhiambo (Kenya), Jessica Musila (Kenya), Grant Brooke (Kenya), Carol Ndosi (Tanzania), Elsie Eyakuze (Tanzania), Kigozi Enos (Uganda), Eli Tetteh (Ghana), Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi (Ghana), Kinna Likimani (Ghana), Alexis Arieff (Francophone Africa), William Clowes (DRC), Aaron Ross (DRC), and Amadou Mahtar Ba (Senegal).
Cheers,
Rachel