Stories about French from October, 2012
Chad: President's Plane Botched Landing in Kalait
Blogger Malaika reports [fr] that the plane carrying Chad president Idriss Deby botched its landing in the Kalait region. No one was hurt in the accident. The president was to take part in a forum on development and peace in the region.
Madagascar: How Much Does a Political Crisis Cost?
Since 2009, an additional 4 millions people now earn less than $1.25/day, 500,000 more children have dropped out of school and 336,000 jobs were lost because of the prolonged political crisis. Blogger Razoky summarizes [fr] the latest economic report on Madagascar.
Entrepreneurship, Culture and Solidarity in Africa
Despite strong economic growth, the African continent is still struggling to develop a class of local entrepreneurs to manage strategic industries. Many African scholars and researchers try to better understand the influence of cultural habits on entrepreneurship on the continent.
Gambia: Dramatic Increase in Executions
Nine prisoners were put to death on one day in August 2012. The sudden increase in capital punishment over the last few months as well as confusing declarations from President Jammeh have worried citizens of Gambia as well as those in neighbouring countries. The death penalty was abolished in 1993 but reinstated by Yahya Jammeh one year after the coup of July 1994.
France: Will Winter Come Early for Nice's Famous Flower Market?
Florists in Nice's iconic Flower Marker are having to deal with more and more administrative red tape - in addition to problems posed by the waste-management authorities. Will this spell the end for one of the city's most famous attractions?
Occupy Movement Rallies for ‘Debt Strike’ Worldwide
Under the slogan “You are not a loan, you are not alone”, Occupy Wall Street's “Strike Debt” group is aiming to inject life into a resistance movement against debt repayment. The operation is gaining worldwide support, and could very well revive the protest movement Occupy Wall Street which was born a year ago.
Haiti: Flooding in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy
Haiti Libre reported that the the General Hospital in Les Cayes was flooded when Hurricane Sandy hit Haiti on october 23. Haiti Libre added that a woman drowned trying to cross a river in Camp-Perrin.
Manufacturing a Car in Open Source and Modular Design
I don’t know whether we will need gasoline, electric or hydrogen cars tomorrow. I don’t have to know, because I designed my car so that I can change the motor in about the same time that it takes to change a tire. Joe Justice, founder and Team Lead of Wikispeed,...
Senegal: Casamance Region Hopes for Peace Through Deal in Rome
On October 13 and 14, preliminary talks took place in Rome between representatives of the Senegalese government and of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (Mfdc). Casamance is a region in the south west of Senegal, which has been the scene of violent conflict between government forces and those fighting for independence since the beginning of the 1980s.
Madagascar: A Case Study for Small Scale Mining
The Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) in Protected Areas and critical ecosystems (“PACE”) programme (ASM-PACE) has released a case study on how Madagascar can “ensure continued socioeconomic development without undermining ecological resiliency”. The report focuses on successful and failed methods to cope with mineral rushes.
Mercenaries from Mali to Foment Unrest in Côte d'Ivoire?
A recent United Nations report claims that Côte d'Ivoire’s opposition is recruiting Islamists from Mali to destabilize the Ouattara government. But controversy surrounds the actual status and accuracy of the report’s findings.
On the Challenges of Discussing Precarity in Africa
Despite robust signs of growth in Africa in 2012, precarity remains an ever-present problem right now for the majority of people living there. Inequalities are undoubtedly broadening but the very concept of precarity in Africa is also rapidly evolving.
Madagascar: Preserving National Heritage with Video Archiving
A Civil Society Initiative has been set up to preserve the 'collective memory' of Madagascar by digitally archiving videos detailing its, often controversial, history. The Fl@H Association was set up to preserve Madagascar’s audiovideo heritage and aims to be a force for the preservation of the country’s history. Members can already point to several achievements.
Benin: Organizing Volunteer Holidays to Share Specific Expertise
Youphil writes [fr] about a project driven by Espace Volontariats du Bénin and supported by France Volontaires that promotes volunteer holidays in Porto Novo and Sô-Ava. The project will help experts share their knowledge in fields such as accounting, communication, ICT & project management with local NGOs.
Cameroon: Students and Researchers Evaluate the Welfare System
Welfare Systems are rapidly evolving in Sub-Saharan Africa, with some countries having implemented systems allowing evaluation of measures taken several decades ago. Students and researchers from Cameroon have closely examined social public policies and private sector initiatives in their country.
Burundi: Celebrating The First Democratically Elected President
Jean Marie Ngendahayo writes about [fr] the relatively unknown story of Melchior Ndadaye, the first democratically elected president of Burundi after winning the 1993 election. Ngendahayo states that what stood out with Ndadaye was his willingness to reach out to all Burundians; in fact he chose an opponent, Mrs. Sylvie Kinigi as his...
Chad: ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ Winner & Human Rights Activist Attacked at Home
DJAMIL AHMAT in Chad reports that Jacqueline Moudeina, a lawyer, human rights activist and winner of an Alternative Nobel Prize Award was attacked at her home (fr) last night (October 19). Moudeina is the legal representative of the victims of the Hissène Habré regime since 2000. Other HR activists were arrested earlier this...
Democratic Republic of Congo: A Francophone Summit too Focused on the Protection of the French Language ?
Sékou Diabate reacts on his Facebook page about the end of the fourteenth edition of the Francophone Summit, which was held from October 12th to 14th in Kinshasa. He writes: So how about this great Francophone Summit in Kinsasha, where millions and millions [of Euros] were spent while people are...
Syria: The Revolution Goes Multilingual
The revolution in Syria is not just taking place on the battleground, between Daraa's alleyways or Aleppo's Citadel. There is a bigger battle going on online. We interview the netizens behind La Revolution Syrienne en Français (The Syrian Revolution in French), a popular page among hundreds of pages on Facebook on the revolution, to know the motives behind creating such a page in French particularly and how they think they are contributing to the uprising in Syria - virtually.
Mauritania: Confusion Reigns over “Accidental” Shots that Wounded President Aziz
“@weddady: The official version on Aziz being “wounded lightly” was completely nonsense. He is seriously injured à la Dadis Camara.. #Mauritania“ Twitter update from Mauritanian activist Nasser Waddady upon hearing official reports that Mauritanian president Aziz was accidentally shot (video of Aziz at a Nouakchott hospital). Aziz was then airlifted to a...
Mali: MOJWA Threatens the Lives of Hostages and French President over Military Intervention
The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) via its speaker Oumar Ould Hamaha has threatened the lives of hostages and French President [fr] because of the planned military intervention in Northern Mali that the UN security council has unanimously approved [fr]. Activist associations Coren and the FDR organized a march on...
