Stories about Sub-Saharan Africa from November, 2008
Cameroon: Questioning the Bakassi Freedom Fighters hostage exchange
A week after the 10 hostages (including 8 foreign nationals) kidnapped by the Bakassi Freedom Fighters were exchanged for the release of 13 prisoners, Cameroonian blogger Le blog du Prési wonders what a hostage is worth. “I don't mean ‘what does a hostage cost?'”, he writes. “Even though these would be...
Madagascar: Brides-for-Sale just one harsh reality of poverty
Lova Rakotomalala translates the Malagasy blogosphere as it talks about the extremes people can be driven to by poverty.
Egypt Ranks High in Corruption
Egypt ranks 115 in Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, which tracks 180 countries by their perceived levels of corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys. The rankings are in ascending order, with the more corrupt countries scoring higher ranks.
Saudi Arabia: The problem of pirates
Crossroads Arabia comments on the case of the Saudi oil tanker hijacked by pirates and now anchored off the coast of Somalia: “Perhaps we’ll be seeing Saudi naval vessels escorting the country’s own ships soon. The Royal Saudi Navy hasn’t had much of a chance to exercise its abilities, compared...
Yellow Humvees and the UN Procurement Scandal
The use of SUVs by UN staff in Nairobi is rankling some bloggers. They are posting pictures on their blogs, and have even created a flickr pool called ‘Kick The Habit’. The title of the set of pictures borrows from UNEP's (United Nations Environment Program) campaign from June of this...
DR Congo: Video call for action
The crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has flared up once again: 10 years of tension, on-and-off warfare and violence have taken their toll on the population, who are being displaced yet one more time. More than 5 million people have died during this warfare, thousands of women have been raped, and thousands of children have been recruited as children soldiers. On the following videos we bring you calls for action from the DRC citizens pleading with us to take a stand to stop the humanitarian crisis in the DRC.
Environment: Planting Trees in Cameroon
From the Kabissa Newletter, a project is profiled: The organization aims to plant trees in thirteen Village communities of Ngoketunjia Division, as a means to fight climate change in Cameroon and the world at large.
Mauritania: Venture Capital
Mohamed Fouad Barrada [fr] ruminates on the introduction of venture capital to Mauritania in the midst of this economic crisis.
Caribbean: Tributes to Makeba
Jamaica's Abeng News Magazine, Barbados’ Life, Unscripted, on the Rock, and Caribbean blog One Tribe, Many Voices all pay tribute to the late South African musical icon Miriam Makeba.
Russia, Somalia, Ukraine: Hijacked Ships Update
Updates on ships hijacked by Somalian pirates – at The 8th Circle, here and here.
KarmaTube: Promoting Change through Video Sharing
Karma Tube is an online video sharing platform to spread short videos and their causes through the World Wide Web with tips on what actions the viewer can take regarding the portrayed cause. Through KarmaTube we bring you the following videos of good people doing great things for others: Skateistan from Afghanistan, Seeds of Light from South Africa and Barrios de Paz in Ecuador.
DR Congo: Fighting Continues
As the world celebrated Obama's electoral victory, fighting in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has continued in spite of the ceasefire announced by the CNDP rebel group last week. Displacement, killing and lootings haven't stopped, and while regional African leaders met in Nairobi and the world is wondering how to keep the peace in the country, the Ushahidi software has been deployed to the DRC for documentation purposes.
Obama's Victory: Reactions From Tanzania
In Tanzania, new of Barack Obama's historic victory in the US Presidential election dominated almost every Swahili blog.
Angola: Blogs compilation
JotaCê Carranca has created a blog compilation for blogs that talk about Angola aiming to collect all blogs about the country, at the moment organized in three categories: from Angola, from abroad and mixed blogs (written by people in country and abroad).
Uganda: Locust season brings crispy treats
November is nsenene season around Lake Victoria and the locusts are scrumptious!
Doubts about Zambia's presidential elections
percymwale raises doubts about the freeness and fairness of Zambia's recent presidential elections.
Obama's Victory: A Boost for Global Health?
As U.S. President-elect Barack Obama prepares for his four years in the White House, many are discussing how his term will impact health issues, globally and in the U.S., and if he will deliver on his campaign promises. As part of their campaign, Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden said...
Africa: Making future presidents?
Stood in the Congo: “Now Obama has won, many American women will come here to try and make the next President.”
Google software and mapping the ‘dark continent’
Tropically Tolerant writes about the potential of new Google software, which allows local people to draw GIS data on top of satellite imagery, to help map regions of the world, like Africa, where GIS data may be scant or nonexistent.
Kenyan bloggers react to Obama's victory
Kenyans have been celebrating since dawn on Wednesday, after learning the man they consider their native son will be the next President of the US. Especially in the small farming village of Nyangoma-Kogelo where Barack Obama's father was born, but also all throughout the country and in the Kenyan blogosphere...
Lagos may soon be home to world's largest cyber cafe
David Ajao writes about Chams, a Nigerian IT company, and its ambitious plan to build the world's largest cyber cafe in Lagos, Nigeria. ChamsCity will boast 1,000 computers under one roof, a feat that, if accomplished, would break the current world record.
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