Stories about Sub-Saharan Africa from October, 2006
Somalia: radio show on political tensions
Ethan Zuckerman writes about a radio show on the political tensions in Somalia: “My friends at Radio Open Source are putting together a show on the political tensions in Somalia – their overview of the political situation is an excellent one, and reflects the difficulty they’re going to have in...
Papua New Guinea: On the Iron Lady of Liberia
Islandbaby in Papua New Guinea blogs about the West African nation Liberia's president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and tells why her younger sister's middle name is Monrovia – the capital of Liberia.
France, Togo: What's the Use of African Book Fairs?
France-based Togolese writer Kangni Alem writes (Fr): ” African literature book fairs in France are, by and large, rarely satisfying. They don't always actually sell your books, they don't feed you right, and worse you have to follow the law of star writers who bore you too death when they...
China: labour and organization
Zheng Jinyan blogs about her workshop, “understanding China”, in Thailand. One of the session is on labour conditions and organizations in China (zh), it touches upon the relation between Africa and China social movement. Zheng stressed that boycotting China product won't help the situation, NGOs should work on the protection...
Kenya: Oil as a gift?
Afromusing comments on the news that Kenya gave China six oil blocks as a gift: “What. The. Fuzz. Since when did start ‘gifting’ natural resources to other countries, something’s off, either the article misrepresents the agreement and creates the impression that Kenya is just giving stuff away…what is in it...
Africa: China in Africa
Some interesting “China in Africa” links from Africabeat.
Uganda: birth control with plastic beads
Jackfruity writes about the use of beads for birth control in Uganda, “Last week Ugandan First Lady Janet Museveni introduced a system of birth control called Moon Beads. Designed to help women track their menstrual cycles and, by doing so, avoid sex when fertile, the beads are part of a...
D.R of Congo: challenges of building a hospital
The Congolese-born basketball star, Dikembe Mutombo, talking about his experience building a hospital in his home country: “The big question was: Why do you want to be the first one to do it? What motivate you to build this hospital and what is behind this hospital?,” via Dizolele.
Nigeria: bloodshed in Niger Delta
Black Looks has an article about bloodshed and the politics of Niger Delta, Nigeria, “Barely six weeks after President Obasanjo ordered his military commanders in the Niger Delta to return to the warpath and ‘meet force with force,’ the region has re-erupted in anarchy and bloodshed.”
Travelling with “Tro-Tro” in Ghana
Ghana voices this week are from entries written about Ghana by non-Ghanaians. The first, by Leanne, writing in her blog An American in Africa, marvels at the “ever-evolving, always under repair, rarely striped or shouldered” roads that dot the country and the capital. She posts a few pictures of the...
Kenya: MP responds to a question online
A small step in the journey of Mzalendo, “It seems that our faith and non-cynicism has been rewarded. Over the weekend, MP Ukur Yatani (North Horr) became the first MP to respond to a constituent’s question via the comment page on Mzalendo. He also updated his profile.”
South Africa: blacklisting of TV commentators and analysts
Black Star Journal writes about the blacklisting of analysts and commentators by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, “The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) recently conducted an internal inquiry on allegations that the state broadcaster was blacklisting commentators and analysts who said unfavorable things about the government.”
Somalia: potential conflict between Islamic Courts Union and Kenya?
What does the advance of the Islamic Courts Union of Somalia mean to the region? Read the Voice of Somaliland Diaspora-Ottawa.
Africa: movie about blood diamond causes controversy
The director of the movie, Blood Diamond, Ed Zwick, has refused to call his work, which reflects the human cost of diamond trade in Africa, fictional as requested by the world's leading company in the diamond industry, De Beers, via Africa Media.
Senegal: Head of Senelec Resigned
Le Blog Politique du Senegal believes (Fr) that the head of national electricity company Senelec was asked to resign because President Wade needs a scapegoat for failing to fulfill his impossible promises. The blog is otherwise skeptical that private capital might do a better job than government spreading electricity in...
Africa: a guide to opportunities in African stock markets
Kenyan Pundit posts a link to a guide to profitable opportunities in African stock markets.
East Africa: is the East African Union a joke?
Rants, Raves, and Reviews asks whether the East Africa Federation is an April 1st joke, “Why bother with a political union between countries when Kenya & Uganda have massive internal political problems….”
South Africa: blogging and citizen journalism recognized
Vincent Maher reports that blog entries have been accepted in South Africa's top ICT journalism award, “A few months ago I sat down with the other judges of the competition and campaigned for the acceptance of blog entries into the Telkom ICT Journalist of the Year awards and, to my...
Africa: Jay-Z social activism in Africa
Ethnicloft writes about Jay-Z's musical tour in Africa, “Shawn Carter (aka Jay-Z, on horse back in photo) is making waves in Africa. He has been using his musical tour of the continent to drive a social cause – by drawing attention to the world’s growing water crisis. I like that!”
Kenya: spotlight on Kenyan music
Kikuyumoja's Realm attends a special musical event, the Spotlight on Kenyan Music Vol.2: “Spotlight on Kenyan Music Vol. 1 has already been a success – my friend Mbuzimoja had sent me a compilation last year, so this time I didn’t want to miss it and catch the spirit for myself....
Nigeria: Tribute Fela Kuti
Felabration, similar to Felaversation, is a series of posts about Nigeria's Afrobeat legend, Fela Kuti: Felabration, Fela's pictures that speak thousands words, Afrobeat Academy, Spirits of Fire Dance, Gen X Afrobeaters, and Felabration is About Aids Awareness.
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