African Blog Roundup · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Debates over the relevance of  Live 8 have kept the African blogosphere jumping this weekend. Andrew Heavens of Meskel Square is amazed that “you can't open a British newspaper (or in my case website) at the moment without reading someone's views on Africa”. Onyango Oloo of Kenya Democracy Project has a long riff on watching TV this weekend, experiencing mixed feelings about the event and wondering what it means that far left critics of the event are finding themselves sympathetic to views on the far right.
Awkete McAlister was at the Philadelphia concert and found herself hoping “that at least half of the million people in the audience would be concerned with what is occurring for many countries on the continent of Africa.”
Watching the London gigs on television, Mambo wonders “Imagine if Femi Kuti had been there. Performing a track like Sorry Sorry. That track alone would have been the most apt song of the whole concert, and Femi is such a performer, everyone would have loved it. Instead we got Mariah Carey. WTF??? If it was in my hands, I would have kicked Mariah up the ass and booted her straight into Kibera.”
Kenyan blogger MMK of Bullets and Honey has perhaps the fiercest response to the events, “Live 8 and Those Who Would Steal African Humanity”. Statements like, “Geldof and company will lay claim to the very last thing so many Africans own: our problems. And it will be terrible and evil beyond imagining for owning your problem is at the heart of what it is to be human,” have been widely quoted and debated, leading MMK to write an additional post on the “combative comments” the post generated.
Sokwanele has an inescapable thought while looking at the pictures of the Live 8 crowds in London – more people than attended the concert have been driven out of Zimbabwean cities by Mugabe's “Operation: Drive Out Trash” and made homeless.
Sokari has another excellent Naija Blog Roundup at Black Looks. She's happy to see Chippla online and blogging again, talking about upcoming elections and the influence of Islamic schools on northern Nigerian youth.
Kenyan Pundit Ory points to an excellent article on the Wabenzi, the social class of African “big men” known for driving Mercedes.
Brian at Black Star Journal is worried that Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni is positioning himself to become Africa's next “President for Life”.
The death of two uncles is an occasion for Tsegasaurus of Satisfy My Soul to reflect on the strength of Ethiopian culture, and the meaning of this year's elections.
Koranteng revels in The Joy of Small Things – evidently, there's joy to be found in Jollof rice, Ikea, bus rides and family, if you know where to look. He's got a soundtrack to go with the trip as well.
Emeka Okafor of Timbuktu Chronicles has the scoop on the Kumasi Institute of Science and Technology's entry in the Mini Baja competition organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers. Ghana's evidently got quite a DIY car tradition, as documented in this article from ClubGh.com.