Latest posts by Elia Varela Serra
Languages and dialects of Mali
Mali Travel Diaries writes about Mali's multilinguism, a country where French is the official language and 50 others are spoken.
Ethiopia: Limited internet availability
Owen Barder reports on the limited internet availability in Ethiopia, especially since the three underwater cables linking Egypt to Europe were cut by an ship’s anchor. Before that bandwith had usually been limited, and unpredictable.
Niger: The griot entertainer
Esther Garvi of Ishtar News posts some pictures of the griots, professional entertainers in the Hausa culture in Niger.
Ghana: President announced
Kent's diaries reports that the results of the Presidential runoff election in Ghana have just been announced, with opposition candidate John Atta Mills winning the tight race. The blog also offers a profile of the new President.
Kenya: Controversial media bill passed
Moses Kemibaro reports that Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has signed into law the controversial Communications Amendment Bill 2008. He notes that “the Bill has been signed even as Kenyan Media, in particular, and Kenyans, in general, have expressed concerns about the Bill as there are aspects about it that will...
Kenya: Top 10 most influential women
Kachwanya has made a list of the Top 10 most influential women in Kenya, led by Minister of Justice Martha Karua who is also running for President in 2012.
Guinea: History repeating?
A week after the passing of President Lansana Conté and the military coup that followed, African bloggers have been wondering about the resurgence of military coups in the region and about their prospects for success, and getting the feeling that history is repeating.
Kenyan choir to perform at Obama's inauguration
Kenyanpoet reports that a Kenyan choir will perform during the inauguration of the US president elect Barack Obama on January 20, and that “they have prepared a special repertoire of African choral music to remind Mr Obama of his African roots”.
Uganda: Being a journalist is unpredictable
Daniel Kalinaki, an editor at the Ugandan daily The Monitor, explains that being a journalist in Uganda is an unpredictable profession: this week the paper has received a letter to “present ourselves at the Criminal Investigations Directorate to assist the police investigations that a story we published in the paper...
Tanzania: Visiting Mikumi National Park
Pernille of Louder than Swahili describes going on a safari to Mikumi National Park, 5-6 hours drive from Dar es Salaam, including some pictures.
Ghana: Tired of dirty politics
Omanba of Ghanaconscious criticizes politics in Ghana as pressuring people with “with negativity and scandalous innuendos”. For him the recent presidential elections have brought “the worst of humankind in Ghana”.
Nigeria: Discussing the Christmas spirit
With the Christmas holidays coming to an end, it is time to collect a few thoughts by Nigerian bloggers on this special season of the year. While some like certain aspects of the holidays, others are critical of the excessive consumerism and partying, wondering about the real spirit of Christmas.
Kenya: Banks should embrace money transfer service M-pesa
Bankelele explains why he thinks Kenyan banks should embrace M-Pesa, the popular money transfer service offered by the mobile phone provider Safaricom: “Banks need to change and embrace M-Pesa as it is able to do some things they can't or won't do”.
Senegal: Domestic workers’ exploitation
Faty Dieng at Dakar Bondy Blog [Fr] denounces about the working conditions of domestic workers in Senegal, some of them as young as 16, which she describes “a form of slavery and exploitation in disguise”.
Nigeria: Victoriana in African costumes
Saharan Vibe features the works of British-Nigerian textile artist Yinka Sonibare who had garnered international recognition with his Victorian historical figures dressed in Dutch wax African print costumes. The post includes numerous photos of his works.
Ghana: Election runoff
African Elections Project posted some pictures of the runoff for the 7th of December Presidential elections taking place today, while @ghanaelections has been offering live Twitter updates on the voting.
Tanzania: Friends of Ruaha blog
Samuel Maina of Theatre of Inconveniences introduces the recently launched Friends of Ruaha blog devoted to the conservation of the Ruaha Park in Tanzania which is “arguably, one of the largest and most beautiful wildlife parks in Africa”, according to him. The post includes a video from the Friends of...
Ethiopia: Most popular stories of 2008
EthioBlog at Nazret.com posted a list of the top 50 stories of 2008 in this popular Ethiopian news portal. At the top of the list there's a story about Forbes magazine listing Addis Ababa as the 6th world's dirtiest city.
Ethiopia: Clerics seek constitutional ban on homosexuality
EthioBlog reports that religious leaders in Ethiopia have urged lawmakers to amend the country's constitution to ban homosexuality, sparking a heated debate amongst the readers of the blog about homosexuality in Ethiopia with over 300 comments.
Instability in Guinea could mean trouble in Liberia too
Emmanuel of Liberia Journal expresses concern about the recent developments in neighboring Guinea because “any power struggle would be extremely dangerous, and could easily become a regional problem”.
Zimbabwe: Update on Jestina Mukoko's abduction
Denford Magora's Zimbabwe Blog posted some photos of human rights activist Jestina Mukoko (who was abducted a couple of weeks ago) appearing in court yesterday accused of recruiting insurgents to topple Mugabe. A few hours later he reported that “although not being freed, it looks as though the abductees will...
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