Chart of the week: How electricity problems are limiting growth in many African countries
Several insightful charts compiled by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel. They highlight the scale of the electricity problem in Africa.
http://qz.com/422357
East Africa’s biggest supermarket chain withdraws Nestle’s Maggi from its shelves
After Indian authorities found MSG and lead traces in Nestle’s Maggi Noodles last month, East Africa’s biggest supermarket chain Nakumatt took down the product from its shelves in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan.
http://qz.com/423985
Why aren’t more wealthy Africans backing the continent’s start-ups?
A summary of a mini-tweetstorm by Ory Okolloh (@Kenyanpundit) of Omidyar Network Africa. It struck a nerve with some people in the African investment space.
http://qz.com/423821
Africa wasn’t always about poverty–so why do so many believe that’s the case?
Examining how owning the economic history narrative can change longstanding perceptions about the continent
http://qz.com/422859
The tripartite free trade area agreement in Africa is bound to disappoint
Amid much of the excitement around the possibility of the widest ever intra-continental trade partnership, Hilary Matfess (@hilarymatfess) took a sober look at the track record of such deals in the past. It doesn’t look promising.
http://qz.com/424557
I’m an African Muslim who grew up loving American culture. Now that I’m here, I love America, too
Omar Mohammed’s (@shurufu) personal take on how being both African and Muslim in post-9/11 America has its challenges but that shouldn’t take away from what the country’s great values represent.
http://qz.com/422946
Photos: This Tanzanian engineer built a customized water filter using nanotechnology
Tanzanian engineer Askwar Hilonga won the African innovation prize from the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering prize earlier this month. Here are some photos that show how his invention is providing real practical solutions at home.
http://qz.com/424422
Nigeria needs a #BringBackOurBoys campaign, too
Quartz’s Editor at Large Bobby Ghosh (@ghoshWorld) on the importance of getting ready for the many disenfranchised boys and young men who will be left behind after Boko Haram is defeated.
http://qz.com/425628
We need to stop talking about how mobile phones will save Africa and think bigger
Lee Middleton (@msleehm) writes from this month’s World Economic Forum Africa in Cape Town about the overwrought discussions on the ‘leapfrog paradigm’.
http://qz.com/425242
I was a quadrillionaire in Zimbabwe, but could barely afford to buy bread
In the week his country’s currency was finally put out of its misery, Tinashe Mushakavanhu (@tinsmush) reminisces on the absurdities that come with growing up in a country with a seriously bad case of hyperinflation
http://qz.com/426925
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