Lily Kuo

Zambia, a haven of stability in southern Africa, has been rocked by anti-immigrant riots and attacks that have left at least five people dead, including two locals who were burned alive. Attacks on foreign-owned shops erupted in poor neighborhoods in Lusaka on Monday (Apr. 18). By Tuesday, riots had spread to slums across the city. The government has deployed riot police and arrested over 200 people by mid-week. Now, an uneasy calm has settled over the capital city.

The satirical Instagram account of White Savior Barbie traipsing through Africa, holding African babies, and taking “slumfies“ is attracting a growing and loyal following. Many followers are people who have worked in aid or development and have similar questions about volunteer work on the continent. The creators of the account, who declined to give their names, answered a few questions by email about their motivations in creating Savior Barbie.

Savior Barbie stands in front of a chalkboard in a run-down classroom somewhere in Africa. ”It’s so sad that they don’t have enough trained teachers here. I’m not trained either, but I’m from the West,” the caption on the photo reads. In another, the plastic figurine poses in front shacks made from scrap metal and sticks: “Just taking a slumfie… Feeling so blessed.”

Kenya’s national rugby team returned home triumphant yesterday (April 19th) after winning the Rugby Sevens tournament in Singapore. At Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, they were welcomed by a red carpet, flanked with fans, and dancers draped in the Kenyan flag, but fans quickly observed that something was wrong with the picture:

A group of 37 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals who were cleared of criminal charges in Kenya were deported to China in hoods, to face prosecution on the same charges there.

Nairobi, Kenya

Africa’s rise has stalled. Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa slowed to an estimated 3.0% last year, down from 4.5% the year before and the slowest rate of expansion since the global financial crisis, according to World Bank forecasts released on Monday (April 12th). Economists blame falling commodity prices, a slowdown in China, and continued weakness in the global economy.

Another Kenyan lender has fallen onto hard times, and this time the culprit is social media, at least according to the country’s central bank. After what it called “inaccurate social media reports,” Chase Bank “was not able to meet its financial obligations on April 6,” the regulator said in a statement (pdf) today. Chase Bank has now been put under receivership of the regulator for a year.

An online marketplace for illicit weapons is thriving in the Middle East and North Africa, according to a study released today that found sales of heavy machine guns, rocket and grenade launchers, and anti-aircraft guns on private Facebook groups in Libya.

A huge trove of leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm that’s a major player in offshore tax havens has revealed the secret companies controlled by members of the African elite, from Kenya’s deputy chief of justice and Rwanda’s former intelligence chief to the son of former United Nations general secretary Kofi Annan.

Activist Angolan rapper Luaty Beirao and 16 other dissidents have been sentenced to prison for planning to overthrow president Jose Eduardo dos Santos at a book club meeting.

Less than two weeks after Islamist militants attacked a beach on the Ivory Coast, killing 19 people, Ivorians returned to the same beach to make a music video about living without fear.

An escaped lion was seen prowling along a main traffic artery in Nairobi where it mauled a 63-year-old man on Friday morning (Mar. 18).

British energy group Tullow Oil has discovered oil in Kenya’s northern Kerio Valley, a finding that could mean the opening of a second oil basin as the East African country prepares to become an oil exporter for the first time.

A small white drone programmed to go back and forth between hospital labs and rural health clinics in Malawi could drastically cut down on the cost and waiting time of testing African children for HIV.

Kenya’s attempt to stop people from watching a music video celebrating gay couples is backfiring. Three weeks after trying to ban a local rap artist’s remake of Same Love, by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Google Kenya has refused to pull the video from YouTube, where it has now been viewed over 140,000 times.

The South Sudanese government is deliberately targeting civilians as part of a “scorched earth policy” that includes rape, killing, and pillaging, according to the United Nations and Amnesty International.

East Africa’s largest economy is underwhelming hopes that it would be one of the continent’s most successful growth stories. According to a new World Bank report, Kenya has underperformed its peers in economic growth, investment, and exports over the past decade.

The University of Cambridge has removed and may return to Nigeria a bronze statue of a cockerel that was stolen during a violent British raid in the late 19th century.

Egyptian lawmakers are pushing for a ban on the niqab, a veil worn by women that covers most of one’s face, in what has become a fight over personal liberties and the government’s attempt to control religion in Egyptian society.

A bomb planted in a laptop computer has wounded six people after exploding at an airport in central Somalia today (March 7). Another bomb, which was defused, was embedded in a printer. The attack is the second laptop bombing the country has witnessed in a little over a month.

Angola, Africa’s second largest oil producer, is home to the most overvalued currency on the continent. Angola’s kwanza is 72% overvalued against the dollar, according to a comparison of the cost of a bucket of fried chicken from the fast food retailer KFC in 16 African countries in February.

A smartphone app developed in Kenya makes eye screening as easy as taking a photo. The Portable Eye Examination Kit, or Peek, is now being rolled out at schools in rural parts of the country, where vision problems are common but opticians and reliable health equipment are rare.

Cape Town, South Africa