Africa is no longer rising, according to a New York Times article (paywall) last week. Ethiopia is in a state of emergency. Nigeria, the continent’s largest economy, is officially in a recession. South Africa, the most developed economy, is locked in a battle with students protesting for lower tuition fees. “‘Africa reeling’ may be more fitting now,” read the newspaper’s headline.
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to one of the largest, fastest growing youth populations in the world. But this “youth bulge” could hurt African countries more than it helps them if job opportunities aren’t increased or health and education services aren’t improved, according to an index (pdf) released by the Commonwealth Secretariat today (Oct 21). Ten of the worst countries in the world for young people, those between the ages of 15 and 29, are in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the index.
Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie has taken what may seem like an unusual gig for one of the world’s most popular contemporary feminist voices: representing a drugstore makeup brand.
Malik Obama, president Barack Obama’s older half-brother from Kenya, will be attending tonight’s presidential debate as a guest of Donald Trump. Malik, who has previously said he supports Trump over his brother’s pick, Hillary Clinton, told the New York Post that he is ”excited to be at the debate.”
Last Christmas, al Shabaab militants stopped a bus in the northeastern Kenyan town of Mandera and demanded that all Christian passengers be handed over. The Muslims on the bus refused; some quickly passed their headscarves to the non-Muslim passengers to disguise them. The Islamist militants eventually let the bus go.
A state of emergency declared in Ethiopia last week is growing more draconian by the day. Posting updates on the current status of the country, hit by anti-government protests since last November, is now a crime, the government said over the weekend.
“Operation pride,” the ambitious campaign to turn around Kenya’s flailing flagship airline, Kenya Airways, has new support. The government has ordered all state officials to fly only on airlines registered in the country—like Kenya Airways—when traveling for public business or spending taxpayer funds, according to a statement from the cabinet.
At the Bachir Mentouri clinic in Constantine, Algeria, internet addicts suffer from back pain and headaches. If prevented from going online, they become fidgety, anxious, and sometimes aggressive, and they’re treated with counseling, physical exercises, meditation, and music therapy.
Every year in early October, clusters of purple haze dot Nairobi’s tree line as the city’s jacaranda trees come into bloom. This year, Kenyans have taken to posting photos of the tree, with its slender zig zagging limbs and purple-blue panicles, under the hashtag #JacarandaPropaganda.
A state of emergency has gone into effect in Ethiopia as the ruling party attempts to put down the biggest display of anti-government sentiment it has faced since taking power 25 years ago.
For the first time in 25 years, Ethiopia has declared a state of emergency, an attempt to calm anti-government protests that have spread across the country. “The state of emergency is vital. It is essential to restore peace and stability over a short period of time,” prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn said in a televised address on Oct 9.
Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie is an award-winning novelist, essayist, and speaker. A MacArthur genius grant recipient, she has spoken in front of the United Nations about the global refugee crisis, advocated for underrepresented cultures, and talked about the need for feminism in Nigeria and around the world. Yet the question she gets the most during interviews is about Beyonce, who sampled from one of Adichie’s TED talks in the song “Flawless,” released three years ago.
As her father’s political foes are fond of pointing out, Ivanka Trump’s exclusive line of shoes for the working woman are made in China. Soon, they may be made in Africa.
The online Chinese-Kiswahili dictionary, Siwaxili, is full of useful phrases translated into both languages. Some are general: “My car is broken. Can you help me?” or “I will pay you later.” Others are more literary: “I will tell you a story.” And some are oddly specific: “One is already married. The other is still quite young.”
Ghana has said that it will remove a statue Mahatma Gandhi from a university campus in Accra, Ghana where it has inspired protests.
Africa’s wild rhinos are in danger of going extinct within the next two decades if demand for their horns keeps up. Proposed solutions have ranged from harvesting the horns without killing the animal to legalizing the trade, banned since the 1970s, to reduce the size of the black market.
A travel advisory appeared in a Kenyan newspaper this week warning Africans visiting the United States to be aware of continued instability and civil unrest in places like Charlotte, North Carolina, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where protests have erupted in the last few months over police killings of black men.
Scores of protesters and bystanders were killed on Sunday (Oct 2) when a crowd gathered for an Oromo religious holiday turned into a stampede. The government of Ethiopia has declared three days of mourning for the victims.
The United States’ first foreign-bribery case against a hedge fund is full of dramatic detail.
United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-moon once described the war in Darfur, Sudan as the world’s first climate change conflict, caused in part by the fighting over scarce water resources. Now, researchers believe climate change may be raising the risk of war across the continent.
The war in Darfur is not over. According to a new Amnesty International report, the government used chemical weapons in January on its citizens, killing as many as 250 people, many of them children.
In Lesotho, the Chinese don’t have the best image. Chinese traders that have moved to the tiny south African country for economic opportunities are accused of stealing jobs, businesses, and even wives.
The United States will soon be welcoming one of Kenya’s most outspoken anti-gay rights campaigners to attend a Google conference on digital literacy and safety.
Islamist fighter Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi has been sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in the destruction of historical sites in Mali’s ancient trading city of Timbuktu. Mahdi’s conviction marks a rare victory for the International Criminal Court (ICC) as well as the first time damaging cultural artifacts has been charged as a war crime.
