Hi, Quartz Africa readers!
VIRAL FAKE NEWS
When the Covid-19 pandemic started to take hold across Africa with the earliest cases recorded in February, it was pretty clear managing the crisis was going to require tackling both the virus and misinformation.
Within days of the first case in Nigeria, WhatsApp broadcasts spreading misleading information about cures and remedies for the novel coronavirus had already made the rounds. As the crisis deepens, with over 277,000 cases now recorded across the continent, and healthcare systems as well as front-line medical workers increasingly stretched, the need to combat coronavirus-related misinformation is far more heightened.
It’s a sentiment echoed in the latest Digital News Report by Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford. “Greater reliance on social media and other platforms give people access to a wider range of sources and “alternative facts”, some of which are at odds with official advice, misleading, or simply false,” the report says.
The report particularly notes, amid the crisis, WhatsApp has recorded the largest spike in usage for news consumption globally. That increase is likely also seen among users across Africa, where WhatsApp is so popular, even knock-off versions of the app are widely used. The catch, however, is that an increase in usage likely also translates into an increase in the spread and consumption of misinformation. Indeed, 76% of respondents in Kenya and 72% in South Africa say they are concerned about being unable to detect fake news on the internet, the report says.
For their part, governments on the continent have attempted to build sources of credible coronavirus-related information, from daily press briefings and regularly updated online data portals to tech-based solutions like South Africa’s WhatsApp bot, which has since been adopted by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The problem though, is that those standards are not uniform across the continent. In Tanzania, where the government stopped publishing coronavirus-related data over 50 days ago, president John Magufuli has asked citizens not to accept donations of face masks and has urged public religious gatherings to pray the virus away. Meanwhile in Burundi, the government’s shoddy response to the viral outbreak has included undergoing presidential elections with little evidence of safety measures as well kicking out a WHO coronavirus response task-force.
— Yomi Kazeem, Quartz Lagos correspondent
Five stories from this week
How to bring Africa’s artifacts back home from Europe’s museums. The two Benins (the former Dahomey Kingdom, now Benin Republic and the Benin Kingdom of modern day Nigeria) have been the loudest voices in calling for the return of many precious artifacts from Europe’s museums and private collections. Josette Bailey and Sylvester Ogbechie explain the pathway to the restitution and repatriation of African art and cultural heritage.
The intertwined histories of the African American freedom struggle and Ethiopia’s war against fascism. Many early Black American liberation movements took inspiration in the resilience of faraway Ethiopia’s early defense against colonial Italy. In the 1930s, African Americans were so keen to support Ethiopia’s war efforts they lined up in Harlem, New York to enlist though they were mostly prevented from traveling by the US State department. Zecharias Zelalem dug into the history.
Nigeria’s tech industry is rocked by a #MeToo scandal which reveals a culture of entitlement. Africa’s most valuable tech ecosystem may be on the verge of its own #MeToo moment. Following an allegation of harassment against a prominent tech CEO, Yomi Kazeem spoke to young women and veterans of the billion-dollar tech industry about how it’s reckoning with an overlooked part of its male-dominated work culture.
Amazon adds 3,000 jobs in South Africa for Alexa and customers in US, Europe. Amazon has had deep roots in South Africa since it opened a technology center in Cape Town in 2004. This week it revealed it is adding 3,000 more jobs to provide customer service for Alexa users and online customers in North America and Europe. But it still isn’t clear what Amazon’s plans are for e-commerce on the continent.
How a Somali community took on a Minnesota meatpacking plant to contain a Covid-19 outbreak. Meat processing plants across the United States have been some of the most vulnerable locations for the spread of coronavirus. Somali immigrants, who dominate the workforce of Pilgrim’s Progress in Cold Spring, Minnesota, told Chidinma Irene Nwoye how they have had to rally colleagues to stand up to unfair and life-threatening conditions.
Dealmaker
Britain’s soft power and impact investing is giving way to something more hard-nosed and political. The UK’s DfID is being merged with the Foreign Office–an idea which many had thought Boris Johnson’s government had given up on. As Dominic Dudley reports from London, the move could have big implications for the UK’s development finance agency CDC, one of the largest investors in Africa via private equity funds.
•Zedny, an Egypt-based Arabic learning platform, has launched its service with a pre-seed investment round of $1.2 million. First founded in 2018, the platform aims to cater to Arab speaking users through online courses and animated video series.
•South Africa startup Planet42 raised $2.4 million in a seed round led by Change Ventures with participation from angel investors. The three-year old startup provides a credit rating service which allows its users lease cars for personal use.
Chart of the Week
Zambia has become the poster child for the good, bad, and ugly of the China-Africa story. Ahead of elections next year, the murder of three Chinese business people has exposed anti-Chinese tensions in the landlocked southern African country. But as Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu learns there’s more concern in political and economic circles about its mounting debt, most of which is owed to China.
Other things we liked
How the search for an out-of-print book led a South Sudanese refugee to build a hit publishing company. When Peter Deng moved to Australia after spending a decade in a Kenyan refugee camp his focus was on continuing his education. But after searching for a book about South Sudan which mentioned his grandfather he ended up setting up a fast-growing independent book publishing company, writes Aaron Fernandes for SBS News.
From Angola to America. A journey from nothing to nowhere. Angolans, Congolese and other Africans are followed on a perilous journey through bushes and rivers across South and Central America up to the Mexico-US border in a bid to reach the United States. “Angola is no longer for anyone, that’s why I left,” one migrant tells Pedro Cardoso for Zam magazine.
Silicon Valley tech giants race to build Africa’s internet infrastructure. Should Africa worry? While local telecoms players helped build the first legs of internet infrastructure in most of Africa, Facebook and Google appear to be in a race to expand the second phase. For Global Voices, Kofi Yeboah examines whether African governments should be making more of an effort to lead in these endeavors.
Dancing across the African diaspora. “You know, I’m African,” he’d joke as he handed them the tape or CD, “I need proper dance music.” In this personal essay for Paris Review, Nadia Owusu writes of her late diplomat father’s love for African music and how that has influenced her later in life.
ICYMI
Inclusive Fintech 50. Early-stage fintech startups driving financial inclusion in Africa can apply for a chance to win a $25,000 prize. (July 10)
Africa Publishing Innovation Fund. Africa-based entrepreneurs and innovators can submit project proposals on how to address the impact of Covid-19 on education in Africa. The fund is offering $200,000 in grants. (July 31)
BBC Hausa Women’s Writing Contest 2020. The BBC is accepting submissions of fiction writing from women writing in Hausa. Entries should be between 1000 and 1500 words. (Aug. 24)
Keep An Eye On
Corporate Council on Africa Leaders Forum (June 23-26). A four-day virtual forum which will see African government and business leaders discuss post-COVID-19 recovery plans on the continent.
*This brief was produced while listening to Te Amo by Calema (São Tomé & Principe).
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