How a Traditional African Game Spread Throughout the World. Waali, a traditional game in Mali – permission from Boukary Some 7032 kilometers lie between Bamako, the capital of Mali, and Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar.
Yet for centuries now, there have been tangible links between these two countries. This is not really surprising. Despite the long distance, the two countries (and their neighbours) share a common Bantu heritage. This explains why their cultures have several common aspects. Deadly Diseases, Violent Conflicts and White Saviors: Hollywood’s Skewed Portrayal of Africa. Screenshot of the 1995 film “Outbreak.”
The latest outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa has killed at least 712 people so far, and hundreds of others are suspected to have died because of the illness. As fear of the virus spreads around the world, this very real international public health crisis has reminded some of a fictional crisis made into a movie nearly 20 years ago featuring Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Kevin Spacey and Morgan Freeman, to name a few. How can Africa be rising when it has its head buried so firmly in the sand? - Comment. Lrakoto : Examining the Post-Colonial... Examining the Post-Colonial Evolution of Francophone and Anglophone Africa. Screen capture of animated slideshow on the legacy of French and English colonization in Africa -Blue countries are French-speaking nations, red countries are English-speaking nations. via Le Monde The topic of the post-colonial evolution of francophone versus anglophone African states has always a fodder for intense debate.
Cheidozié Dike, from Nigeria, brings a new perspective to the subject : While the French Loi Cadre system was mostly about integration, the British colonial system sought only exploitation. Creating an air of suspicion between the nations that make up present-day Anglophone Africa, fracturing connections before they were even made, all the better to rule.[.;] Francophone Africans do not feel the need to aspire to western culture, because the French culture was wedded with local customs such that it became an indivisible whole. Congolese Teacher Pushed Out of Moving Police Van in Morocco, Dies. Call for Contributors in Africa / Appel aux Contributeurs en Afrique. Submitted by Global Integrity on 9 August , 2013 - 3:12 PM - The current rise of a technologically savvy, socially conscious generation across Africa is forcing local governments and institutions to become more transparent and less corrupt, according Jon Gosier, director of “The Cheetah Code,” a documentary about technological entrepreneurs in the continent.
The film chronicles Africa’s young entrepreneurs, creative class, and emerging technology sector. The name of the movie stems from a reference by Economist George Ayittey, who dubbed these young innovators and entrepreneurs as “Cheetahs” because of their ability, like the animal of the same name, to adapt and act quickly amid rapid change. A First for Africa: Ex-Dictator to be Judged on the Continent. A new hybrid court system, the Extraordinary African Chambers has just been set up, opening its doors on February 8, 2013, to judge Hissène Habré, ex-president of Chad in Senegal.
The organisation Human Rights Watch has been working since 1999 with victims of the ex-dictator, currently exiled in Senegal, to bring him to justice. Lrakoto : Annual Development Effectiveness... Afripedia: Wikipedia with Offline Access for Francophone Africa. Logo of the Afripedia project, a project to provide offline access to wikimedia projects for Francophone Africa; CC license-3.0 Cyriac Gbogou reports that [fr] Afripedia, a project spearheaded by Wikimedia France, l’Institut français, l’Agence universitaire de la Francophonie and Kiwix strives to promote digital development by giving offline access to wikimedia projects, including wikipedia and providing digital training to young people in francophone africa.
A New Start for Barack Obama in Africa? With Barack Obama re-elected to the Presidency of the United States for four years after the election of November 6, 2012, Africa is reviewing his legacy[fr].
This following his four years at the head of an America more concerned with the economic crisis than international relations, especially within the African continent. The expectations of Africans were great, but many think that the second term of President Obama will enable him to have a wider margin of manoeuvre on African issues. U.S. President Obama walks with Malia, Michelle and Sasha following, during their visit to Cape Coast Castle, Ghana via pd2020@sbcglobal.net on FlickR (CC license-NC-BY) Report blames multinationals for illicitly transferring most of the $1.5 trillion made in Africa each year.
ICT for Development in Francophone Africa. Although there is undoubtedly a strong push to grow information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives for development in francophone Africa, the region is still somewhat lagging behind their English-speaking neighbors.
The recognition of this lag is discussed by many Francophone bloggers and aggregated at the Franco Techno Gap blog. The cause of the lag is unclear but a few reasons are often proposed: 1) broadband internet was made available by governments of English speaking nations such as (South Africa, Mauritius, Egypt) first (fr). Consequently, cost of internet access is on average higher as further explained on l'atelier des medias (RFI) (fr). 2) Related to the previous reason: “English speaking countries seem to be doing better than the French speaking countries” as Miquel points out 3) The English language is still the default language globally when one discusses ICT. How do Small African Nations Grab the World’s Attention? Moderating this panel are Janet Gunter, who contributes to Global Voices Portuguese and Julie Owono of Cameroon.
Janet talks about a panel she recently shared with Julie on technology and ICT. Such panels often have an over-representation of English speakers from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Janet and Julie have organised this panel to give an opportunity for countries with a smaller voice. Why do these countries have less of a voice? Africa: Celebrating Humanity through Photos and Videos. An article by BuzzFeed that recently went viral with over 1.6 million Facebook shares, highlighted 21 pictures that will restore your faith in humanity.
Unfortunately, Africa and Africans were absent from the piece. Despite efforts to change existing narratives, the African continent is still widely known as a leading recipient of international aid and the place where international NGOs come to ‘save’ the fragile local population. While there is no denying the enormous needs of the continent, what is often lost in the many humanitarian stories from the region, are the stories of Africans helping Africans. Mali: A President Assaulted, a Nation in Turmoil. [All links forward to French articles unless stated otherwise] It seems a long time since Malian citizens were eagerly awaiting presidential elections, initially scheduled to be held in April 2012. Côte d’Ivoire: Controversy during 2012 Tech Conferences. [All links forward to French articles or videos unless stated otherwise] Côte d'Ivoire recently played host to two important technology conferences in the space of three days.
‘Google Days’ [en] and JNTIC 2012 [en] (National Days of Information and Communication Technologies) took place between May 15 and May 18, 2012, causing a great deal of excitement in the local blogosphere. According to the official JNTIC website: Les «Journées Nationales des Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication» (JNTIC) sont un Salon annuel dédié aux Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (TIC). Ce Salon est organisé par l’Union des Entreprises de Télécommunication (UNETEL) de Côte d’Ivoire, à l’occasion de la Journée Mondiale des Télécommunications et de la Société de l’information instituée par l’Union Internationale des Télécommunication (UIT).
The JNTIC is an annual conference dedicated to ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). Africa Progress Panel - Home. Ridiculous Football Dive. Africa in Perspective. Indépendance cha-cha : une histoire de la décolonisation française. BBC World Service - Special Reports - Ballad of Africa. The bears-and-sneakers theory of democracy. Dave Weigel has a good piece looking at how the conservative reformers who predicted a long wilderness for Republicans unless they changed their core message in this or that direction are reacting to the party's 2010 resurgence.
"It now appears that the GOP is about to win without tapping into any of that stuff. The conservative movement's smart set, the people who liberals considered serious critics who could remake the right, really had nothing to do with the Republican Party's great comeback. " This happens a lot, of course.
Liberals will remember the post-2004 meltdown in Democratic circles. The party had to move right on national security, on economics, on "family values. " The Ibrahim Index » Mo Ibrahim Foundation. AGRICULTURE-AFRICA: Land Grabs in Poor Countries Set to Increase. PARIS, Sep 8, 2010 (IPS) - After weeks of rumours sparked by the leaking of a draft World Bank position paper on so-called land grabs in poor countries, the international financial institution has officially released its report on the surge in farmland purchases and leasing which have elicited controversy for over two years.
Acquisitions of vast tracts of fertile land in Africa by foreign governments and companies eager to secure affordable food resources in highly volatile commodity markets stirred public attention when the South Korean company Daewoo bought more than a million hectares of farmland in the east African island state Madagascar. The World Bank report, titled "Rising Global Interest in Farmland. Can It Yield Sustainable and Equitable Benefits? " Why Western-style democracy is not suitable for Africa. Majority-vote democracy is not suitable for Africa, says George AyitteyWestern model has let African leaders advance the economic interests of their ethnic groupMany traditional African societies take decisions by consensusAfrican democracy should build on consensus model.
Interactive Infographic of the World's Best Countries. Let's Talk About Global Food Governance. ♠ Posted by Emmanuel in Agriculture,United Nations at 8/02/2010 12:28:00 AM. Untitled.
Development. Model. Africa Blog » Blog Archive » G20: A perspective from Africa. Op-Ed Contributor - Can Africa Trade Its Way to Peace? - NYTimes. Université Numérique Francophone Mondiale - Accueil. Why do Western Journalists Continually Fall Into Th. Mary Riddell is one of Britain's better columnists. She generally manages to produce original material, rather than resorting to the lazy rehashing of tired arguments and opinions that make up a lot of comment pieces. However, her article today reads like a checklist of what not to do when writing about Africa, ruining a potentially interesting analysis of the thawing in relations between Presidents Kabila and Kagame. Plan. Konakry Express. Africa Union must rid itself of Corrupt Dictators and their Sons. At its inauguration in 2002, the Africa Union (AU) sets itself ambitious goals "to promote peace, security, and stability on the continent; to promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance; to promote and protect human and peoples' rights.
Africa Must Adopt Knowledge Driven Econo. Primary Healthcare Services Increase with Integration of Basic H. Africa’s poor to lose lands. Land acquisitions are on the increase in Africa and other continents, raising the risk that poor people will be evicted or lose access to land, water, and other resources, according to the first detailed study of the trend. The study has been realized by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) at the request of UN Food and Agriculture Organization and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Economic ill winds hitting Africa. Africa is a long way from the eye of the global financial storm. Why blog about Africa? Lova tagged me to produce a magnum opus on why I blog about Africa..... naah just kidding, he was hoping I'd go twitterific on him and use just 140 characters :)
10 Great Reads Around Africa. Nigerian Banking Survey Jeremy has a quick rundown of some numbers, such as: “53% of Nigerian adults have access to a mobile phone, yet 74% of the adult population has never been banked” (Full report: 7.3Mb PDF) Africa's Cyber WMD - By Franz-Stefan Gady. Letter from Africa: Tweet dreams are made of this. Global Voices in English » Reactions to the Greek Financial Cris. UPDATE 2-Ethiopia's Meles wins election, board says. Global Voices in English » 50 years Later, Independence and the. Dehumanised Africa.