Africabeat

The difference between Senegal and China

Also originally appearing on Global Voices:

Blog politique au Senegal explains the difference between Senegal and China [Fr]: “Aside from the obvious differences like the color of their skin, the enormous disparity in the size of their populations, their respective demographic differences, I also know that there exists another fundamental difference…Us, we play football, we dream of footballs, we talk about football, we worship the professional football players, we beg in order to pay for this time-wasting game that brings the country to a halt whenever there is a match. All the while the Chinese also dream of footballs: those that they will manufacture and sell to us in cash!”

(I love Blog Politique au Senegal by the way.  One of the most incisive and prolific political blogs in all of French-speaking Africa.)

Louis Michel Heckled by Congolese Protestors at the London School of Economics

A recent French translation post on GV:

Le renouveau congolais posted [Fr] a YouTube video which shows Louis Michel, European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid and formerly Belgian's foreign minister, as he was confronted by Congolese protesters during a talk given earlier this month on the EU and Africa at the London School of Economics.

Keep on readin'

Media Blackout in Kenya / Kenyan Pundit Blocked

Happy New Year everyone.  I'm just helping Ory spread the word about the media blackout in Kenya following what at list one diplomat described as a rigged election.  The censorship has now spread to the internet, with cyber-activists like Ory, who blogs at www.kenyanpundit.com, being shut down.  Visit Kenyan Pundit to learn what you may not be reading in the international news.  Readers have been SMS-ing first-hand information/rumors about more shootings of protesters.  If you are a foreign journalist, or know a journalist, in East Africa, consider covering this angle of the story.  Ory is also behind the mzalendo project.  Read more Kenyan blogs at the Kenya Unlimited's blog aggregator and see Ndesanjo's roundup of Kenyan bloggers, "Is Kenya turning into a police state?" over at Global Voices.

Update: Kenyan Emergency/A Political Mugging in God's Own Country is doing a great job of centralizing information on this story.

From Ory:

As some of you might know I've been pretty much the only source of credible information about the election situation in Kenya over the last fews, and more especially since a media blackout was imposed by the government (no live broadcasts, no news, nothing!) - the country is on fire and we have no idea what the government is doing to clamp protests down and how many people have been killed.   After the blackout, blogs and sms's have been pretty much the only source of information for Kenyans both in Kenya and outside Kenya.   Late night I asked my readers to send me whatever information /news they have in the comment section so that we could keep the news flowing.   When I woke up this morning to moderate comments and write a post I was unable to do any admin on Kenyan Pundit (see attached screenshot and note the swiftkenya details even though I'm hosted in the states).   

I never thought I would ever witness this in Kenya and be the subject of censorship - in fact every time I spoke about blogging in Kenya I was proud of the fact that the government has stayed away from bloggers. Now I have been shut down (well they think they can shut me down).

Kenya is now officially under a police state and I'm not sure how much coverage this is getting internationally, and I'm not sure how long it will last. 

Please spread the word internationally and take up our cause as Kenyan bloggers and citizens - I refuse to be cowered by fear and intimidation.

Hopefully internet and mobile access won't be next.

In shock,

Ory Okolloh

Oh Françafrique!

France, a former empire reduced to merely ordinary and still struggling to make the mental adjustment, plays out its colonial and postcolonial psychosis in the most bizarre and often criminal ways.

Walking through the genocide memorial in Kigali, France's fingerprints were everywhere, from their unwavering support of the Hutu power government measured in diplomatic love and machine guns, to numerous decisions to abandon Tutsi to be slaughtered by roving militia (apparently the French forces missed the memo that there was a genocide going on), to their role in creating a safe corridor to Congo for genocidaires to fleeing the advancing RPF (We all know how well that turned out), to the painfully slow pace with which they have pursued homicidal priests that sought refuge within their borders. 

Of course the irony is that in its misguided attempts to fight the anglo-saxon invasion--in East Africa--the French have all but assured Rwanda's anglicization.

Nigeria Health Watch: New blog aims to ask the hard questions

Nigerian public health physicians and fellow TEDsters Ikye Anya and Chikwe Ihekweazu have launched Nigeria Health Watch, a new blog with a simple but bold mission:

When your neighbour dies from measles, during child birth, in a car accident, rather than conclude it was as "God wanted it", think, ask and act on the failures; the missed chance at vaccination, inadequate antenatal care or non-existent emergency services that might have prevented these deaths. The alternative would be to conclude that God really has a problem with us Nigerians; why else would he let so many of us die from causes no one else is dying from? We will ask the hard questions.

Congrats to you both on your endeavor.  I know I'll be reading.

Which reminds me, I need to write about TED speaker Ernest Madu, director of the Heart Institute of the Caribbean, who managed to create a world-class health facility offering the region's elite top-shelf service at a third of the Western price and free care to anyone who could not afford it.  We need to stop asking ourselves if a better world is possible and start building one.

 

Global Voices Francophonia

I just wanted to announce that I have recently been hired as Global Voices francophonia editor after working as a francophonia volunteer for just over a year.  Alice Backer originated the position and is now helping Global Voices develop Lingua, an exciting project to make Global Voices content available in other languages (now currently available in French, Bangla, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian!).

As francophonia editor, I'll be monitoring/curating/translating French blogs from the Americas, Oceania, the Middle East, Europe, and of course Africa.  I know that work will only add to what I've been doing here at Africabeat.

Being a part of Global Voices has enriched my life beyond measure; I've made new friends and explored new worlds.  If you are not familiar with Global Voices, please take a moment to explore their website and read more about their history and mission.

Reuters in Africa

Today, Reuters launched its new website, Reuters Africa, which as Reuters Africa editor John Chiahemen told The Guardian, hopes "to show that Africa can be covered as a business story, not just a disaster story."

Is it just me, or does this seem like another sign there's a paradigm shift in the making?

Africa: Ready for Business

A record-breaking growth rate, massive Chinese investment and ambitious projects like the UN Millenium Development Goals, One Laptop per Child, and The End of Poverty helped to fuel a new era of "Afro-optimism" - the idea that Africa can and is making real progress.

But progress doesn't only happen on the scale of nations, multi-national initiatives, or billions of dollars in investments.  Real progress can also be measured in the efforts and successes of individuals.

This is why I love the concept of a new African business blog, The Benin Epilogue Part I: Africa - Ready for Business by "Benin Mwangi," a blogger from Atlanta, GA who became interested in African business issues after studying abroad in Ghana.  The Benin Epilogue profiles successful African entrepreneurs - and business opportunities - with the goal of "[reaching] out to businesspeople who have never been to Africa and therefore have no idea as to how well other business people are doing there-right now...educating you as to why Africa is quickly becoming one of today's hottest business destinations..."

Here are some of Benin Mwangi's perspectives on doing business in Africa, his goals for the Benin Epilogue, and why he thinks Africa really is "ready for business."

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What specific experiences made you interested in business and entrepreneurship in Africa?

During first visit to Africa, which was two semesters of study abroad in Ghana, I traveled extensivly throughout West Africa and met many sharp businesspeople. One day it dawned on me that rather than the destitute images that I had seen on TV, most of my surroundings consisted of enterprising and hardworking individuals.  Upon realizing this, I began to ask myself, "why is Africa not wealthy?"  One day it hit me, "mainly because the products and services that Africa produces are not highly demanded in other parts of the world."   At that moment my purpose in life was clear to me.

China & Africa : Colonialism & the Environment in Historical Perspective

China Dialogue, a bilingual, Chinese/English blog on China and the environment, has two recent posts on the environmental impacts of China's investment in Nigeria and Angola's oil industries.  And I've got commentary.

Afroshanghai Blog

A new blog started by "Africans in Shanghai and Beyond" aims to bring African news & issues to China and the world...