13 July 2022
Gender Gap: This year’s edition of the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report ranks Chad and Congo-Kinshasa worst for differences between men and women in Africa. “The report says the cost of living crisis is impacting women disproportionately with a widening gender gap in the labour force.” Covid is thought to have set back parity between the sexes a lot.
BBC Africa Live 13 July 2022. 15:53
Download: https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022
Uganda: Increases in prices of food and petrol (from 3,900 to 7,500 shillings over the last few months in parts of the country) have prompted people to demonstrate in Jinja district on Monday, demanding subsidies. Police has proceeded to arrest 25 in connection with the demonstrations.
BBC Africa Live 13 July 2022. 6:39
South Sudan: Following cattle raids in one village, clashes between two rival communities in Kapoeta North county in Eastern Equatorial state have killed more than 230 people. This not being the only case of inter-communal fighting, the UN has warned of the risk of a return to civil war in the country.
BBC Africa Live 13 July 2022. 7:19
Congo-Kinshasa: A 40 year-old grandson of Mobutu’s has been elected governor of Northern Ubangi province. The province’s capital Gbadolite is the ancestral home of the Mobutus. The grandson is reported to say about himself that “he embodies a new vision for his home province”.
BBC Africa Live 13 July 2022. 12:45
Mozambique: Chitolo village in Cabo Delgado has been attacked by jihadists. People have had to flee again – they had only returned recently, after “the area (had been) cleared of insurgents by a joint force of Mozambican and Rwandan troops”. No details are known neither about the attack nor about the number of people who had to flee.
BBC Africa Live 13 July 2022. 9:16
Cameroon/France/Colonial Medicine/Literature: The novel “The Blunder” which Mutt-Lon recently published is based on facts: during a French medical campaign in colonial times (1931), doubling and tripling tryparsamide (a type of arsenic) doses in Bafia region led to 700 people losing their eyesight. The scandal was hushed up and the victims never got compensated. Mutt-Lon thinks that this memory could contribute to people nowadays being reluctant to get vaccinated, for example against Covid.
BBC Africa Live 13 July 2022. 17:55
12 July 2022
Ethiopia: While female labour force participation and women’s political participation strongly correlate in rich countries, this has not been the case in Ethiopia, where industrial parks and foreign-funded enterprises in particular have provided jobs for women since 2010. The article’s author summarizes the results of her research thus: “our research found no evidence to suggest that the job offers had any positive effect on political participation. We saw no effect of employment on women’s bargaining power or gender equality norms. We even found a reduction in women’s participation in community meetings.” The reason is the poor working conditions, absence of unions, long working hours, low wages and even abuse the women face in the work-place – with “labour laws (…) not enforced for fear of investors leaving the country”. A dire picture of women at work.
https://theconversation.com/why-factory-jobs-for-ethiopian-women-havent-translated-into-greater-participation-in-politics-185906
South Africa: “Turkeys do not vote for Christmas” – so the ANC is unlikely to change an electoral system that has so far helped it secure majorities. Only if the ANC gets well below 50% at elections might it become interested in true electoral reform – if its coalition partners demand it firmly. Once parliament has decided on a change of the electoral system, it may then be a good idea to submit it to the sovereign by means of a referendum, thereby making democracy more direct.
https://theconversation.com/a-referendum-on-electoral-reform-in-south-africa-might-stir-up-trouble-186478
South Africa top in men’s cricket: Five wins ins seven games means that South Africa is presently top in the International Cricket Council’s World Test Championship table. But the season is still long, it runs to June 2023, “with the top two teams in the table competing for the overall title in the final”. South Africa will next play England in mid-August.
BBC Africa Live 12 July 2022. 13:18
Africa & population growth: According to the UN report “World Population Prospects 2022” published yesterday Monday, world population – currently at 8 billion – will grow to 9.7 billion in 2050, then reach a peak of 10.4 billion in the 2080s and remain at that level until 2100. Half of the 1.7 billion additional human beings until 2050 will be born in only 8 countries: Congo-Kinshasa, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines and Tanzania. Life expectancy in Africa is forecast to rise to 64.3 for men and 69.1 for women – considerably below world averages of 74.8 respectively 79.8 years and even further from Europe and North America where men are expected to live up to 81.6 on average and women to 86.1 in 2050.
BBC Africa Live 12 July 2022. 14:35
https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/wpp2022_summary_of_results.pdf