19 November 2021
South Africa: 1871-born Charlotte Makgomo Mannya-Maxeke in 1901 was the first black South African woman to earn a degree. An interesting, very critical appraisal of a new biography of hers – which, so the article’s author convincingly argues, was written at the expense of her women contemporaries: “Making an exception of her risks making her the sole representative of black women who lived at the turn of the century. It erases the stories of other women who lived and built organisations alongside her.”
https://theconversation.com/charlotte-maxeke-book-highlights-tensions-of-visibility-and-erasure-in-south-african-history-171505
Sudan: After a month of suspension, internet services have been (partially) restored. Already on 9th of November, a court had ordered the restoration of internet, but to no effect.
BBC Africa Live 19 November 2021. 5:25
Burundi: After six years, the US have lifted sanctions. Despite ongoing human rights violations and abuses, the US thereby honours “the progress made by President Ndayishimiye on addressing trafficking in persons, economic reforms, and combating corruption and encourage continued progress”.
BBC Africa Live 19 November 2021. 4:37
Military expenditure against terrorism: To fight terrorism, military expenditure will be increased (e.g. in Nigeria by 36% between 2009 and 2018). This mitigates the negative effects of terrorism on the economy. The author claims to have found this from research into 24 African countries touched by terrorism concerning the period 2001 to 2018. But he explains his results very badly.
https://theconversation.com/military-expenditure-reduces-the-negative-effect-of-terrorism-on-economic-growth-171010
Congo-Kinshasa: According to revelations made by BBC’s Africa Eye, millions of USD have been transferred to bank accounts of family and friends of Joseph Kabila while the latter was in power before huge sums were taken out in cash.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59343922
Fish: Exploitation of marine resources needs to be curbed to make Africa’s blue economies sustainable, especially with respect to large-scale industrial operators. “Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone alone lose US$2.3 billion annually to illegal fishing.” Something needs to be done about that urgently.
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/illegal-fishing-another-target-in-west-africas-maritime-battleground
eSwatini: The brutal reaction to protests against the king have had 46 people killed and many injured. There has been no progress since. SADC has failed in its attempts at mediation. The national dialogue announced by the king is most unlikely to lead to anything, seen that the king fails to consider his subjects as rights-holders.
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/eswatinis-national-dialogue-mustnt-become-a-monologue
18 November 2021
Nigeria: Motorbike-riding gunmen have killed another 21 and looted food on Tuesday night in villages in Sokoto state (North-west). In the meantime, the death toll of the Monday attack on Illela town on the Niger border has risen to 43. The deployment of thousands of security forces has not been able to stop the wave of killings by armed gangs in the North-west.
BBC Africa Live 18 November 2021. 6:17
Djibouti: With 90% of Ethiopian goods passing through Djibouti’s port, the impact of the war in Ethiopia on Djibouti’s economy has been dramatic. With trade reduced to a trickle – 20% of what it used to be – losses are thought to amount to 1.7bn USD.
BBC Africa Live 18 November 2021. 17:28
Kenya: First cold, then hot: after a series of anti-refugee measures (the most important being the announcement of the closure, six months from now, of Kakuma and Daadab refugee camps housing half a million), the President has signed “a new refugee bill that allows asylum seekers easier access to education, and opportunities to integrate and earn a living”.
BBC Africa Live 18 November 2021. 8:28