05 April 2023
Nigeria: Muhammadu Sanusi, former central bank governor and former Emir of Kano, opines that “ethnic and religious divisions are at their worst in the country since the end of the Biafran civil war”. On top of that, the economy “is in the doldrums”.
BBC Africa Live 05 April 2023. 14:56
04 April 2023
Kenya: The country’s first ever earth observation satellite “Taifa-1” (Nation-1) is set to be launched next week in California. The data provided by it are to be used for agriculture and food security.
BBC Africa Live 04 April 2023. 6:57
Kenya: The right to protest is enshrined in the country’s constitution even if that right has time and again not been respected by authorities. Protests belong to Kenya’s political culture (the article lists the major protests). But now, “political protests (…) have become insular, sectarian, tribal, unashamedly personality driven and elitist”. The political elite uses “protests for self-preservation and to pursue their interests. Protests have become about getting opposing political personalities to come to an agreement so that election losers don’t lose all the benefits of being in power”.
https://theconversation.com/mass-protests-in-kenya-have-a-long-and-rich-history-but-have-been-hijacked-by-the-elites-202979
Mapungubwe and the hunter-gatherers: From about 800 years ago, southern Africa’s earliest state-level society and urban city developed on a South African hill close to the borders of Zimbabwe and Botswana. So far overlooked, hunter-gatherer societies were present and a part of the development of the Mapungubwe kingdom. The article tells about what is known about their involvement so far.
https://theconversation.com/archaeology-shows-how-hunter-gatherers-fitted-into-southern-africas-first-city-800-years-ago-202774
Egypt: While Egyptians are suffering from soaring prices, the Islamic Cultural Centre (which includes a record-breaking mosque of 19,000 m2 capable of hosting 107,000 worshippers) has been opened in the new administrative capital city being built 45 km east of Cairo in the middle of the desert. The 25.9m USD that the mosque cost do not go down well at all with the general public often unable to make ends meet.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-65165513