15 January 2023
Nigeria: Dragon Squad was founded in 2018 by Emem Thomas, today aged 37, who only employs “plus-size ladies” as bouncers, a field traditionally totally dominated by men. A Guardian photo essay.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2023/jan/12/nigerias-female-bouncers-fighting-stereotypes-in-pictures
Virtual fashion show with senior models, AI-created: “Photographs” not from the fashion runway, but out of a Nigerian filmmaker-artist Malik Afegbua’s imagination, assisted by artificial intelligence, showing senior models in stylish (futuristic-traditional) cloths. All of it to challenge ideas about old age. A BBC photo essay.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64260739
14 January 2023
Latozi “Madosini” Mphahleni/Music/South Africa: The musician, songwriter and storyteller, “queen of Xhosa music”, died in late 2022 aged 79. An homage of the woman whose renown went far beyond national boundaries and whose efforts to keep traditions alive and work as an educationalist earned her, illiterate, a honorary doctorate from Rhodes University.
https://theconversation.com/madosini-a-south-african-national-treasure-whose-music-kept-a-rich-history-alive-197736
See also the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxatCEQy7XQ
Ebrima Solo Sandeng/Gambia: He was “an ordinary man who showed extraordinary bravery”, a man who stood up to Yahya Jammeh’s tyranny and was tortured to death seven years ago. On Tuesday, he was honoured by a state funeral. “Thousands of people lined the streets of Banjul to pay their respects”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64262310
China/Africa: Nowadays, the people’s republic is “Africa’s most important infrastructure builder”. Chinese construction companies “like to bring their own workers because they require less training, work efficiently and help to avoid difficult labour relations issues.” But if this is what happens, then African countries miss out on the employment benefits of the infrastructure projects and less knowledge and technology will be transferred. Statistical analysis shows that autocracies (e.g., Algeria) tend to allow Chinese workers in while democracies (e.g., Ghana) tend to “force Chinese companies to hire locally”.
https://theconversation.com/chinese-workers-on-africas-infrastructure-projects-the-link-with-host-political-regimes-195732