10 December 2022
South Africa/Music streaming: Worldwide, musicians’ earnings from streaming are poor – and it is worse in Africa. At worst, streaming can be a drain, because of the platform fees. What makes matters worse in South Africa? Lack of connectivity of many a potential client plays a role as do frequent power cuts as does the “undeveloped policy environment” (copyright legislation) and on top of that, the global platforms’ payment regimes are not equitable.
https://theconversation.com/music-streaming-in-south-africa-new-survey-reveals-musicians-get-a-raw-deal-194087
South Africa/Access to health services: Public health breast cancer treatment services “such as chemotherapy are only available in tertiary hospitals which are located in the country’s urban centres.” While treatment is free, access to the hospitals can act as a barrier – transport can be complicated and expensive. At the Tyberberg hospital in Cape Town, a “Tygerberg breast unit transport fund” has been put in place to help patients with their transport. It would be a good thing elsewhere also – but of course, for such initiatives, funds are needed.
https://theconversation.com/breast-cancer-patients-in-south-africa-are-battling-to-maintain-treatment-because-of-high-transport-costs-193231
Congo-Kinshasa: Tshala Muana, the “Queen of Mutuashi” (a form of traditional music from Kasai) has died this morning aged 64. She was also well known for defending the rights of women and children.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63927667
09 December 2022
Seychelles/Seagrasses: The plants “act as a barrier to rising ocean levels and extreme conditions” and they “capture carbon at a rate 35 times quicker than rainforests”. Acting as a natural carbon sink, 10% of oceans’ total burial of carbon is due to them. Worldwide, seagrasses are declining, there even being a threat of their extinction. With 115 low-lying islands, the government of the Seychelles has this year finished mapping its seagrass ecosystems and committing “to protect half of its seagrasses and mangroves by 2023, and 100% by 2030”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-63901644
Ghana: In the country’s north, between two and four times as many people are food-insecure compared to the national average: 23-49% compared to 11.7% (4-10% in the country’s south). The article’s author’s research among Kassena farmers on the border of Burkina Faso allows him to have precise information about typical seasonal changes in food availability (best between September and December) and also about sources of food, with market purchases becoming very important for farmers at the height of “hungry season” (May through August). “(L)imited access to proper storage facilities and markets” is an important reason for farming families not being able to nourish themselves year-round.
https://theconversation.com/why-farmers-in-northern-ghana-go-to-bed-hungry-186152
Ghana: Accused by the opposition “of a conflict of interest and incompetence in managing the economy”, the Financem Minister has “survived” a no confidence vote in Parliament.
BBC Africa Live 09 December 2022. 5:11
Equatorial Guinea: Aged 80, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been sworn in for his sixth term as president. He took power in 1979. “He declared he was – and always would be – the leader of all Equatorial Guineans.”
BBC Africa Live 09 December 2022. 6:36
Niger: A group of MPs have tabled a motion to criminalise same-sex relationships. This, they say, is to “protect the ‘rights and interest of the public’.”
BBC Africa Live 09 December 2022. 4:42
Ethiopia/Youth: While “youth-dominated protests were instrumental in bringing Abiy to power”, youth have – despite the promises made by Abiy – not benefitted. Employment schemes, for example, were “used as mechanisms to silence and co-opt the youth”. Dissent was met with repression. The article’s authors draw the conclusion: “In authoritarian contexts, translating protest gains into genuine political (and economic) gains is an uphill battle.”
https://theconversation.com/abiy-ahmed-gained-power-in-ethiopia-with-the-help-of-young-people-four-years-later-hes-silencing-them-195601
South Africa: On the very same day, 21st of November, the Constitutional Court made two decisions public that were likely to upset large parts of the country’s population, revoking the medical parole of ex-president Jacob Zuma condemned to 15 months in prison for contempt of the court, and releasing Janusz Walus on parole, the murderer of Chris Hani on 10th of April 1993. Zuma’s imprisonment had sparked riots in July 2021 – “all those South Africans who revere Zuma might reason that his medical parole should not have been revoked as his offence was much less egregious than Walus’ crime”. While releasing Janusz Walus on parole was legally sound – laws apply no matter who is concerned –, the way the decision was communicated lacked sensitivity; with all the judges involved knowing that the issue was very sensitive, communicating the decision should have made proof of compassion. One way of doing so would have been to provide the Hani family with “a more visible platform through a victim impact statement”, and that statement could have been made part of the court’s judgement, even though the decision would still have had to be the same.
https://theconversation.com/janusz-walus-parole-south-africas-constitutional-court-was-right-but-failed-the-sensitivity-test-196055
South Africans & Climate change: Unemployment, HIV and crime rank highest in South Africans’ hit-list of problems, the environment does not figure in the top ten. This is what resulted from the author’s exploration of the 2017 South African Social Attitudes Survey. That the environment has to do with real life does not seem to have entered public consciousness.
https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-not-what-south-africans-see-as-their-main-problem-a-survey-breaks-it-down-195063
Nigeria: The DSS (Department of State Services) has given National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and oil marketers a 48-hour ultimatum to end the country’s fuel shortage, warning that “DSS was prepared to intervene and stabilise fuel supply if oil marketers failed to comply”.
BBC Africa Live 09 December 2022. 10:39
G20/AU: Washington is about to back permanent membership of the African Union in G20. So far, South Africa has been the only African G20 member. The news comes as Biden is about to meet African leaders in Washington for a three-day US-Africa summit.
BBC Africa Live 09 December 2022. 17:17