13 December 2022
Kenya: The Lapsset (Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport) corridor with its promises of a golden future induces the article’s author to compare it with the 1901 Uganda railway project. “The history of colonial violence in Africa is interwoven with infrastructure projects, along which imperial power could be projected.” Though the present is certainly not a “repeat of imperial practice”, there are nevertheless “many similarities between colonial and postcolonial developmental practices”. The Lapsset corridor – a mixed blessing? A tricky treasure?
https://theconversation.com/kenyas-lapsset-development-corridor-between-a-bright-future-and-a-grim-past-195460
Nigeria/Covid: As from now, PCR tests are no longer necessary for departing and arriving air passengers in the country as the virus “has been persistently rare in Nigeria and most of the rest of the world”.
BBC Africa Live 13 December 2022. 11:05
South Africa: No impeachment against Ramaphosa – 214 of 364 have voted against it in Parliament.
BBC Africa Live 13 December 2022. 15:42
Ghana: An initial agreement has been reached with the IMF for the granting of a 3-year 3bn USD Extended Credit Facility “to help restore Ghana’s economic stability and ensure debt sustainability.”
BBC Africa Live 13 December 2022. 13:11
Morocco/Spain: On 24th of June, 37 or more sub-Saharan Africans died while trying to cross the Melilla border. In a report, Amnesty International finds “evidence of crimes under international law”. Investigations into the deaths stalling or inadequate “smacks of a cover-up”. UN special experts had already asserted “excessive and lethal use of force by Moroccan and Spanish law enforcement authorities” and a BBC investigation had “uncovered evidence contradicting the official version of events.”
BBC Africa Live 13 December 2022. 12:30
Congo-Kinshasa: Floods after a night of heavy rains have killed at least 50 according to police.
BBC Africa Live 13 December 2022. 16:30
12 December 2022
“'Leaving the milk open, they call someone a thief,' said the cat”
BBC Africa Live 12 December 2022. 4:35 Proverb of the day. An Oromo proverb from Ethiopia sent by Jeneral Jo
Language in human evolution: Homo sapiens started uttering speech sounds only some 70,000 years ago, around the time our ancestors migrated out of Africa. Then, the only part of the human vocal tract enough developed to produce sound was the oral cavity – the first ever speech sounds were “click” sounds. With time, tongues became more manoeuvrable and made the production of different click sounds possible. From about 50,000 years ago, the production of consonants and vowels began to be possible, with the vocal tract’s development (mouth, pharynx, nasal passages and most important of all the larynx with the vocal cords). Finally, “language, as we know it today, probably began to emerge about 20,000 years ago”.
https://theconversation.com/when-did-humans-first-start-to-speak-how-language-evolved-in-africa-194372
South Africa: Because of critical levels of Escherichia coli – a human health hazard –, many Durban beaches have had to close. “The ageing water infrastructure has steadily decayed due to non-maintenance, lack of human capacity and financial resources, poor water governance and delayed – or no – action to address the deposition of sewage into various water courses such as the Umgeni River, and ultimately out to sea.” Then the April 2022 floods made things worse. Money will need to be spent as water governance, water infrastructure, wastewater treatment need to improve dramatically.
https://theconversation.com/durban-coastline-sewage-polluted-beaches-pose-threat-to-holiday-makers-and-the-environment-196244
South Sudan: In Upper Nile State (north-east of the country), fresh fighting between the army and Maiwut opposition forces as well as inter-ethnic clashes in the Fashoda area are reported by OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs/a UN agency) to have displaced almost 40,000.
BBC Africa Live 12 December 2022. 9:28