A Wild Fig Grows in Rowan Street
▻http://africasacountry.com/2018/02/a-wild-fig-grows-in-rowan-street
Professor #Sampie_Terreblanche is always swimming against the tide. “At the moment I am a very unpopular man in Stellenbosch. Around here, there’s a group of people that find me terribly annoying. There is an irrigation canal running through our neighborhood and some of the people have enclosed it, claiming it forms part of their…
The #Cyril_Ramaphosa Model
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/12/the-cyril-ramaphosa-model
The election Monday night of Cyril Ramaphosa as president of #South_Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) – with a razor-thin 51% majority of nearly 4,800 delegates – displaced but did not resolve a fight between two bitterly-opposed factions. On the one hand are powerful elements friendly to so-called “White Monopoly Capital” (WMC), and on…
#Afrique_du_sud ; à mon avis un bon papier sur les enjeux actuels de l’ANC, mais un peu déprimant… this shit ain’t over.
▻http://www.huffingtonpost.co.za/2018/01/13/first-thoughs-ramaphosa-repudiates-zuma_a_23332514 sur le premier discours de Ramaphosa-élu
The Youths
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/09/the-youths
When I was a youth, each January 8, the African National Congress, then the dominant liberation movement against apartheid, issued a statement to commemorate its founding and embolden its followers. They were a big deal. Every statement came with a theme in which they dedicated the year to some group (women, the “comrades”, the generic…
#SundayRead : Next Time You See the Mediterranean
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/08/next-time-you-see-the-mediterranean
Next time you see the Mediterranean think of all these bodies brown and black, declared dead or missing in its waters. So far this year, 2,405 migrants have drowned in the Mediterranean. Last year, the number of migrants declared dead or missing reached 5,143. In 2015, 3,771 deaths were documented. Between 1993 and 2012, according…
#Kenya After The Elections: Will Amnesia and Impunity Continue?
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/08/kenya-after-the-elections-will-amnesia-and-impunity-continue
As Kenya processes the re-election of President Uhuru Kenyatta in the 2017 election, competing narratives of resistance vs peace, and protest vs compliance are still dominating popular political discourse. Raila Odinga now seems set to lose the presidential election for the fourth time by a margin of roughly 1.4 million votes with a turnout of…
The Crisis of the Party-State in #South_Africa
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/08/the-crisis-of-the-party-state-in-south-africa
Left critics often cast South Africa’s ruling #African_National_Congress (ANC) as an organization under the thrall of a homogenous elite, wedded to neoliberalism and the old economic structure. Recent events have blown this interpretation open. The ANC elite is in fact sharply divided, and one faction seems largely impervious to corporate South Africa’s immense…
Why is #Liberia’s Government rushing to sell its public schools to U.S. for-profits?
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/07/why-is-liberias-government-rushing-to-sell-its-public-schools-to-u-
When Liberia’s Minister of #education, George Werner, announced last spring that he was inviting foreign education companies and non-profits to run our public schools, our country came under the international spotlight, both in Western media and for education activists. The Minister and the supporters of the government’s plan excitedly championed the notion that clever thinking…
No Education Crisis Wasted: Billionaires Seek to Make Education in Africa Profitable | Alternet
▻http://www.alternet.org/no-education-crisis-wasted
Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are betting big on an effort to turn African education into a for-profit venture. But investigations show that children and their teachers are getting a raw deal.
By Maria Hengeveld / @africasacountry
The Algerian #revolution at 55
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/03/the-algerian-revolution-at-55
The Algerian revolution against French settler colonialism, which marks its 55th anniversary today, March 19th, stands as one of the most iconic victories for Third World liberation. In the furnace of the brutal, seven-year-long struggle, Franz Fanon forged The Wretched of the Earth. The #Front_de_Libération_Nationale’s (FLN), victory was remarkable not only because…
#AFRICA_IS_A_COUNTRY #ESSAYS #POLITICS #Algeria #France #Frantz_Fanon #Houari_Boumediène
#WEEKEND_SPECIAL
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/03/weekend-special-10
We’re bringing back Weekend Special. Borrowing its title from a song by the late Brenda Fassie, this is basically a list of 10 (ten) things we couldn’t publish; only shared on our social media (which we know some of you are not on); or that we rant about but did not have the time to…
#International_Criminal_Court Politricks
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/02/international-criminal-court-politricks
South Africa’s announcement, in October last year, that it was taking steps to withdraw from the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC), baffled many observers. The country is generally seen as a champion of human rights given its liberal constitution, the existence of strong civil society advocacy for the advancement…
Unusable Nigerians
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/02/unusable-nigerians
Oloibiri is a town located a few kilometers away from the city of Port Harcourt in Rivers State, #Nigeria. It is known for sharing the same local government, of Ogbia, as the town of Otuoke where Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan was born. Perhaps more noteworthy is that the small Niger #Delta town of Oloibiri…
#AFRICA_IS_A_COUNTRY #INEQUALITY #corporations #economics #Extraction #multinational #Neo-colonialism #oil
Africa is a funds-raiser
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/12/africa-is-a-funds-raiser
With all the excitement around us joining Jacobin, we were a bit worried that the fundraising part might have gotten a lost in the shuffle. So with that we just wanted to make a reminder post for you to donate to #AFRICA_IS_A_COUNTRY! It will help us with our relaunch effort on the new […]
What happens in the #Democratic_Republic_of_Congo after December 19th?
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/12/what-happens-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo-after-december-19t
The presidential term of #Joseph_Kabila, in power in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001, is suppose to end in less than two weeks on December 19th. Kabila is barred from running for another term. The next day Congo should have a new government. For the last year, opposition groups have demanded the electoral […]
#AFRICA_IS_A_COUNTRY #POLITICS #DRC #Etienne_Tshisekedi #Rassemblement
Is your mobile phone company seeing like a state?
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/11/is-your-mobile-phone-company-seeing-like-a-state
In September 2014 streams of people flowed into #Kenya’s largest stadium, located a few miles from downtown Nairobi on the much-celebrated Thika Superhighway. This arena is typically host to major sporting events and political speeches; Barack Obama recently addressed “the Kenyan people” there. But on this day, it was the site of a more unorthodox […]
Why is South Africa withdrawing from the #International_Criminal_Court? And why now?
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/10/why-is-south-africa-withdrawing-from-the-international-criminal-cou
Last Friday, South Africa stunned the world when it announced it has officially initiated the process of withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC). The idea of a mass pullout of African states from the Court has been hanging in the air for a few years now. The main point of contention has been the […]
#AFRICA_IS_A_RADIO : Episode #18
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/09/africa-is-a-radio-episode-18
Today, is the last official day of summer in our Northern Hemisphere headquarters of New York. So, let’s mark the passing of the earthly seasons by revisiting our Africa is a Radio live broadcast from The Lot Radio in Brooklyn this past June. #AFRICA_IS_A_COUNTRY contributor, New York city resident, social media guru, and Zimbabwe […]
On #Safari
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/07/on-safari-5
While we would like to go full steam year round, the fact that we have day jobs (for example, I work as a professor), mean we take a #Break from the site every summer. Officially we went on break Friday, July 16th (we set up you up with a Sierra Leone-connected mix). However, in honor of […]
Same DIFF ?
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/05/same-diff
As with our last #MOVIE_NIGHT post, we need to start with the bad news. 1. The #Durban_International_Film_Festival (or DIFF), one of the most important #Film festivals on the African continent, has been through some turmoil lately. With only a couple months to go to DIFF, the festival manager Sarah Dawson as […]
#Africa_is_a_Country_Films #Africa's_Premiere_League #Cameroon #Disney #Lupita_Nyong'o #South_Africa #Tunisia #Uganda
Wither the Left in Nigeria?
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/04/wither-the-left-in-nigeria
Most contemporary observers of Nigerian politics would be surprised to learn that the Left has been a significant part of the country’s postcolonial history. Nowadays, the Left includes various groups, ranging from NGOs to pro-democracy and anti-government groups, but my use of the term is restricted to a particular historical process that shaped the establishment, […]
Sans titre
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/04/95932
The #PanamaPapers are everywhere. And this week we spend sometime talking about them. First up, however, we’ve got some nice things to say about a conference held in Addis Ababa (31 March-5 April). (1) The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), a progressive organization based in Addis and a favorite of ours, held its annual Africa […]
#Pan_African_Space_Station Lands in NYC
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/04/pan-african-space-station-lands-in-nyc
Last November #Chimurenga installed the Pan African Space Station at #Performa 15 in New York, which was described as a “multi-tiered programming platform that takes the form of a library-of-people” and featured (amongst others) Brooklyn-based African Record Centre/ Yoruba Book Center; artist and educator Nontsikelelo Mutiti; and poet, choreographer, and Afrosonics archivist Harmony Holiday. As part […]
The economic crises in #Angola
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/03/the-economic-crises-in-angola
There’s a lot going on in Angola. Western media have extensively covered the trial and detention of the so-called book club (really a civic activists study group on protest) and the imprisonment of Cabinda activist Marcos Mavungo to the exclusion of other questions. The 15+2 activists, how the book club is known, and Mavungo highlighted […]
It’s the economy, N°4
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/03/its-the-economy-n4
Yes, this is a weekly series. #Barclays_Bank dominates this week’s missive. Oh, what is 16 plus 6? Don’t tell us yet. Hold that till the end. (1) This past week, the British bank Barclays announced plans to exit the African market after a formal presence of about a 100 years. The bank currently employs about […]
It’s the economy stupid, N°3
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/02/its-the-economy-stupid-n3
On Twitter, T.O. Molefe announced that our new weekly series #ItsTheEconomyStupid is “My new favourite thing.” And you know, we love affirmation. So, here for T.O. and the rest of you is number 3. (1) This week we read the transcribed version of an incredible speech given by Alex De Waal in Addis Ababa. The speech […]
The Free State
▻http://africasacountry.com/2016/02/the-free-state
There are so many lessons from (and horrors) from the violence against black #Students at South Africa’s University of the Free State (for background, see here) but here are my own observations: (1) While movements like #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall have been powerful and poetic, the willingness by white Afrikaner youth at theUniversity of the Free State (UFS) to resort […]
#AFRICA_IS_A_COUNTRY #FRONT_PAGE #South_Africa #University_of_the_Free_State