Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia battle for Nile River rights
During recent talks by phone between Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa—current chairperson of the African Union (AU)—El-Sisi reiterated concern about Ethiopia’s filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). El-Sisi said he seeks a fair and balanced agreement and rejects any unilateral filling of the dam’s reservoir. Ramaphosa said he hopes “intensive coordination” between...
Libya’s unclear future marred by internal, external conflict
Civil war is currently ratcheting up in Libya as internal saber-rattling escalates and foreign actors involved take sides and add to heightened threats of military action. Libya has been absent a cohesive government since a United States-led overthrow of Muammar Gadhafi and the Great Jamahiriya government in 2011. Since the U.S. and NATO (North Atlanta Treaty Organization) invasion, resulting in...
Challenging cultural norms and removing stigma is key to confronting Lesotho’s rape culture
Commentary THABA-TSEKA, Lesotho—The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed and given rise to a new, deeply concerning wave of rape culture in Lesotho. Although the true extent is not known yet, we have noticed concerning reports that the onset of the pandemic has worsened sexual violence with more women and girls being confined to small living places whilst social tensions are exacerbated. According...
U.S. entertainment, music industry exploits South African musicians
Copyright is the most important type of protection available to musicians. It has even been boldly asserted that “the recording industry is built on copyrights.” Without copyright, wrote Stellenbosch University professor Owen Henry Dean in a 2015 study, “there is very little protection available to musicians and producers.” Taking music without compensating the original creator is at the heart of a fight...
Zindzi Mandela, an offspring of struggle, dies at 59
There is no doubt, the name Mandela is synonymous with a legacy of struggle for the soul and transformation of South Africa. Zindziswa “Zindzi” Mandela was an offspring in that line who continued that legacy of service into the 21st Century. Ms. Mandela, the youngest daughter of the late iconic figures Nelson and Winnie Mandela died in Johannesburg, South Africa....
The Motherlands powerful influence on Islam
An important collection of historical accounts about the spread of Islam in the Motherland is captured in “Africa’s Islamic Experience: History, Culture and Politics” edited by among others A. Ali Mazrui, a famed Kenyan-born political scientist and one of Africa’s leading public intellectuals. The book was published in 2011 and Dr. Mazrui is now deceased. But the work gives...
U.S. seeks to use Africa as pawn in war of influence against China and Russia
In a speech unveiling U.S. strategy to counter Chinese and Russian influence in Africa, National Security Advisor John Bolton, a “notorious hawk who advocates the unilateral wielding of U.S. might,” accused Beijing and Moscow of “deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in the region to gain a competitive advantage over the United States.” Delivered at the American conservative public policy...
Pandemic shaping economic, social climate of East and Southern Africa
In many East and Southern African countries, local, regional and national lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic have been extended, reported Equinet. “Their impacts raise questions on their sustainability. The conversation inevitably turns to when and how countries will exit them. South Africa’s President Ramaphosa said recently in introducing their risk adjusted strategy: ‘We cannot sustain a nationwide lockdown...
‘Pink Tax’ costly for African females needing personal care products
@jehronmuhammad While South Africa and Tanzania, facing increased “global” scrutiny in 2018 removed their tax on women's sanitary pads, the government of the East African country re-introduced the tax while unveiling its budget, according to the Daily Nation. This taxation of menstrual products has intensified menstruation stigma and has been especially “punishing to girls from low-income homes who have...
France, U.S. strike different notes in Africa
GINNEWS (GIN)–There were smiles all around in Kenya as French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta shook hands over a series of infrastructure deals worth $3.3 billion. It was the third stop on the French president's East African charm offensive–and the first-ever visit to Kenya by a French head of state. France wants trade and commercial relationships that are “fair...