Stories from Quick Reads and Nigeria
Video: Why Young Nigerians Leave Home
Nigerian netizen Kola Olaosebikan uses YouTube to address, among other topics, the question of why young Nigerians are running from home: This video addresses moving back to nigeria, why i left nigeria, brain drain in nigeria, and issues impacting youth and progress in nigeria all wrapped up in a nice...
Potraits in Black: Africans in Italy
Portraits in Black is a work of three photographers – Marco Ambrosi, Matteo Danesin and Aldo Sodoma – the Centre for Immigration Studies in Verona, the Cities of Verona and Padua, the Padua University Sociology Department showing Africans in Italy.
Toy Dolls that Speak African Languages
Myweku writes about the introduction of Rooti Dolls, by Chris and Ada Ngoforo, a Nigerian couple: The 12 Rooti dolls are programmed to speak in several African languages. Amongst them, there’s Nina, a “vibrant girl” with Nigerian parents, who “loves watching Nollywood” and can interact in the Nigerian languages of...
French a Must in Nigerian Military
Mensah wrote on koaci.com: For Nigerian soldiers, enlisted men, officers and even aspirants, the military hierarchy has decided that the knowledge of the French language is now a prerequisite for anyone to get a promotion.
African Presidents Active on Social Media
Dapa Arnaud gives a list of the 10 most active african presidents [fr] on social media. At the top of the list is president Paul Kagame in Rwanda: In place since 2003, the president of Rwanda is the most active on the internet. According to the Ecofin agency, Paul Kagame interacts...
The State of Torture in the World in 2013
On January 23, 2013, an excerpt from the annual report of l'ACAT-France, A World of Torture 2013, makes a fresh assessment of the state of torture in the world [fr]: “A report called A World of Torture in 2013, assesses torture practices that continue to be alarming, from Pakistan to...
10 Best African Food Blogs
MyWeku compiles a list of 10 best African food blogs for 2013: “There are seemingly a million food blogs out there, but only a handful showcase African food. Even so it has still been a struggle to pick 10 of our favourites for this year (2013).”
Creating Art to Kuti’s Legendary Beats
Mr. Jaeger has worked on several of Knitting Factory’s Fela efforts including Fela: Live In Detroit 1986, and the Ginger Baker compiled Fela: Vinyl Box Set 2. Wes Flexner speaks with the person behind the artwork for “Best of Black President Pt 2″, an extensive collection of legendary Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti’s music...
The Future of E-Commerce and Mobile Payments in Africa
Mbawana Alliy says that e-commerce & mobile payments in Africa will not scale without business process integration:”As I tell the startups in our accelerator who are exploring integrating payments, its not just about accepting payments its about a business process and even business model rethink and in turn convince both...
“Self-Defence is No Offence”: Nigerian Student on Trial in Ukraine
On Nov. 5, 2011, Olaolu Femi, a Nigerian student in Ukraine, was attacked by a group of young people in the city of Luhansk; he was detained the next day, and his alleged attempt to defend himself and a friend was interpreted by the Ukrainian prosecutors as attempted murder, for...
Lagos to Host Social Media Week in 2013
Lagos will become the first city in the African continent to host the Social Media Week (SMW Lagos) co-produced by Dragon Africa and AFRIKA21 in February 18 – 22, 2013.
Coalition of African Nations Agrees to Send 3,300 Soldiers a year to Northern Mali
Seven African nations of ECOWAS namely Nigeria, Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo have agreed with Malian government [fr] to send 3,300 soldiers a year to Northern Mali to take back control of northern Mali from Islamist fighters. Other nations outside the ECOWAS might also send in troops.
Concern over Subterranean Water in the Sahel
We are told that miners do everything to waterproof the soil and ensure that waste does not contaminate subterranean water. But it must be recognized that there is always a risk, as they can never be completely sure that they are not contaminating subterranean pools. Moreover, with the impact of...
Nigeria: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Declines WTO High Post
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria's Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy is not interested in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) top job. Pascal Lamy will retire soon and there's been speculations that Okonjo-Iweala may seek to replace him.
Nigeria: Lagos Students To Learn Mandarin in Public Schools
China continues to deepen her presence in Africa as students in Lagos will now learn Chinese.
Africa: Africa Tumblrs to Follow
Here are Apostrophekola's top African photo tumblrs: “…I think you should be following if you have any interest in Africa. With these tumblrs, a picture is definitely worth a thousand words”
Africa: Post-feminism in Africa?
Simi Dosekun intends to blog about the concept of post-feminism in Africa: “My posts will cover my research interests: African feminism, how as African women we think of ourselves, media and popular culture, the dubious concept of post-feminism which I think is, ironically enough, infiltrating popular discourse in Africa.”
Nigeria: Senate President Challenged to name Boko Haram Sponsors
Two Northern youth groups on Wednesday criticized the Senate President, David Mark over his recent comments urging northern leaders to check the activities of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, Connected Africa reports.
Africa: Does Copy/Clone Strategy Work in Africa?
Mbwna Ally wonders whether copy/clone strategy works in Africa: “Every so often I hear venture capitalists and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley ask a recurring question regarding Tech Startups in Africa- why not just use the “copy to” strategy? Clone an e-bay, clone a Groupon… After all there are 1,000s of...
Africa: The Night of Africa Movie Academy Awards
Kollo writes about Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA):”The event, which attracted international and African celebrities as well as notable personalities from other professions turned out to be a joyous carnival of some sort as several movie actors, actresses, producers and writers literally broke down in tears of happiness as they...