“In Africa, you never look Presidents in the mouth.  They are, as it is said in popular language, groundnut roasters.  And you don't look a groundnut roaster in his mouth.  Because then he will definitely throw in some grains.” (Ivorian blogger Denis Zado)

Earlier this week, a Parisian judge ordered an inquiry into alleged corruption and embezzlement on the part of three African heads of state: Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Congo-Brazzaville, Omar Bongo of Gabon, and Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea.

Teodoro Obiang has been president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea for thirty years. His luxury apartment and collection of cars are alleged to have been bought with misappropriated funds.

The investigation comes following a complaint filed by Transparency International in December accusing Sassou-Nguesso, Bongo and Obiang of “concealing misappropriated public funds.”  Each keep several luxury residences in Paris, thought to have been purchased with money that rightly belongs to their people.

Bloggers from each of these countries, and francophone Africa more generally, have long criticized Françafrique, France's neocolonial legacy of cozy relations with resource-rich, African dictators.  French president Nicholas Sarkozy has failed to end this legacy, despite early promises.

At last!

The French court's decision was greeted by many as a welcome surprise, one that may mark a shift in French attitudes toward Africa.

Congolese (DRC) blogger Musengeshi Kata, writes on Forum Realisance:

Enfin pourrait-on dire, l´occident, après des décennies de surdité, en vient lentement à combattre ce fléau criminel économique qui gangrène autant le développement de l´Afrique qu´il engraisse l´illégalité fiscale en Europe et de par le monde. Une contradiction flagrante à la justice, au bon sens, à l´Etat de Droit…et particulièrement à la maîtrise de la crise économique actuelle qui exige de se défaire rapidement de ces contradictions nocives et injustes pour tout le monde.

Denis Sassou-Nguesso has ruled the Republic of Congo for decades. According to The Guardian, he and close relatives have more than 100 French bank accounts and more than 20 properties.

The AFP article on the judge's decision, reprinted on the Congo-Brazzaville web portal congopage, had more than 140 comments at the time of this post's publication.

One reader congopage reader, Ngoma, posts a link to a Google Map which lists apartments in Paris belonging to Bongo, Sassou, and N'Guesso.

Boukaka:

Esperant que cette fois ci ,Sarkozy ne fera pas Obstacle a la justice…Sarkozy avait promis la rupture avec des Assassins alors nous attendons ce moment la avec impatience.

Dolisie:

Bravo au juge desset qui a su mettre l’intérêt des peuples avant les mic-macs économiques…la France doit se laver de son passé de chien de garde pour dictateur, d’argentier de conflits ethniques et de coups d’état ; la France que nous respecterons, est celle qui rendra aux peuples africains ses biens qui sont les leurs !

Le Répresentant Du Peuple:

Je demande à Mr SARKOZY de laisser les mains libre à la justice de son pays pour que vérité soit faite. Le sang de nos freres noir a coulé pour avoir denoncé le vole à grande échelle par ces présidents impis dont le goût de la luxure est son gêne.La France,le monde(les pauvres du monde qui considere votre pays comme un pays des droits et des libertés vous regarde)les chefs d’états africains ont enrichis la plupart des états d’europe par leurs avoirs placé dans les banques européennes,les africains le savent.Aux juges,nous savons que vous subirez la pression de nos voleurs d’états par des cadeaux allant audéla de votre revenu mensuel habituel.Honnorez votre profession.

Alors la je dois reconnaitre que cette juge a de sacrées couilles non je dirais plutot trompes,car vu d’un congolais comme moi plus habitué à assister impuissament aux pratiques criminelles de nos dirigeants on fini par croire et accepter par la force des choses que le droit à l’impunite est absolu et inviolable pour ces derniers.en meme temps que cette decision à reveillé un certains espoir…

Dolisie:

Denis,

Quand on fait des conneries, on les paye tôt ou tard ; même lorsque l’on se croit au dessus des lois. Mamère disait à ce propos : ” Le président premier des citoyens ne peut être un citoyen au dessus des lois”…

Dolisie

By what right?

Not everyone is happy about Africans being investigated in France.  The ruling inspired nationalistic feelings.  Some pointed out the hypocrisy of the French government prosecuting African leaders, when leaders on both sides are guilty.

Also on congopage, UN CONGOLAIS DE SANG writes:

crois tu que un français peut etre jugé au congo,alor pourquoi laisserons nous un congolais president de son etat etre jugé par la france, le vold’argent s’est produit au congo pas en france…un français qui tue un congolais au congo ne seras jamais jugé au congo,un français fait des degats a congo la france va le protegé…

Altesse responds:

Si la justice Congolaise fonctionnait parfaitement OUI BIEN SUR un français qui commet des délits au Congo peut(doit)-être jugé au Congo, rien ne l’interdit à ce que je sache. Mais comme il n’ya pas de justice ou plutôt elle s’achète facilement, on peut se poser la question.

Dada Maloba, also commenting on congopage, is skeptical the French government's motives have really changed:

Croyez-vous vraiment que c´est la France qui va faire sauter sassou ? …Ils veulent continuer leur colonisation. La France peut dire ceci cela, c´est leur politique. Pour moi c´est les résultats qui va compter. Nous tous Africains noire dans n´importe quel pays. Rentrez dans le mouvement BLACK PANTHERS, BLACK POWER. De lá nous allons voir les resultats nous cherchons. Faire sauter Denis Sassou Nguésso le traître.

Ivorian blogger Denis Zodo asks “Why these Presidents?” (and not any of the others from the long list of African dictators cozy with Paris).  Zodo wants to know who is really behind the lawsuit.  Are they Africans from these three countries or is it Transparency International?:

Si ce sont des Africains, ils doivent revoir leurs copies. Nous ne sommes pas pour la gabegie au sommet de l’Etat. Mais, ce n’est pas cette solution qui va arranger les choses dans nos pays africains. Il faut nous-mêmes militer pour le changement au niveau de nos gouvernants, mais également au niveau des mentalités. C’est seulement le changement dont il est question là, qui bouleversera la donne.

Si c’est Transparency international qui s’est auto-saisie dans cette affaire, il lui faut laisser pour une fois, les Africains retirer la gangrène de leur corps. Pourquoi c’est à eux de toujours prendre ce genre d’initiative à notre place ? C’est pourtant l’Occident qui favorise une telle attitude de prédateurs chez nos gouvernants africains.

Omar Bongo has been president of Gabon for more than forty years. He and his family own several apartments in the richest neighborhoods in Paris.

On the blog of UPG-Gabon, a Gabonese opposition party, some readers also left comments critical of the court case:

Que gagne un patriote Gabonais de voir son Chef d'Etat sali dans la presse étrangère par le simple bon vouloir des étrangers?…C'est tout le Gabon qui est humilié au delà de toutes autres considérations.

Nze Mba, also on UPG-Gabon, responds:

je tombe des nues , en constatant que chez nous le vol est devenu une institution qu'on ne peut même plus le combatrre. Les puissants sont tellement assis sur des fortunes et, sur la justice que tout recours et toute poursuite au pays est quasiment impossible.

Peut on et doit on se rejouir que ce soit la justice d'un pays étranger qui s'en occupe? Assurément oui car ce n'est pas au GAbon ni au Congo que l'on verra la justcice porter atteinte à nos présidents, de peur de se retrouver mort, ou sans emploi le lendemain.

Finally, and also on congopage, reader Hamburger offers satire:

Un juge d´instruction CONGOLAIS vient d´ouvrir à brazzaville une enquête contre un certain nombre d’hommes politiques français pour leur complicité avec un certain nombre de multinationales occidentales dans le pillage des ressources naturelles congolaises. Parmi les personnes visées par la plainte qui a été déposée au parquet de B/ville par l’association congo libre figurent Jacques-Chirac, Nicolas-Sarkozy, Charles-Pasqua et bien d’autres encore. Il s’agit d’une 1 ère dans l’histoire de la justice ; un chef de l’Etat français en fonction est poursuivi pour les biens mals acquis au congo à travers le “patrimoine pétrolier et minier”de la france au congo.

To which an anonymous reader replies, tongue in cheek, “Who's leading the investigation?”

The Bahraini ornithologist blog Bahrain Obs posts pictures and gives an update on bird migration.

The migration is in full swing now - the Swallows on the wires have now been joined by European Bee-eaters, Sand Martins, and the odd Red-rumped Swallow which are putting in a very early appearance.

Image courtesy of Bahrain Obs.

On the Carbon Smart blog, Rory discuses recent news on conversion of biofuels to hydrogen, and also considers the implications of energy efficiency and cost reduction on transportation systems.

The writer of Changing Climates blog posts a video collating photos from their travels during their fellowship. The shots span from Fiji, Vietnam, Thailand, Namibia, Mozambique to Egypt.

Do you recycle? Ever had to sort rubbish 34 ways and wash the bottles thoroughly? Justin McCurry writes on ChinaDialogue, of a Japanese town called Kamikatsu where recycling and reuse is mandated in a quest for zero-waste by 2020.

An hour's drive from the nearest city and about 600 kilometres from Tokyo, the town was forced to change the way it managed its waste in 2000, when strict new regulations on dioxin emissions forced Kamikatsu to shut down its two incinerators.
“We were no longer able to burn our rubbish, so we thought the best policy was not to produce any in the first place,” said Sonoe Fujii of the town's Zero Waste Academy, a non-profit organisation that oversees the scheme.
Despite initial opposition, the zero-waste declaration, passed by the village assembly in 2003, has spawned an unlikely army of eco-warriors.

The Environmental Justice Foundation(EJF) has written about illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing operations or ‘pirate fishing' in African waters, particularly in the SADC region (Southern African Development Community composed of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, Mauritius, Democratic Republic of Congo and Madagascar). The article by EJF gives details on how the pirate fishing occurs, particularly in Guinea, and gives steps that can be taken to end this practice.

An update from The Electricity Governance Initiative indicates that EGI has been launched in South Africa;

…a new effort in South Africa with the aim of improving governance of the electricity sector. The initiative will analyze government and regulatory capacity to create the right conditions for the promotion of renewable energy, efficiency, and social equity, in line with sustainable development and public interests.
Electricity issues are high on the political agenda in 2008 as South Africa confronts a crisis where reserve margins are unprecedentedly low, resulting in inadequate power supply to meet demand. The crisis presents an opportunity for improved integration of clean energy into South Africa’s energy mix – yet robust governance frameworks will be necessary in order to help manage tradeoffs between environmental, social, and financial considerations.

The Ethical Co-op blog writes about the sale of rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) business by Monsanto to the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, noting that

In some senses it’s a perfect fit. Genetically-modified rBGH is associated with a host of ailments, including, amongst other things, diabetes. Diabetes drugs are a highly profitable line for Eli Lilly. Monsanto also used to profit financially from diabetics, as one of their creations, aspartame, is used by some as a sugar-replacement.
But of course that may all be coincidence. Naturally, the first thing you see on Eli Lilly’s website is their commitment to helping people ‘live longer, healthier and more active lives’.
If you’re looking to replace refined sugar in your diet (and you should be!), there are much better options to use in moderation, such as honey, dates and xylitol.

The Green Prophet writes about the the announcement by Israel's ministry of Tourism, that it would ‘go green' for 2009, and also looks at how private businesses like Avis Israel are making eco-friendly decisions that are part of the tourism industry. Karen cites several examples of the initiatives undertaken.

When you book your car rental with Avis, one of the leading car rental companies in Israel and worldwide, you now have the option of paying a little bit extra to neutralize the effects of your driving on the environment by planting trees. To date, Avis, its staff, and its customers have planted over 200,000 trees together. Avis also claims that its fleet of cars is highly efficient, which hopefully makes the fuel consumption more efficient as well. (Of course, its no fleet of hybrid cars such as the Prius… but baby steps.)
And if you don’t trust Avis’s carbon neutral tree planting but would like to offset your car rental emissions yourself, consider planting some trees through Keren Kayemeth L’Israel (KKL) - it’s very easy and you can even do it online.

What can five little raisins teach you about values and sustainability? La Marguerite finds out and writes about differing values as it relates to food resources.

Last but not least, an uplifting post from Omar of Safarinotes about Mt.Elgon forest remaining as such after President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda rejected plans to carve off 7500 hectares for human settlement.

Reducing forest cover on and around Mount Elgon will certainly affect the ecological system of the area and gradually have a devastating effect on the Mount Elgon zone. Already, Mount Elgon is directly succumbing to the effects of Global Warming. And human encroachment is only increasing to the destruction. Trees are being cut in large numbers for: charcoal, wood fuel, lumbering and illegal settlement. The Mount Elgon area, normally cool and green, is gradually changing for the worse; mosquitoes, once rare around the area - have now found a breeding ground in swamps created by human activity. And that means more and more cases of Malaria.

Most of Uganda has abundant and very fertile land; people can and should be settled in other parts. Not in an ecologically delicate place such as around Mount Elgon. For leaders and politicians to appease people and attract votes using such tactics, as some are doing now by trying to give away a part of Mount Elgon - is dangerous and short sighted. Hopefully, the Ugandan leadership and government will protect and conserve Mount Elgon's wilderness and environment.

Picture courtesy of Safari Notes.

A Commonwealth, a Comunidade Francófona e a Comunidade de Países de Língua Portuguesa têm em comum o serem, de algum modo, o prolongamento de antigos impérios coloniais. Mas ao contrário das outras, na CPLP a potência mais forte não é antiga metrópole: a importância do Brasil e a dimensão de alguns dos países africanos de língua portuguesa bastam para redimensionar o papel de Portugal e para dar uma natureza própria a essa Comunidade.
Lusofonia, Anglofonia, Francofonia - JanusOnline.pt

Non-Brazilian lusophoners use to say that the biggest Portuguese speaking nation acts as if its language were an original native manifestation from the South American tropics, so disconnected it seems to be from its fellows in language. But who's to blame?

O problema, e isto se existir, de facto, um problema, está no facto dos brasileiros não reconhecerem a sua língua como “Língua Portuguesa” mas como língua do Brasil. E a culpa é de quem? Não será, de certeza, dos brasileiros ou dos outros falantes da Lusofonia. Quem deveria defender e projectar a Lusofonia? Os PALOP, o Brasil, Timor? Não!!! Cabe ao antigo colonizador e “implantador” da língua defendê-la… Mas também se os dicionários (em português, de Portugal, e português, do Brasil) do “Word” desconhecem a palavra “Lusofonia”.
Lusofonia ou Brasilofonia - Moçambique para Todos

‘Notas Soltas', from East Timor, echoes an article from a Mozambican professor questioning the drive behind the idea of promoting relationship among linguistic diasporas: is it culture or ideology?

Por que razão é que só depois das independências emerge de uma forma evidente este conceito? A década de 60 do Século passado é conhecida por década de África. A maior parte das colónias africanas da Grã-Bretanha e França tornaram-se estados independentes na primeira metade dessa década. Os interesses políticos e sobretudo económicos fizeram com que as ex-potências coloniais desenhassem uma estratégia de continuidade com outra roupagem. Quer isto dizer que, ao colonialismo clássico se seguia o panorama neocolonial. E uma das configurações que esse novo modelo tomou foi o de comunidade linguística. Assim nasceram as comunidades francófonas e anglófona. Contudo, um olhar mais atento há de provar-nos que a língua como factor de formação das comunidades em apreço não passava de um pretexto.
Lusofonia: Cultura ou Ideologia? - Notas Soltas

Lusophony can also be seen as political getaway…

“Por estes dias em que, de África e da presidência portuguesa do Conselho Europeu, o destaque parece ser - muito pelos esforços da poderosa imprensa britânica - o eventual convite ao trocidário Robert Mugabe para a Cimeira Euro-Africana de Lisboa, pouco espaço tem restado, na imprensa e nos blogues, para analisar o silencioso xadrez de Teodoro Obiang Nguema, ditador nas rédeas da Guiné Equatorial já há algumas dezenas de anos. Este cavalheiro, cuja família vive na mais arrogante das riquezas num dos países com menor desenvolvimento de toda a África, é considerado pela Forbes o oitavo governante mais rico do mundo… Há, no entanto, um governo europeu que é sempre simpático com Nguema e que este namora: nada mais nada menos que o português, com quem o trocidário ditador mantém contactos frequentes. Ainda há uns dias, no quadro de uma reunião informal com os representantes da CPLP que se deslocaram a Malabo, o ditador admitiu vir a estabelecer o português como língua oficial, de modo a aderir plenamente à CPLP. Para tanto, Nguema pediu às repúblicas de Angola, Portugal e Brasil que enviassem professores para que o português passe a ser ensinado. Tudo indica que a adesão será aceite na próxima cimeira da CPLP a ocorrer em Bissau, de 11 a 17 de Julho. Pergunta-se: Porque se aproxima uma ditadura trocidária do Governo de Lisboa e da CPLP? Porque dará Sócrates, muito provavelmente, o seu beneplácito á adesão da Guiné Equatorial? Quem perde e, sobretudo, quem ganha com mais este silêncio conivente com um tirano?”
malhas que o Império tece - Max Spencer-Dohner no Devaneios Desintéricos

Despite the many skeptics, Lusophony is getting boosted right now by some decisions that are bringing political weight to this peculiar linguistic community. A treaty is about to unify the Portuguese orthography across Lusophone nations, and the countries are now conducting studies in order to create a CPLP citizenship, which would facilitate integration among the emigrant communities and allow the circulation of people between the eight member states. Agreed protocols and openness are key to the development of intelligent networks, and the Lusophone world finally seems to be getting ready to take advantage of its connectedness through its diversity.

O tecido social, económico e político dos que compõem a CPLP (esta sigla que em termos práticos nada significa, quer dizer Comunidade de Países de Língua Portuguesa) está em evolução constante, respondendo como pode (e nem sempre pode bem) aos desafios da sobrevivência… A criação, tanto no âmbito da CPLP como dos PALOP, de um sistema de vasos comunicantes é imprescindível. Tão imprescindível que ninguém lhe passa cartão. Como algo em constante mutação, a Lusofonia está e estará todos os dias em cima de um tapete rolante que anda para trás. Se se limitar a caminhar (como faz a CPLP), ficará com a sensação de que avança mas, de facto, estará sempre no mesmo sítio. Por isso (ao contrário do que faz a CPLP) terá de correr para ganhar diariamente alguns metros ou, no mínimo, para não perder terreno.
Lusofonia? Claro que sim. Palop também, e ainda mais - Alto Hama

Odeio essa palavra: “lusofonia”. Me dá nojo.
Comentário de Mário de Andrade em Política da Língua Portuguesa em discussão - O Moringue

Há gente que nasceu para odiar. Odeiam palavras, conceitos e ideias. A mim sempre me soou bem a palavra Lusofonia. Faz-me lembrar sons de vários cantos do mundo, numa batucada que ecoa pelo rio Douro e faz eco em Quelimane, e recebe um abraço quente da velha Luanda, e segue em linha recta sobrevoando o atlântico em direcção ao Pão de Açúcar. Até me apetece ser guineense de Bafatá, e estar em St. Tomé a ouvir a Cesária Évora. Kandandus.
Resposta de Jotta em Política da Língua Portuguesa em discussão - O Moringue

As we could observe in the (multiple) choice of days to celebrate the Lusophony Day and in the quotations above, the whole matter about the CPLP and the efforts to unify the language and congregate the lusophone countries is still causing more division than the geographical, historical and social boundaries that made us all apart from each other. It's a long portuguese talk in various local flavours and colours that seems far from reaching an end or agreement — a final, real Portuguese cultural conversation between those countries aparently united by language but sometimes aparently separated by a lot else. Portuguese language is not simple, with its millions of verbs and its sometimes simple and sometimes byzantine ways to build phrases and verbal agreements — just like ourselves. Just like all of us in this world of multiple languages and points of view.

The challenge of reuniting such different yet still somewhat similar worlds is akin to the challenge of translating multiple points of view and multiple personal and regional realities to many languages, reaching a good degree of understanding and making any agreement possible. Where politics fail, culture has its ways.

Lusofonia, A (R)Evolução” é um documentário onde se exprimem os ecos de sons que se aventuram numa raíz cultural única para se afirmarem.”
Lusofonia, A (R)Evolução - Paranoid Android

That is our chalenge at Global Voices Lingua Portugues too. Regardless the political roads traveled by the CPLP, we will be trying to translate the Global Voices to the Portuguese language there. That's a tribute to understanding and communication, and we are very proud to share it with our lusophone brothers and sisters, wherever they're from.

Cabe aos agentes culturais fomentar o evoluir de uma identidade lusófona, onde a utopia política tem falhado. Esta espantosa diversidade com imensas bases comuns, tem muito mais que os signos sol, calor, cor, exotismo. Tem o idioma, a riqueza cultural, a mestiçagem, a alegria, um projecto novo, modernidade e cidadania, urbanidade e tradição, tem pessoas, uma ideia de irmandade.
Lusofonia - ZARP

In every way, today is Lusophony Day.

Coauthored by
Daniel Duende
José Murilo Junior

At the moment, African Path has 24 bloggers writing articles on various topics such as politics, music, gender, history, popular culture, social activism, and identity politics.

Joshua Wanyama, a Kenyan entrepreneur based in the US, is the co-founder of African Path. In 2003, after finishing his B.S in Architecture, he started Interactive Spectrum, a technology firm based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In January 1st, 2007 he officially launched African Path. A digital path of woven tales of Africa's past, present, and future.

Recently, Joshua Wanyama spoke with Global Voices Online about the project.

Ndesanjo Macha: Tell us about yourself and how/why you started blogging

Joshua Wanyama: At the heart of all things, I am an entrepreneur. I seize the opportunities presented to me and try to make something of them. My partner and I had done a blog before to highlight the services our company, Spectrum Interactive, offered. I didn’t do much on that site. There were too many other things that I needed to accomplish and I couldn’t keep up with the blogging. I started blogging again once we decided to create African Path. It was a lot easier with content on Africa since I didn’t need to do a lot of research to understand the audience. I have been observing and participating in African culture since I was born.

I have felt that knowledge is a key source of growth for humans in general and a necessary ingredient in the development of Africa. I felt a site like African Path would help the people who had experienced success and failure, want and excess to tell their stories. And those who were looking for such content could find it at a central point. The beauty of providing a working solution in Lesotho since it is already being executed in Chad is helpful in developing not just one country or ethnic group, but the knowledge can be shared and used in all countries thus fueling economic growth that we all seek in Africa.

NM: What is African Path?

JW: African Path is really a network of different knowledge bases that provide human connections and interactions. These knowledge bases cover as many fields as we could provide content for. The platform is online and the providers of content are bloggers, specialists, readers and artists who weave tales of our past, present and future. Hopefully what is put up influences someone to think further than what they have thought before, to network with people who share their vision or to create the ideal connection to enable one to elevate their living standards and give them a sense of dignity.

NM: How did the idea and the name come about?

JW: I have been working with newspaper clients for more than twenty months. Spectrum Interactive developed an online newspaper template (News Portal) that enables upstart and expanding news and blogging organizations to scale their services online. That meant the basic infrastructure for African Path was in place.

In December of 2006, my partner and I decided to create our own news and blog aggregator site for Africa. We had tried getting partners who would edit such a site while we provided the marketing, brand and technology expertise but to no avail. We therefore restructured the company so I could dedicate my time on the development of African Path while he kept our other business interests going.

I have always had a love for Africa and wanted to develop something with the abilities I had in order to have a positive impact on the continent. I think African Path is on the way to achieving that goal. Media coverage in Africa is predominantly biased and western based. We need an African perspective on the world stage so we can tell our own stories. My goal is to develop African Path into this vehicle.

While searching for an appropriate name, I knew the name had to reflect an ever changing, ever growing perspective of African development. While one might be down today, tomorrow they would have moved forward. So African Path wants to be part of that move. We want to provide some of the things that one would use to make this move. Information is the greatest tool to empower a people. Africans need a source of information that makes it easier for them to be empowered. Yesterday’s mistakes should stay in the past. We need information to make the right decisions that help us move forward today.

NM: Who are the people behind African Path?

JW: My partner Charles Baarsch and I. Charles is a programmer by expertise and a visionary in how he sees the world especially business. He has been in business for many years so he provides me with valuable knowledge of what to do and what not to do to avoid the pitfalls that can bring a business down. On the other hand I’m a designer, marketer and entrepreneur.

NM: How does African Path operate?

JW: We work with bloggers from all over Africa. We are always recruiting new ones especially for the countries we are yet to represent. They can provide content as regular African Path bloggers or sign up as guest bloggers and post whenever they feel like it. We also work with musicians and their agents in creating a database and profile of the continent’s musicians. We feel this will be an important vehicle in telling Africa’s story. If you are searching for artists in Mozambique or Togo for that matter or a kwaito artist versus soukous, we want to be able to provide such information for our readers.

I also serve as the editor, marketer, and sales representative for African Path. I have a part-time employee who assists in marketing the site. We want to grow the site so that it can become self-sustaining and provide employment for people especially those back in Africa.

NM: How do you see the future of blogging and citizen media in general in Africa?

JW: I anticipate a rise of blogging. Citizen media will continually grow. I think we will start seeing a more concerted effort to provide expertise in an area or a model that can allow for bloggers to earn an income by sharing their knowledge. More than that, blogging allows anyone to leverage their knowledge and potentially create a reputation that can give them a better chance at landing a prime job, improving your business or creating a following that can lead to political positions.

I also think a move to mobile technologies will improve the offerings for bloggers. Cell phones are really the access points for information in Africa. There exists some opportunity for entrepreneurs who can develop systems to serve content from news and blogging software to mobile phones in a package. I think we will keep seeing pilot programs and finally real products that will offer such services.

NM: Should Africans care about blogs and blogging?

JW: Africans should really care about blogging. Other than localized newspapers, one can’t access news generated by Africans featuring issues specific to them. We need that. Blogging provides access to alternative sources of news and stories that are important to Africans.

The need for African news generated by Africans goes back to creating our own identity and stories. When a western media house reports, on Africa, it is all blood, gore, famine, crime and other negative images. For them, a positive image is tourism. Africans have a lot more than just these issues. We need to hear about a farmer who has created a better way of tilling the land that has enabled the village to have a surplus of maize, or the lady who built a company employing 20 people from good fiscal management and hard work. These are the stories that make Africa wonderful. The hope that all Africans have in abundance is lost in the media and this leads to a negative connotation and identity for Africans. We have to take back our stories for future generations will love to hear what we had to say and actually see it as our own perspective and none other. The examples I have mentioned above transcend borders. I think any pan-African vehicle has to offer solutions that work across borders otherwise they will be irrelevant in most markets.

NM: Considering the socio-political realities in Africa, can African bloggers bring about concrete social change? Do you know of any success stories so far? Any negatives?

JW: I think African bloggers can affect how their countries are run. Whenever you have a group of people sitting together discussing politics and economic growth, everyone has a heated discussion based on their reality. Blogs capture this spirit. The effectiveness of blogs though is reserved on how many people read these stories. We need to come up with ways to deliver the same content from other sources. This is the way to affect the socio-political situation in Africa through blogging. While the percentage of people with access to the Internet keeps growing in Africa, most of the people who can effect change through voting do not have access to the net. This makes cell phones a better option in disseminating information. Strikes have been carried out in Zimbabwe through sending SMS messages.

The biggest negative I see is the lack of regulation. Both good and bad content makes it onto blogs. Stories that highlight human achievement and those that destroy the human psyche are part of blogging. Depending on what one reads regularly, you can influence one’s thought to the detriment of a community. Bloggers have to remember that the moment you have more than yourself reading your content, then you have an audience and you have to be responsible for what you do.

NM: What value does African Path add to the African blogosphere?

JW: The main value is creating a vehicle to carry out these stories. More than that, most African blogs sit in obscurity due to poor marketing and positioning that affects site traffic. African Path’s job is to connect bloggers and artists to an audience that is predominantly African or those with an interest in the continent.

We also want to become an organization that is able to create employment for Africans and be part of the economic development of the continent. Through how we work and interact with bloggers and other entrepreneurs, I see an opportunity to help strengthen and develop each other so we can maximize our potential. I get comments from bloggers I interact with on how to improve our site and vice versa. I have been asked for suggestions on ways of monetizing blogs and other ideas. If we can be able to create networks that provide access to funds or ideas that can generate positive growth in each other, then I think we will be facilitating economic, social and political growth of Africa.

NM: What kind of future do you see for your project, African Path?

JW: I want African Path to become a destination point on material in Africa. Through relationships with other companies and media houses, we want to provide relevant content to African readers. I look at the Yahoo! model where they have news, music, images, search, directories and other community content in one branded vehicle. We have such a rich community of blogs, music, film, theater, experts in various fields and businesses.

We want to create a consistent voice that rings true in the Ivory Coast just as much as Tanzania, information that is relevant to a Libyan or Namibian. This will take work but it is possible. We have already proved the model works and we are providing an important service to Africans. We now want to strengthen that, create a solid brand that is relevant to Africa and recruit as many bloggers from all the African countries as we can.

NM: Corruption, economic mismanagement, and the lack of rule of law are some of the main problems facing Africa today, what role can African Path and other African bloggers play in addressing them?

JW: First off, we can highlight where injustice exists. This exposure should enable others to join in demanding change, accountability and better management from our leaders. Special blogs such as Mzalendo cover African leaders and track their performance. We need to have such programs whether within African Path or as relationship within the blogging community. One big issue is the right of a blogger either as a journalist or private citizen in voicing their concerns. The recent arrest and jailing of Soliman in Egypt is a sign of how much we have to progress before we are on good ground. If countries block access to the net or certain blogs, we then are toothless tigers in our attempts to speak out against injustice. We have to find a way for people on the ground in Africa to read our stories just as much as those in the Diaspora.

Another issue is, some might just complain but never do anything. We need solutions to get Africa past the position it occupies in the world. Bloggers have to start looking for solutions, partnering with entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations and media houses. Let us find a way to improve the lives of all Africans. You can’t change anything by trying it yourself. Let us share the knowledge and opportunities available to us to effect change.

NM: What role could African Path and African bloggers play in providing a more balanced coverage of Africa?

JW: While the bias is there as I have already stated above, we can change how the world perceives us by controlling our own destiny. An example would be when a site visitor runs into a story or web site that shows a positive view of Africa, that would be user generated content facilitated by what the blogger has in place on their site.

A common standard or operation model of bloggers with like interests will probably help in pushing this common perspective. The South African, Nigerian or Kenya blog rings act as such a body. I have turned down bloggers who I felt they would provide a biased view such as what mainstream media does and that wasn’t part of African Path’s vision. The stories of corruption, mismanagement, famine, war and bad governance need to be told but this is only a fraction of what constitutes Africa.

If we fail to provide a balanced view, we fail our children. The heritage and mistakes of past generations do not have to extend to future generations. We have a lot of knowledgeable Africans who work in unified settings regardless of race, ethnic and clan associations. We need to continually emphasize our oneness instead of promoting our differences.

In closing, I would like to state that I believe in Africa. I believe the solutions to Africa’s problems lie within the continent. There are people who are working day and night to improve lives and change the continent. It might be a parent teaching a child to respect the sanctity of life or a school teacher spending a few extra minutes with her students so that they might have a better future. The pulse of all these people, leaders who are both educated and illiterate, is reflected in each and every blog on Africa. Whether social or political, economic or cultural, the variety within African blogs and the knowledge spread throughout is enough to make a positive impact in Africa. All we need to do is harness it and apply it in the relevant areas. While farmers in Rwanda might have searched for a solution within their community thirty years ago, they now have a chance to talk to someone implementing the said solution in Equatorial Guinea. That is the power of globalization. Bloggers are the vehicles to spread this wealth of information.

Estes jogos são uma iniciativa da ACOLOP, mas Portugal teve uma importância fulcral na transformação da ideia em realidade! Estes jogos contam com os membros da CPLP, o que significa que poderão servir para o estreitamento de relações entre estes países.
Primeiros Jogos da Lusofonia - O Império

O Brasil levará para os I Jogos da Lusofonia 77 atletas em cinco modalidades: atletismo, futsal, taekwondo, tênis de mesa e vôlei de praia. Entre os nomes mais conhecidos da delegação brasileira estão a medalhista pan-americanas Ana Richa (bronze nos Jogos Pan-americanos de Santo Domingo 2003), que fará dupla com Elize no vôlei de praia; a mesa tenista Lígia Santos (bronze nos Jogos Pan-americanos Winnipeg 1999); além da seleção principal de futsal, com destaque para Falcão, eleito melhor jogador de futsal do mundo em 2004. O atletismo enviará à Ásia uma equipe de 47 atletas sub-23, a mais numerosa da delegação.
Brasil terá 77 atletas nos jogos da Lusofonia - sobre Macau

Campeã olímpica dos 10.000 metros em Atlanta'96 e medalha de bronze em Sidney'2000, Fernanda Ribeiro vai participar nos jogos de Macau, a disputar entre 7 e 15 de Outubro, na prova da meia-maratona. Por seu turno, Miguel Maia, que foi duas vezes quarto classificado no torneio olímpico de voleibol de praia, em equipa com João Brenha, vai integrar uma das duas equipas masculinas portuguesas presentes na prova em Macau.
Jogos Lusofonia: Fernanda Ribeiro e Miguel Maia representam Portugal - Record

The event is calling the attention of bloggers from the Portuguese speaking countries, but those are not the only ones following the Lusofonia movement right now. The upgraded economic relationship between Lusophone countries and China fostered by Macau as a hub-city seems to attract new interested partners. We already have some debate over the criteria defining which countries can participate, and some consider it advantageous to belong to as many international forums as possible.

Não deixa de ser curioso que nos 1ºs Jogos da Lusofonia marcados para Outubro próximo em Macau (China) estejam representados os Comités Olímpicos do Sri Lanka ou da Guiné Equatorial, países onde o português não tem qualquer estatuto oficial, tal como os crioulos portugueses falados nestes países (quase extinto no Sri Lanka). Discussões linguísticas à parte, se o Sri Lanka participa, porque está de fora a Galiza?
Jogos da Lusofonia sem Galiza mas com Sri Lanka - Chuza

Moçambique endereçou o pedido formal de adesão à OIF no início deste ano. Com a integração na OIF [Organisation internationale de la Francophonie], Moçambique passa a fazer parte de todas as principais comunidades linguísticas internacionais, uma vez que já é membro de pleno direito da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Portuguesa (CPLP), da Comunidade dos Países de Língua Inglesa (Commonwealth) e da Organização da Conferência Islâmica. A integração na Commonwealth foi justificada pelo Governo moçambicano com o facto de todos os países vizinhos de Moçambique terem o inglês como língua oficial. Para a entrada na Organização da Conferência Islâmica terá sido relevante o facto de a religião islâmica ser uma das mais influentes no país, apesar de o governo moçambicano ter defendido a opção com as oportunidades de maior cooperação com os países muçulmanos. Pelo sim e pelo não…
Pelo sim e pelo não, Moçambique na Francofonia - Alto Hama

Indeed, economic opportunities seem to be the main motive for bringing new enthusiasm to the linguistic connections. Some commentators are starting to see the FCECCPLP [China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries Economic and Trade Co-operation Forum], which held its 2nd Ministerial Meeting in Macao last week, as a much more significant development when compared with the achievements of 10 years of CPLP activity doing it alone.

O FCECCPLP aparece como uma realidade original no contexto das relações internacionais. Original e difícil de identificar, como disse Narana Coissoró que o comparou, em termos de dificuldade em classificar esta organização, à União Europeia: “Trata-se de um OPNI - Objecto Político Não Identificável”. Presente na assistência, o secretário-executivo-adjunto da CPLP, Tadeu Soares, rejeita ver o fórum como um substituto da comunidade de países criada há dez anos. “A CPLP foi a materialização de um sentimento já existente”, afirmou. Quanto ao Fórum, Tadeu Soares considera que “é como um shopping center onde a China pode ir de loja em loja falando com os ministros dos países lusófonos”.
Para além do Fórum - Macau Hoje

Ela (o FCECCPLP) foi extremamente importante na medida em que se não fosse na plataforma chinesa, não haveria outra forma de se agrupar todos estes países de fala portuguesa debaixo de um chapéu porque Portugal não era capaz de fazer isso. Porquê? Porque, em primeiro lugar, não tinha capacidades materiais para levar capitais como a China está a levar para todos estes territórios que falam português. Além disso, seria extremamente difícil trazer o Brasil para esta aventura. Nunca seria possível aglutinar, levar a efeito uma forma de estarem todos juntos e estarem a trabalhar todos para um mesmo fim que é o desenvolvimento rápido desses países, nomeadamente Cabo Verde e Angola que sobem rapidamente para o chamado patamar de desenvolvimento médio. Em segundo lugar, a língua portuguesa nunca foi tão fundamental na concretização deste projecto apesar de todos falarem português, a não ser que haja um terceiro a pegar nesta língua e, à base desta língua, construir algo que diga respeito a todos e que dá vantagem a todos, que não prejudique nenhum dos países. Não há uma superioridade de um país sobre o outro, porque todos são receptores e têm relações com a China e têm muito poucas relações uns com os outros. É uma espécie de gancho em que estão todos esses países que se dão entre si porque estão presos por uma plataforma que tem a vantagem de ser um território de antiga administração portuguesa: Macau. E isto é novidade.
A China está a construir a sua obra - Macau Hoje

Para Jackson Chang, administrador do Instituto de Promoção do Comércio e do Investimento de Macau (IPIM), a mais valia de Macau é a relação com os países lusófonos. Ontem, no dia do encerramento da 11ª Feira Internacional de Macau (MIF), Chang deixou entender que o balanço positivo que faz desta edição do evento se deve à relação privilegiada da China com os países lusófonos. “A plataforma económica entre a China e os países de língua portuguesa continua a atrair, todos os anos, muitas pequenas e médias empresas de várias províncias da China. Esta é uma vantagem exclusiva de Macau.”
Lusofonia é “vantagem exclusiva de Macau” - Ponto Final Macau

Três questões: A - (pergunta construtivista) Como é que o Fórum cria novas percepções intersubjectivas entre os participantes e redefine os conceitos de pertença e da relação com o outro (a China , uma actor externo à lusofonia)? B – (pergunta liberal-institucionalista) Que tipo de “regime “ é este, o criado pelo Fórum, e que “spill over effects” poderão surgir em virtude do reforço da cooperação económica e comercial que se apresenta como um “win-win game”? C –(pergunta realista) Ao nível da balança de poderes dentro do Fórum, que países viram a sua posição relativa ser aumentada e de que modo? De que forma o Fórum serve os intuitos da China de emergir na cena internacional como uma grande potência?
Breves notas sobre o Fórum China-PLP - O Sínico

Apart from the economically driven impulse provided by the Chinese expansion in the international commercial arena, cultural aspects are still a mainstay to the Lusophone world. Although lacking the needed official support by CPLP or its member nation's cultural agencies, the exchange of music, dance and art is the foundation of this deeper bond. These are the main channels of a never-ending flow of mixing races, rhythms, symbols and ideas which connect all the continents of the world through a single Luso language.

Outro dia fui conhecer Macau. Há poucos anos, lá em Macau, havia um garoto português que ensinava capoeira para garotos angolanos. O mundo certamente dá muitas voltas e se torna cada vez mais complexo. Dizem que a capoeira engravidou em Angola, mas foi nascer no Brasil. Ninguém sabe ao certo sua história. Mas parece mesmo que é uma criação bem brasileira a partir de elementos africanos, como o samba. Hoje brasileiros dão aulas de capoeira na África, em Portugal, e em muitos outros países. Seus alunos espalham a arte pelo resto do mundo. É uma prática esportiva, artística e até mesmo espiritual que se torna patrimônio da humanidade, assim como o judô, a esgrima ou o boxe tailândês. Procurem a capoeira na internet. Eu consultei o Google: são 553 mil páginas de web. Poucas se comparadas com as 5 milhões e 800 mil que citam a palavra samba, ou as 6 milhões 668 mil que falam de reggae, ou as 25 milhões de jazz. Mas é um número que não pára de crescer.
Gil arrasou - Circuito - Cristina de Luca

Foi, tendo em conta o imenso potencial musical que reside no espaço lusófono que nasceu um documentário, que durou cerca de dez meses a produzir, e tem como base 35 entrevistados, 33 bandas e videoclips e pesquisa bibliográfica. O seu objecto foi a fusão entre elementos musicais autóctones de Portugal, Brasil e PALOP (Angola, Moçambique, Cabo Verde, São Tomé e Príncipe, Guiné Bissau) e a sua integração em géneros de música urbana actual. O resultado deste cruzamento é o nascimento de produtos musicais específicos da lusofonia, revelando uma identidade singular dos seus executantes no cenário mundial. O movimento de músicos de Lisboa - de Sara Tavares, Lura, Chullage, Buraka Som Sistema ou Sam The Kid - emana características únicas: sejam ritmos, melodias, vocábulos que sintetizam através dos sons cinco séculos de história conjunta entre os territórios que hoje partilham o idioma Português.
Lusofonia - Santos da Casa

The networked age is naturally bringing together resembling tribes. Portuguese may be the language which presents the most dispersed distribution across the world's regions, and the reason for that seems to lie in the advanced nautical science and technologies developed by the first Luso-Iberian sailors. The ability to reach faraway continents by sea in the era of colonial conquest has traveled through time into a broad global distribution of the Lusophone cultural influence in the era of information.

Today, new challenges are presented to those in charge of connecting cultural similarities. The digitally interconnected environment provides new linking routes, but also demands from the 21st century sailors (internauts?) the development of new ‘cartographic' abilities. The Internet usage numbers of Brazil (highest recorded amount of Internet navigating time) and Portugal (4º in the penetration rate ranking) indicate that Lusophone countries are in a good position to understand well what is demanded. But the ancient common cultural heritage that still lives in the cells of the body will need to be activated in order to galvanize the political will needed to overcome the historical disconnections formed by centuries of geographical separation.

O problema, e isto se existir, de facto, um problema, está no facto dos brasileiros não reconhecerem a sua língua como “Língua Portuguesa” mas como língua do Brasil. E a culpa é de quem? Não será, de certeza, dos brasileiros ou dos outros falantes da Lusofonia. Quem deveria defender e projectar a Lusofonia? Os PALOP, o Brasil, Timor? Não!!! Cabe ao antigo colonizador e “implantador” da língua defendê-la. Aos colonizados cabe-lhes enriquecê-la com ditos locais e defender, no caso dos países afro-lusófonos, a existência das suas línguas tradicionais. Ao antigo colonizador cumpre-lhe a obrigação de não a deixar desfalecer. E o que tem feito o antigo colonizador? Nada!!! rigorosamente nada ou quase nada… Mas também se os dicionários (em português, de Portugal, e português, do Brasil) do “Word” desconhecem a palavra “Lusofonia”.
Lusofonia ou Brasilofonia? - Moçambique para todos

Macau has sucessfully developed a full-text translation software from Portuguese to Chinese. The network version of the Portuguese/Chinese Bi-directional Translation System (PCT), developed by INSEC-Macau, makes use of local networks or intranets to connect the translation systems of all users through the central server. The knowledge among users in translations can then be shared, and can therefore guarantee the consistency of the translated contents and the efficiency of translation work. It can also serve as a lug-in for Microsoft Word, so that a more friendly translation platform can be provided.
Portuguese-Chinese translation software developed - blogmacau.info

And for this post's final note,

… here is a musical presentation produced by Chanuchan about Macau, with Emil Chau's “Song of the Ferryman” as the background music.