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"African Voices of Hope and Change," gives you an intimate perspective into the stories and people of Africa's Sub-Saharan region, through our best English-language posts from 2012 - a perfect gift to salute the new year.
The #Kony2012 campaign contained quite a few over-simplifications about Africa. African media itself is not immune from this sort of criticism either. Here is a summary of the gems, errors and other inaccuracies in media coverage of Africa.
With the same desire to honor and archive Madagascar's history, two Facebook pages are archiving vintage pictures of the cities and the Malagasy people: Madagascar Hier (Yesterday's Madagascar) and Il était une fois Madagascar (Once upon a time in Madagascar). Here is a photo essay of Madagascar, once upon a time.
With interim president Rajoelina announcing that he withdraws from a bid to run for the presidential elections following a similar announcement by former President Ravalomanana in December 2012, Malagasy people are likely to have a new president in 2013, provided that elections take place as planned in the electoral agenda. Many of the observers are skeptical about the elections timeline in light of the statements of Rajoelina after his announcement and his wishes to change the electoral agenda.
This second part of our 2012 review in the Francophone world features civil rebellion and governance problems in Togo, Chad and Madagascar, citizen initiatives in Senegal, fight for more transparency in public affairs in Cameroon and ongoing debates on social issues in France.
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls, during a speech in Toulouse in southwestern France, expressed his desire to change his country's immigration policy, amending the naturalization requirements and, in particular, doing away with the multiple choice tests and the need to have signed a permanent employment contract. Here is a summary of the reactions to these new measures.
Despite robust signs of growth in Africa in 2012, precarity remains an ever-present problem right now for the majority of people living there. Inequalities are undoubtedly broadening but the very concept of precarity in Africa is also rapidly evolving.
A Civil Society Initiative has been set up to preserve the 'collective memory' of Madagascar by digitally archiving videos detailing its, often controversial, history. The Fl@H Association was set up to preserve Madagascar’s audiovideo heritage and aims to be a force for the preservation of the country’s history. Members can already point to several achievements.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Franc Zone monetary cooperation agreements, the president of Côte d'Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, and the French Minister of Finance, Pierre Moscovici, have published a joint text advocating the establishment of an initiative to end "the excessive exploitation of Africa’s reserves". African bloggers have been giving their opinions on this development.
The US presidential election will be held on November 6 and the campaign is entering the home stretch. African bloggers have various takes on how the election will unfold and what they can expect from each candidate.
A two year scientific study studying the effects of genetically modified organisms on laboratory rats has been conducted by a team of French researchers. The researchers arrived at conclusions which have reawakened debate on the effects of GMOs.
Civil servants in Francophone Africa are coming under increasing pressure to do more with less. The Windhoek Declaration revealed the overdue recognition of the crucial impact of the public administration on growth and redistribution of wealth in Africa. The structural adjustment programmes of the 1980's led to a reduction in the number of civil servants, leading to the current strained situation
Locust invasion in down town Fianaratsoa, Madagascar
Locust swarmed many regions of Madagascar and even a few of its cities. This disaster comes as a result of the humid conditions[fr] that remained after cyclone Haruna's landing. The FAO states that 60% of rice production will be affected by the invasion.
Update: Here is the full list of the 49 candidates [fr] for the presidential elections. It does not include the current president of the transition.
As the deadline to submit candidacies for the Malagasy presidential elections ends today (28/04), a few surprising candidates have allegedly come forth. While the earlier candidates were relatively new to the general public, a few prominent political players from the past are expected to contest: former president Didier Ratsiraka, current president of the transition Andry Rajoelina [fr] and the spouse of former president Ravalomanana, Lalao Ravalomanana.
Madagascar's GDP compared to ssAfrica's GDP via Lalatiana Pitchboule
While sub-Saharan Africa's economic growth is projected to “outpace the global average“, a study by M. Razafindrakoto et al. from IRD (The Institute of Research on Development) published earlier this month unpacks the causes of Madagascar's economy lagging behind its African counterparts [fr] (Via Madagoravox).
The presidential elections are set for July 24, 2013 in Madagascar. According to Ben from mada-tribune.com, the first candidates to have submitted their dossiers [fr] to the special electoral court are:
Hajo Andrianainarivelo, Jean Lahiniriko et Roland Ratsiraka are the first to have filed their candidacies.
Dr. Jean-Louis Robinson, Pierrot Rajaonarivelo, Edgard Razafindravahy, and Vahombey are also candidates for the presidency. Other political parties are expected to announce their selections shortly. Update: Lalao Ravalomanana, spouse of former president Ravalomanana was selected [fr] to represent his political party TIM.
The journeyman.tv published on March 25 a detailed investigation using undercover filming to expose the booming child sex trade in Madagascar:
One mother in the film testifies:
My daughter was at school, I had no money and no job so she decided to become a prostitute. I finally decided not to stop her
Bill at Madagascar Tribune reports that protesters held Rio Tinto QMM Staff hostages [fr] on January 11 in Southern Madagascar. After armed forces disrupted the protests with tear gas and freed the staff, police proceed to arrest a dozen of protesters [fr] today. Rio Tinto executives threatened to exit the country after the clash. The IMF also just decided to pull out of Madagascar [fr] because of difficulties to work locally.
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