Global Voices Online

Says Senegalese blogger Seckasysteme (Fr): “African football is not up to par and its presence in the World Cup is mostly symbolic. Too bad that the numerous individual African talents could not orchestrate a comeback. (…) Why couldn't such talented African football players achieve the same performance in their national teams as they did in their respective clubs?”

Voice of Somalialand Diaspora - Ottawa comments on Somalia's “last act of desperation”………….the left over of the Siad Barre’s Nazi government are on a full swing campaign to rewrite the history of the dark ages. The politics of the spleen are on the rise again and in full bloom; there is no shortage of champions of the lost cause; and the vitriolic rhetoric spares none.”

Generation Consciente, Une Autre Afrique writes: (Fr)“A book by Cameroonian Jacques Bonjawo, Internet, a Chance for Africa [L'Internet, Une Chance Pour l'Afrique in French] talks about the benefits of new information and communication technologies for Africa. However, the Internet promotes extraversion even if it is a way to make local cultures known. It glamourizes migration by forcing comparisons of standards of living, of educational, employment opportunities and of access to networks. “

The Voice of Somaliland Diaspora-Ottawa posts on the case for a Unitary Government By “Mrs. Edna Adan Ismail, Mnister Of Foreign Affairs Republic Of Somaliland”

LSZ Blog, a health-related blog covering Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean, writes (Fr): “It seems that Chikungunya fever has reached a quasi-pandemic dimension with more than a million people infected during the past 24 months in a large geographic area encompassing the East-African equatorial coasts, the Indian Ocean islands and half of the Indian peninsula.“

The Voice of Somaliland - Diaspora Ottawa writes on the attacks on Somaliland by supporters of former Somali leader Siad Barre. He believes the supporters are using the present instablility in Somalia to undermine the gains made by Somaliland towards global recognition

Mocking Africa, a French Monopoly-like game, Kangni Alem repeats the game's description [”Your goal is to explore, to conquer and to develop [the] new colonies. You will be able to betray alliances to exploit the lands of your adversaries, the goal being to own the most land at the end of the game”] and comments (Fr): “The game could not be easier (…) Enjoy!”

Reflecting on Senegal's drowned migrant crisis and migrations towards the West in general, Robert Sagna, the Mayor of Ziguinchor, Senegal blogs (Fr): “Developed countries (…) build quasi-impenetrable walls through “visas”. Visas (…) are not the right solution. (…) The youth from the South has chosen emigration. It is our responsibility to make sure that is not the only choice. Then let's make sure that migrations are not “chosen” but “organized” through a North-South dialogue. (…) Repression can never be a good durable solution, it makes things worse.”

“No Sarkozy! Immigration does not come from a vacuum,” says (Fr) Semett in a post on French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy's immigration policies. “With centuries of merciless exploitation of subsaharan countries and a continuous transfer of their riches to the North, it is logical that the disinherited masses from Africa turn to Europe to recapture their goods (…) The colonization of Europe is imminent.”