Fred
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I am a consultant and freelance journalist currently living in Kinshasa.
I used to keep a blog called Extra Extra. These days I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of a new, anonymous one.
Latest posts by Fred
13 June 2007
D.R. of Congo: Rhumba stars of today and yesterday
As Francois recently observed in Du Cabiau à Kinshasa [Fr], “Music and dance probably share the podium with Jesus among the top reasons for living for a majority of the Congolese people.” For a hint of the obsessive enthusiasm with which Congolese music fans trade gossip about the star musicians and debate their merits, you only have to visit forums such as AfroMix, AfricaAmbience and CongoPage [Fr]. However, despite the massive popularity of Congolese music all over Africa, the blogosphere remains relatively quiet on the subject.
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22 May 2007
D. R. Congo: Park Rangers Attacked, Flying over Katanga, Music meets Social Activism, and Ants 2 - Brian 0
Access to the Internet in the Democratic Republic of Congo is gradually improving (World Bank figures suggest there are already over 6 million users), but will remain prohibitively expensive as long as service providers are dependent on satellite connections. In such a context, it should come as no surprise that there are only a handful of Congolese bloggers. Chatrooms and instant messaging are very popular, however, and with the influence of the Diaspora, it’s easy to imagine that many more young Congolese people will soon be following the footsteps of pioneers like Cedric, perhaps blogging in Lingala, Luba, Kikongo and Swahili as well as French.
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Next time we will be there again :)