Global Voices » Suzanne Lehn

Kenya: Mark Kaigwa to Global Voices: “The East is Coming to Africa.”

Suzanne Lehn — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:57:07 +0000

Mark Kaigwa is a Kenyan blogger and new media consultant based in Nairobi, whose work is to “help international companies and African brands to connect with each other to develop creativity”. He is also a former film maker and was a judge at the 2012 Kenyan Bloggers Awards that took place on May 5.

His session at the recently concluded re:publica conference, “Silicon Savanna, how African technologies are changing the world”, was dedicated to illustrating the shift in Africa's image - a shift from the clichés of crisis, war, or even wonders of nature, to an Africa that is showing the world a way to foster development in a competitive environment, specifically through the use of mobile technologies.

Global Voices caught up with Mark at the re:publica to better understand his hopes and dreams about Africa's digital future.

Mark Kaigwa. Photo by Suzanne Lehn

Global Voices Online (GV): When and how did you get into blogging?

Mark Kaigwa (MK): I started blogging in 2007 – 2008, first with a personal blog. I wanted to express myself so that someone in the world would listen and hear.

Now I run three blogs : my personal blog mark.co.ke - where I give my personal views about creativity in African technology, afrinnovator.com - with focus on technology, start-ups, who is bringing money and from where and africandigitalart.com - about animation, illustration, graphic design, in one word, all about the combination of art and technology. It features, for instance, artists giving responses to the North African uprisings.

GV: Do you have any links/connections with French-speaking African countries?

MK: I have personal business connections through the Internet, yes, but I have yet to travel to a francophone African country. I am trying to get inputs from francophone as well as lusophone countries, but not because they belong to the non-English sphere (editor's note: The notion of language-based sphere appears pretty much irrelevant to Mark). To give you an example, Angola is interesting to me as a country regardless of the fact that it is part of the lusophone sphere.

GV: The world went through a period in which low-cost labor was the most sought after commodity. Then recently it was low-cost natural resources. In your opinion, is it now a period in which low-cost technologies will be the most sought after?

MK: The 1990's were the decade of China's boom, the 2010's are India's and the 2020's will be Africa's. The West was going to the East, now the East is coming to Africa.

The east has a smart strategy. It brought to Africa what it learned and it does not consider Africa as one entity. On the contrary, eastern countries have understood that Africa is composed of 56 countries. They build the infrastructure in exchange for the natural resources that they are of course in need of. Technology is last on their agenda.

GV: It has been said that Africa's real problems are transport and the banking systems. What is your opinion?

MK: Those problems indeed exist but these are not the only ones.

The African challenges are the infrastructure and the economic climate for doing business, but we as Africans are in the process of solving them; and as a prominent economist of the World Bank noted, Kenya's debt-to-GDP ratio amounts to about 45%, which would make many European countries very envious !

The true size of Africa, an infographic presented by Mark at the conference (CC License. No Rights Reserved, public domain)

GV: So how will the shift of economic power work in favor of Africa?

MK: They know that Africa will compete with them. China's competitive advantages - economies of scale, low costs - are going to shrink, and might even cancel out in the next 10 or 20 years, along with the development there of the middle classes, the rise of wages and consumption. China's low-cost advantages will then probably go to Africa. Once the infrastructure is up to par, Africa will be able to be competitive with the East – provided the political leadership holds its end of the bargain.

At the re:publica 2012. Photo by Suzanne Lehn

GV: Regarding African breakthroughs in technology that came about after the well-known Ushahidi, you mentioned the following in your session - SwiftRiver, CrowdMap, Kopo Kopo, iCow, M-Pedigree, MXIT. However, these are mostly operating on mobile phones. Is technology in Africa over-hyped ?

MK: What we have now is that for the first time, Africa has a way to influence the world. Political leadership permitting, technology is getting some serious attention. Furthermore, the Kenyan government is acknowledging that opening its data will result in better accountability and leadership, and that this is good for their political legacy.

I don't deny there's hype, but it's a good hype and I prefer it to the former one-sided vision of Africa.

GV: A meaningful fact for conclusion?

MK: All of East Africa started to learn Chinese – starting, not from English, but from Swahili.

The interview was conducted by Global voices author Suzanne Lehn. The photos of Mark Kaigwa used in this post were taken by her.

France: Lyon Hosts the World Wide Web 2012 Conference

Suzanne Lehn — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:00:49 +0000

The World Wide Web 2012 conference is hosted this year in Lyon, France, from April 16 to 20, and will feature many prominent figures of the Web, historic and current ones. Global Voices Online author Danica Radovanovic is presenting on the first day a paper about “one of the very popular social and communication dynamics on social networks and media”. Read more on her blog here.

France : Dozens of Anti-ACTA Protests

Suzanne Lehn — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:30:53 +0000

Despite freezing temperatures, a few thousand netizens joined the Saturday Feb. 11 worldwide protests against ACTA, in Paris and some 40 other cities in France. One can find pictures on clubic.com, a video of the protests [fr] on Madmax's blog, an Anti - Acta France Facebook page and the details [fr] of a petition on the Gizmodo blog.

New Caledonia: Controversy around the 1988 Ouvéa Hostage Taking Movie

Suzanne Lehn — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 09:26:37 +0000

French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz's movie “L'ordre et la morale” (”Order and morality”), that recounts the tragic 1988 hostage taking at the Ouvéa cave, is not welcome in New Caledonia. The blog Ecran Noir ('Black Screen') describes the local controversy around the film's release, here and here [fr]. After New Caledonia's one and only theater declined, the movie will finally be shown in the Tjibaou Cultural Center [fr] in the capital Nouméa, on Déc. 12.

France: A tribute to Author Hubert Nyssen

Suzanne Lehn — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:52:00 +0000

French writer and publisher Hubert Nyssen [fr], who founded the publishing house Actes Sud, died on Nov. 12. 2011. Among the many tributes to this lover of foreign litteratures and eulogist of translation as a form of art, one can find Sabrina's post that retraces [fr] his biography, an unabridged version of the post she wrote in 2005.

Togo: 3rd BarCamp Selects the Translation for “Blog” in Ewé Language

Suzanne Lehn — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:07:02 +0000

In its presentation of the third edition of BlogCamp Togo, togocouleurs explains that [fr] the Togolese blogosphere coined a new word for “blog” in the Ewé language (spoken in Togo, Ghana and Benin) : “with the vote taking place directly on the ETTIC [fr] ('Togolese Space for Information and Communication Technologies') Facebook wall, the neologism « Nyablog » was chosen by the majority of voters as the translation for blog (ahead of other options such as kaméhoma, kamégbalé or kamégnakaka).

France, World: Discontent Against G8 Meeting About the Internet

Suzanne Lehn — Sat, 21 May 2011 10:19:00 +0000

Blog Club de l'Europe is outraged [fr] by the ”Internet sharks' feast” to be held on May 24 and 25, 2011, at the Musée du Louvre, in Paris. The meeting aims to prepare the G8 forum, which will be focused (according to its French presidency) on the Internet, but only economic and security issues will be tackled. A petition “Protect the Net” campaigning for citizen-centered Internet policies can be signed here.

North Africa: Manifesto for a Maghreb of Cinema

Suzanne Lehn — Sat, 21 May 2011 10:13:55 +0000

The Arab revolution has also impacted the cinema world. Filmmakers from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have just launched on their blog Maghreb du cinéma [fr], a suggestion box to reinvigorate the creation, production and distribution of their work. Their manifesto can be signed here [fr].

Côte d'Ivoire: After Failed Mediation, Is the Worst Yet to Come?

Suzanne Lehn — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 22:48:39 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.

The meeting of five African Union (AU) heads of states about Côte d'Ivoire's state of electoral deadlock made it briefly possible to believe that a détente in the country's political crisis was within reach. The West African nation has been experiencing a drawn out governance stalemate since two opposing leaders, Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara, both claimed victory in the November 2010 presidential election.

Alas, this mediation, called by many the “last resort meeting”, seems to have failed, after Laurent Gbagbo's representatives in Ethiopian capital Addis-Ababa rejected [fr] the panel's conclusions on March 17, 2011 (the day after the decisions were announced):

“Nous avons estimé que c'est une proposition inacceptable”, a déclaré le président du Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) Pascal Affi N'Guessan. “Malheureusement, nous avons constaté que le panel de haut-niveau s'est contenté de reprendre ce que nous savons déjà. Le panel est dans l'incapacité de nous donner les arguments qui fondent cette décision.”

“We deemed that it was an inadmissible proposal”, stated Pascal Affi N'Guessan, president of the Front Populaire Ivoirien (FPI) . “Sadly, we noted that the high-level panel merely took up what we already knew. The panel is unable to give us the arguments justifying this decision.”

Failed Mediation

Supporters of Charles Blé Goudé, leader of the Student Federation of Cote d’Ivoire who has called young Ivorians to arms at a rally in Abidjan. Image by Stefan Meissel, copyright Demotix (21/12/10).

This stance of Laurent Gbagbo came as somewhat of a surprise after his enthusiastic embrace of the 16th AU Summit's decision to set up a panel of five heads of states, in charge of finding a peaceful solution to the Ivorian post-electoral crisis. Gbagbo even welcomed it as a victory, as he had already wished for a high level international commission to come to Côte d’Ivoire to “find out about the truth about the sequence of events during the elections”, and further assess the whole electoral process.

What did the panel recommend that angered Gbagbo's camp so much?

Firstly, it reached the conclusion that Alassane Ouattara won the election and suggests he forms a national unity government; the prime minister, defence and interior ministers would all have to be appointed according to the Permanent Concertation Frame (Cadre Permanent de Concertation [fr] - CPC), of the Ouagadougou Agreements.

The panel also recommends creating a National Security Council (Conseil national de sécurité - CS) to set up a new Ivorian military, as well as institutional changes in the system of parliamentary elections and other upcoming elections.

Moreover, the establishment of a Republic High Council was suggested, the mission of which would be to promote social reconciliation in Côte d’Ivoire. To put all this into place, they required the Ivorian Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel [fr]) to proceed with Ouattara's inauguration as president, and the latter to offer former President Laurent Gbagbo guarantees.

After ratifying these propositions from the panel, the AU Council for Peace and Security asked the President of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, to appoint a high representative responsible for following the implementation of the resolutions on the ground, and ready to take any relevant and necessary steps to apply and enforce the decisions taken.

Media influence

Those measures did not go down well with Gbagbo: in Ivorian economic capital Abidjan, the following days were used by the pro-Gbagbo media to influence the nation towards a complete rejection of the AU panel's decisions. For instance, in a statement to the press the national secretary of the Women's Organization of the Front Populaire Ivoirien (OFFPI), Marie-Odette Lorougnon condemns:

l’incapacité des pays Africains «à se démarquer des injonctions de la France et des Usa » pour piétiner la Constitution ivoirienne

the inability of African nations “to distance themselves from France's and the USA's behest” to trample on the Ivorian Constitution

According to her:

la décision du panel d’entériner la victoire de M. Ouattara Alassane ne repose sur aucun fondement. «En le proclamant élu, sur la seule base de la certification de M. Choi, le panel a manqué d’objectivité et de courage…Il a montré l’incapacité des organisations africaines à prendre leurs responsabilités et le refus d’une certaine Afrique de grandir, de prendre sa liberté, son indépendance et d’acquérir sa souveraineté»

the panel's decision to confirm Mr. Alassane Ouattara's victory is unfounded. “While proclaiming him elected, on the sole base of Mr. Choi's certification, the panel lacked both objectivity and courage… It demonstrated the inability of African organizations to face up to their responsabilities and the unwilling of a part of Africa to grow up, take up its freedom and independence and to achieve sovereignty”

Lorougnon's statement was repeatedly broadcast by Ivorian television channel RTI TV and mentioned on the channel's Twitter account (@RTI_Officiel):

@RTI_Officiel: Déclaration de l'OFFPI relative à la décision du Panel de l'UA. - RTI 1ere -http://t.co/V3HISrG via @AddThis

@RTI_Officiel: The OFFPI statement about the decision by A.U. Panel RTI 1ere -http://t.co/V3HISrG via @AddThis

After the recommendations of the last chance negotiation had been rejected, Alassane Ouattara called upon his opponent Laurent Gbagbo in a calm speech on Ivorian television on March 15, 2011:

Au président Laurent Gbagbo, je voudrais dire qu'il est temps, dans l'intérêt supérieur de la Nation, qu'il accepte de se conformer à la volonté des Ivoiriens et aux décisions de l'Union africaine.

Il doit comprendre qu'il s'agit-là, pour lui-même et pour ses proches, de la dernière chance pour une sortie pacifique et honorable. Sa responsabilité est personnellement engagée.

To President Laurent Gbagbo, I would like to say that the time has come for the better interest of the [Ivorian] nation, for him to accept to agree and comply with the will of the Ivorian people and the African Union's decisions.

He has to understand that it is now, for him and those near him, the last chance for a peaceful and dignified departure. It is his personal responsibility.

Laurent Gbagbo declined delivering a speech on television on Thursday March 17. Instead, his spokesperson offered on the same day the proposition of Ivorian talks [fr], calling on the “rebels” to lay down their arms. The Ouattara camp declined this offer, with diplomatic aide Ali Coulibaly stating:

Gbagbo essaie d'endormir la conscience des gens […] sa parole n'a aucune espèce d'importance […] Que signifie une issue pacifique ? On veut que Gbagbo parte c'est tout […] M. Gbagbo a accepté de négocier une issue pacifique de la crise, sans condition préalable

Gbagbo attempts to dupe people's awareness. […] His word does not count in any way. […] What does a peaceful outcome mean? We want Gbagbo to leave, that's all. […] Mr. Gbagbo agreed to discuss a peaceful outcome from the crisis, without any preliminary conditions.

Charles Blé Goudé, leader of the Student Federation of Cote d’Ivoire (FESCI) at a meeting in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire. Image by Stefan Meissel, copyright Demotix (21/12/2010).

Over the last weeked, the situation in Côte d'Ivoire has taken a turn for the worst. On Saturday March 19, leader of the Student Federation of Côte d'Ivoire (FESCI), Charles Blé Goudé, called on the pro-Gbagbo youth movement Jeunes patriotes (Young Patriots) to enrol in the national Ivorian army (loyal to Gbagbo) this Monday, 21 March, by registering at the Armed Forces headquarters in Abidjan [fr].

During his speech [fr] Blé Goudé, nicknamed the “Minister of the Streets” rallied his troops:

Je demande à tous les jeunes de Côte d'Ivoire [fr] qui se sentent aptes, qui sont prêts à mourir pour leur patrie, qui ne supportent plus l'humiliation que subit la Côte d'Ivoire, de se rendre dès lundi à 07H00 (locales et GMT) à l'état-major pour se faire enrôler dans l'armée afin de libérer la Côte d'Ivoire de ces bandits

I'm calling on the youth of Côte d'Ivoire [fr] who feel apt, and are ready to die for their country, who cannot bear the humiliation imposed on Côte d'Ivoire, to gather at the Army headquarters from 7am this Monday (local time) to be drafted in the army and thus liberate Côte d'Ivoire from those bandits

End to “bare hands struggle”

This call for war signals the end of the “bare hands struggle” that Blé Goudé has long been calling for against the “forces of occupation” [fr], namely the United Nations peacekeepers and the Force Licorne, a French regiment based in Côte d'Ivoire:

J'ai fait le choix de la résistance aux mains nues, je suis en train de me rendre compte qu'on veut m'obliger à changer de ligne. On veut m'obliger à faire ce que je n'ai pas envie de faire

I had made the choice of a weaponless resistance, but I am now becoming aware that they want me to change tactics. They want to force me to do something that I don't want to do

This call from Blé Goudé contrasts sharply with the “dialogue” suggested by Gbagbo and deeply concerns many Ivorians, such as Twitter user @Marie0531, who tweeted on March 20:

@Marie0531: #Gbagbo's conflicting messages:Willing to hold talk with rival and then belies supporters to neutralize the opposition.#CIV2010 Pick one

For many Ivorians and observers, Blé Goudé's statement is a big step forward on the path toward civil war in Côte d'Ivoire. @nicocerise tweeted on the same day:

@nicocerise: Blé Goudé prévoit d'envoyer à la mort des jeunes patriotes. lundi est une journée fatidique pour la #civ2010 l'heure est gravissime

@nicocerise: Blé Goudé is bent on sending the young patriots to their grave. Monday is a crucial day for #civ2010 [Côte d'Ivoire] the hour has come

A call to arms made by a civilian in the absence of military leadership meanwhile, raises questions for @woizo_sp:

@woizo_SP: Lappel au 2e enrolement se fait sans la présence de MANGOU lors du meeting de BLE GOUDE et mieu se fera a la GR.La vérité va sortir #civ2010

@woizo_SP: The call for a second draft has been made in the absence of [military chief] MANGOU during BLE GOUDE's public meeting, and even more surprising, will take place at the army headquarters (GR). The truth is about to be revealed #civ2010

Is the worst yet to come? Will Côte d'Ivoire be the stage for a civil war? To recruit and arm young volunteers is a terrifying move and a sinister reminder of the Interahamwe Hutu paramilitary organization during the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Even if the bloodshed does not reach the magnitude of the Rwandan tragedy, widescale attacks on civilians are to be feared.

This post is part of our special coverage Côte d'Ivoire Unrest 2011.

Cote d'Ivoire : SMS Service Suspended During Elections to Prevent Violence

Suzanne Lehn — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 14:51:13 +0000

diabymohamed informs on Twitter that in anticipation of the presidential election of Sunday, Oct. 31 in Cote d'Ivoire, the Ivorian Telecom Authority (ATCI) decided to suspend short text message services, a decision that is reasonable for some because of potential messages of violence : “RT @2romeo: #Abidjan closing of SMS services from end of vote until tuesday morning. Great precaution for dispassionate results”.

Cote d'Ivoire : Citizen and Collaborative Election Monitoring System

Suzanne Lehn — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 14:32:35 +0000

The internetsansfrontieres.com website informs [Fr]: “For the presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire on Oct. 31, Internet Sans Frontières and Akendewa set up a citizen and collaborative election monitoring system. The system allows for direct access to citizen reporting.”

France: First Case of Burqa Rage?

Suzanne Lehn — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 17:46:32 +0000

Allain Jules, blogging in centpapiers from Quebec, cannot wait for the impending decision of a French court in the case of a 63 years old former teacher who ripped off the burqa of a young female tourist from the United Arab Emirates in a Parisian shop back in February. She told the police that: “she had been working in Arab countries before and she was just fed up with all the fuss about the veil”. Allain Jules sarcastically adds that the business of luxury goods might suffer from the incident [Fr].

France: An Imaginary Dialogue between Sarkozy and Berlusconi

Suzanne Lehn — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:50:38 +0000

The Bienvenue chez les Rroms blog (”rroms” is the spelling of Roma in Romani language) imagines [Fr] a satirical conversation in which French President Nicolas Sarkozy seeks comfort and advice with his friend Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi, after being unexpectedly victimized of his own suggestion that some categories of offenders should be stripped of their French nationality.

France: Learn More about the Itinerant Community

Suzanne Lehn — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 20:23:13 +0000

Around the hot topic of the “gens du voyage” in France - the itinerant community - Léa Charles from suite101.fr, gives a few definitions to sport out any confusion; Les actualités du droit outlines the details of the law as they ought to be applied on this issue, Yann Savidan interviews some members of the community, and Asiamour wrote a poem about her love for the community [fr].

France: Expulsions of Roma people from Camp Sites Stir Feelings of Shame

Suzanne Lehn — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:33:19 +0000

As Roma people are expelled from campsites by security forces under the supervision of the French Ministry of Internal Affairs, Club de l'Europe blog [Fr] links to a video entitled “How many hens did we steal from you this year?“. “We shot these images in march 2003. Now the same people are still treated as subhuman while being blamed for the living standards that are forced upon them”.