“We’ve had a pope who was able to grasp and understand the problems in third world countries.” In 2023 Pope Francis showed his commitment to Africa by visiting two countries riven by conflict: the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to celebrate him in Kinshasa. But his decision was not a surprising choice – given that he’d made social justice and the rights of the poor and suffering central to his papacy. So when the news of his death was ann...
Apr 22, 2025•16 min
Think about your favourite foods… the dishes you eat to make you happy. Are they traditional African foods - like vegetables, fresh fruits, roots, tubers, nuts, beans, and staple whole grains? Foods like Pap, Fufu or Ugali? Or are you thinking about a burger or deep fried chicken and chips from your favourite fast food shop? A new small-scale study found that when participants switched from a western diet to the traditional Kilimanjaro diet, their health markers improved in as little as two week...
Apr 21, 2025•15 min
“We must, as Africans, begin to solve some of our problems ourselves, because we have more local context, the nuances. It’s our people, it’s our community.” AI is transforming everything - from how we search information online to how we access healthcare. It’s also an industry that is projected to generate nearly $3 trillion for the African continent by 2030. But without African data, languages and culture, the risks are high, some experts warn, of a new kind of colonisation - led by algorithms....
Apr 18, 2025•17 min
For decades, wealthy Nigerian families have looked to the UK for elite education - drawn to what they see as prestige, global connections, and academic rigour. But that journey overseas may no longer be necessary. Top British boarding schools like Charterhouse and Rugby are now opening campuses in Nigeria, with others - including Harrow and Millfield - exploring similar moves. But what’s behind this growing trend - and is it being embraced or viewed with caution by parents? Mpho Lakaje speaks wi...
Apr 17, 2025•21 min
Bobi Wine says to be an opposition politician in Uganda is to be labelled and treated as a terrorist. He’s been beaten, teargassed, arrested and shot at. So why does he want he want to be a presidential candidate in elections scheduled to take place in 2026? He was in London recently and came to our studio to talk to Africa Daily’s Victoria Uwonkunda about why he wants to change Uganda, corruption and his online spat with the chief of the country’s armed forces. We also hear from Ugandan governm...
Apr 16, 2025•23 min
“Right now we’re receiving hundreds of patients and victims from ZamZam camp. You can hear the sounds of children… they do not belong to any military.” Today marks two years since war first broke out in Sudan, and in the second of two podcasts on the state of the war, we turn our attention to Darfur. Over the last few days, attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on the Zamzam camp, near the city of El Fasher in North Darfur, have intensified, and the RSF say they have taken control. Ov...
Apr 15, 2025•21 min
The Sudanese capital, Khartoum, April 15th 2023. Families who’d gathered to celebrate Eid together woke up to gunfire and explosions as a power struggle erupted between two factions of the military led government. There were clashes at the presidential palace, at the airport and at the TV station. Both sides hoped for a quick win, but it quickly became a war of attrition, and in the two years since, the Sudanese people have suffered sexual violence, hunger, displacement and the loss of everythin...
Apr 14, 2025•17 min
“We want to change the narrative, so we as Africans can stop being portrayed only as the poacher, the ranger, the guide, or are people who sing for you when you jump off your safari vehicle. From the presenters to the camera teams to the scientific experts, Africa’s wildlife stories have been mainly told by western documentary teams from large international broadcasters like the BBC and Netflix. However this is starting to change, as African filmmakers are gaining the skills and expertise to mak...
Apr 11, 2025•19 min
“We’ve heard that there’s a possibility that our firms might shut down. This has to do with what Mr Trump said. Should it happen, it will be devastating to us because there isn’t much work in Lesotho. We rely on these firms" - Mamonts'eng Lephallo According to White House figures, in 2024 the United States exported just $2.8 million worth of goods to Lesotho. The southern African country on the other hand sent products worth nearly $240 million to President Donald Trump's country. They include d...
Apr 10, 2025•18 min
The ownership of land is central to our food production, our financial security, and our sense of identity. But in Africa most women do not inherit or own land, despite laws that often provide for their right to do so. Alan Kasujja finds out what is stopping women from inheriting land with the help of Esther Mwaura-Muiru, the Global Advocacy Director for the ‘Stand For Her Land’ Campaign, and Bankolay Theodore Turay, a researcher on women’s land rights in Sierra Leone.
Apr 09, 2025•19 min
“What I’d like to see is when these girls go back into society, they don’t end up back in prison. It's about using football for positive social change. Football is more than just a game on the pitch and this is an example of that.” The “Football for Reform” programme kicked off in Sierra Leone last November, taking place over 8 days. Run by Caf – the Confederation of African Football – it involved female prisoners being taught football coaching skills. The hope with the project is for some of th...
Apr 08, 2025•18 min
“A lot of people in our communities don’t view them as pirates. I think they are defenders of the sea.” In 2011, Somali piracy peaked. Crews were attacked at gunpoint and many held as hostages for months. The World Bank says there were 243 incidents that year. After a crackdown involving international navies, attacks plummeted to almost zero. But since last year there’s been an uptick in incidents. Houthi attacks on shipping using the Suez Canal - in support of the Palestinians in Gaza – drew gl...
Apr 07, 2025•18 min
“The question that I’ve been grappling with is, are we not punching above our weight as a country given the fact that we are not one of the biggest economies?” – Professor Ntsikelelo Breakfast, Nelson Mandela University in South Africa Tensions between South Africa and the United States appear to be intensifying. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s party, the African National Congress recently said, it won’t be dropping its genocide case against Israel to appease America. South Africa took Prime Ministe...
Apr 04, 2025•20 min
“It has made nearly every person, every mother, to have their child contaminated, because the lead levels are so rampant,” says Cornelius Katiti, a father from Kabwe, Zambia, whose three children are affected by lead poisoning. For decades, the town has struggled with remediating 6.4 million tonnes of toxic lead waste left behind by a former mine. A Human Rights Watch report shows 95% of children in affected areas of Kabwe have dangerously high lead levels. Cornelius, along with many others in t...
Apr 03, 2025•21 min
Africa’s cities are expanding at an unprecedented rate. A new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Sahel and West Africa Club says the urban population will double to 1.4 billion by 2050. But are these cities prepared to handle the growing demand for housing, transport and services? And as urban areas evolve, who truly stands to benefit from this transformation? BBC Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja explores this with Patrick Analo Akivaga, Chief Office...
Apr 02, 2025•17 min
Lupus is a condition where someone’s immune system attacks their own body, including healthy tissue and cells, leaving them with debilitating conditions like exhaustion, extreme weight gain, organ failure and pain. It can lead to death. It disproportionately affects black women but very little is known about the condition in Africa and statistics are hard to come by. In today's episode, Alan Kasujja speaks to two women in South Africa who are determined to change this. GUESTS: Palesa Ramakatsa a...
Apr 01, 2025•21 min
Have you noticed how southern Africa tends to be hit by deadly cyclones that leave a trail of destruction? Right now the people of Mozambique are trying to piece their lives together after Cyclone Jude battered the country this month. Before it, two others, Chido and Dikeledi, hit the same part of southern Africa in quick succession. All three claimed dozens of lives, leaving schools, homes and other buildings severely damaged. Today Alan Kasujja sits down with Lehlohonolo Thobela of the South A...
Mar 31, 2025•18 min
“A lot is expected of her. A lot of eyes are going to be on her.” A moment of sporting history. That’s how many sports fans around the world will remember it. Africa’s most decorated Olympian, swimming champion, Kirsty Coventry will become the next President of the International Olympic Committee. The first time for a woman, an African and the governing body's youngest president. In today’s Africa Daily Alan Kasujja hears reaction from Zimbabwe and speaks to two female Olympians on what this mea...
Mar 28, 2025•18 min
“You cannot feel that you’re fasting when you’re playing. No water, no food, but it’s still very exciting to finish and to score" Ramadan is a time for prayer and reflection worldwide. But in Egypt they mark it using one of their nationwide passions: football. Since the 1960s street football tournaments have spread to every town – involving everyone from professional footballers to children and old men. A woman’s tournament is in its infancy. Some footballers have even been slapped with heavy fi...
Mar 27, 2025•17 min
As Morocco faces one of its worst droughts in decades, soaring meat prices and dwindling livestock have made Eid al-Adha sacrifices difficult. In response King Mohammed VI has urged Moroccans to forgo the tradition, echoing a similar appeal by his father in 1966. Could changing weather patterns reshape how Eid is observed? BBC Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja spoke to Moroccan journalist Basma El Atti to explore how Moroccans are adapting and what this means for the future of Eid traditions. This epi...
Mar 26, 2025•12 min
"It was hell. The worst seven months of my life. I was beaten, humiliated, electrocuted." Jalil Muyeke thought he was travelling to Thailand for a dream job. Instead, he was trafficked to Myanmar, imprisoned in a scam centre, and forced to commit online fraud under the threat of violence. An estimated 100,000 people fell victim to these operations run by Chinese crime groups. Jalil endured seven months of beatings and abuse before finally finding a way out. He eventually had to pay for his own f...
Mar 25, 2025•22 min
“For someone seeing a light bulb for the first time, it is like a magic show from heaven. They are so happy, they are singing. That moment, it never gets old.” Six hundred million people in Africa don’t have access to electricity – meaning that for many living on a continent with a median age of 19, the future is anything but bright. But it’s a challenge that the winner of this year’s Commonwealth Young Person of the Year prize is determined to overcome. Nigeria’s Stanley Anigbogu was honoured f...
Mar 24, 2025•17 min
“The emphasis now is not on Netumbo the person, the emphasis is on a woman… If anything happens, like it can happen in any administration under men, there are also those that won’t talk about Netumbo, but rather say: “look at women!”” Today sees the inauguration of Namibia’s first-ever female president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah. The 72-year-old is a former freedom fighter and veteran of the ruling South West Africa People's Organization – better known as SWAPO. In a special interview recorded in W...
Mar 21, 2025•19 min
“It could not by itself stop the advance of M23 without a strong Congolese army. And my sense is that it was not SADC that failed, but the Congolese army that failed.” Since December 2023, troops from SADC - the Southern African Development Community - have been taking part in a mission in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo tasked with supporting the Congolese army and protecting civilians and infrastructure. They included soldiers from Malawi, Tanzania and South Africa. But then in Januar...
Mar 20, 2025•20 min
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan says Nigeria’s senate President began to sexually harass her in December 2023 and that there were multiple incidents of this nature. She’s been speaking publicly about what she says happened and filed a petition to the senate. But earlier this month Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan received a six month suspension from her job over what was described as a “breach of the rules of the Senate”. There are only four women in the senate and 109 men, so the allegations have got lo...
Mar 19, 2025•20 min
The dispute over Western Sahara is one of Africa’s longest running wars – starting in 1975. It pits Morocco against the Polisario Front- an Algerian backed political movement. But while the international community has focussed on finding a diplomatic solution – the plight of the indigenous Sahrawi people, who used to live on the disputed land, is often forgotten. They have been living in difficult-to-access refugee camps in Algeria for the past 50 years, amidst allegations that they’re being use...
Mar 18, 2025•16 min
“This is a payment of debt. Definitely we are trying our best to show our gratitude and also to stand by our brothers and the nation of Sudan.” After three decades of civil war in Somalia, the healthcare system in the country was a mess and many people had to travel to neighbouring countries for treatment - if they could afford it. And so, in 2014, a group of Somali businessmen founded the Somali-Sudanese Hospital in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to respond to the challenge. It followed years o...
Mar 17, 2025•18 min
Black Economic Empowerment was initially introduced by former South African president Nelson Mandela in the 1990s, as one of his government’s policies. But in 2003, it was revised and changed to BBBEE: Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment. It's aim is to facilitate the much broader participation of black South Africans in the economy, thus addressing inequality. This section of the population was excluded during the years of white minority rule, leading to high levels of poverty. But some sect...
Mar 14, 2025•19 min
For African immigrants in the US, the threat of mass deportation is a constant fear. Many have built lives, found stability, and raised families but now over a million non-US citizens face the reality of potential deportation. The Trump administration now plans to create a national register for undocumented migrants over the age of 14, with those failing to sign up risking criminal prosecution. Deportees like Anwar Mohamed, sent back to Somalia in 2018 after being convicted of a felony, recall t...
Mar 13, 2025•22 min
River blindness – or onchocerciasis – is a tropical disease which causes itchiness, skin damage, and eventually blindness. It affects millions of people across Africa. In Niger a staggering 70 percent of the population was once infected. But now, after a gruelling 45 year health campaign, it’s become the first African country to eliminate the disease. Alan Kasujja speaks Dr Paulin Basinga, head of the Gates Foundation in Africa who has who has played a key role in the fight against river blindne...
Mar 12, 2025•17 min
