Male circumcision is deeply rooted in tradition and culture across many African communities but there’s a lot of controversy around the method that is used to remove the foreskin. Some initiatives that promote voluntary medical male circumcision for the prevention of HIV and sexually transmitted infections have been successful, in Zambia in particular. But the question remains, is this something that should be done on baby boys or in early adolescence, or is it something that should be left as a...
May 17, 2024•21 min
“The irony and the tragedy at once is that all this happened while the international community are watching it. So I think this is the time to prevent the atrocities that happened in El Geneina from repeating itself in El Fasher.” Last week a 216 page Human Rights Watch report said it had found evidence that a genocide may have been committed in the city of El Geneina in Darfur – and that ethnic cleansing had occurred. It said thousands of members of African ethnic groups – particularly the Mass...
May 16, 2024•20 min
The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values bill, drafted in 2021, was passed by parliamentarians in Ghana earlier this year. It imposes a prison sentence on anyone identifying as being LGBTQ+. This bill still needs to be signed by President Nana Akuffo Addo to become law. He's waiting for the verdict of the Supreme Court who will hear two cases challenging the constitutionality of the law. In today’s episode, Alan Kasujja speaks to Ghanaian film director Joewackle J Kusi about the...
May 15, 2024•19 min
“We’re creating a new generation of digital entrepreneurs that we like to call digital warriors… And this new generation they’re passionate about technology – they’re going to be the ones driving innovation in our country.” Throughout its history, the island nation of Cape Verde has seen heavy emigration – especially at times of drought and shortages. It means that now there are many more Cape Verdeans living abroad than on the islands themselves. And while the government acknowledges the benefi...
May 14, 2024•20 min
Even though they see it as something that would benefit them… they would rather put that dollar into fertiliser which they really need to boost their yields.” Recently on Africa Daily we’ve heard about different insurance schemes for farmers and whole countries to insure themselves against natural disasters. With an increase in extreme weather events due to climate change it’s become an area of growth. But what are the limitations and difficulties? And can subsistence farmers, who already strugg...
May 13, 2024•18 min
“My wish is that we hold free and transparent elections, so that the voice of the people can be heard for peace. Because governing a country with weapons is not normal.” – voter, Chad. Interim president, General Mahamat Déby, has been declared the winner of this week’s presidential election with 61% of the vote. His nearest rival, former Prime Minister Succes Masra, came second with just 18.5% - and alleged the vote was rigged. Deby took over from his father, President Idriss Déby in 2021,who ha...
May 10, 2024•18 min
Kush is being sold all across Sierra Leone. It’s a psychoactive blend of addictive substances and has been prevalent in the country for years. Sierra Leone's president - Julius Maada Bio - has called Kush a “death trap" and said it poses an "existential crisis" in the country. And due to its notoriety and impact, the government has declared a national emergency over rampant drug abuse. In today's episode, our reporter based in Sierra Leone Umaru Fofana talks to a man who became addicted to the d...
May 09, 2024•19 min
Today we’re in Burkina Faso where there's been a serious crackdown on foreign media. There have been several reports alleging that the army massacred hundreds of civilians in northern villages in February 2024 and the government's not happy about it. They’ve taken some pretty strict measures on outlets like The Guardian, Le Monde and Deutsche Welle. The government, led by Ibrahim Traoré, say these reports are just attempts to smear the military's reputation. Africa Daily’s Peter Musembi has been...
May 08, 2024•21 min
Liberia, along with several other African nations, receives donated medications from international organisations such as The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The World Health Organisation says that Africa accounts for 94% of global malaria cases and had over 400,000 tuberculosis-related deaths in 2022. USAid discovered that a staggering 90% of pharmacies in Liberia are involved in the illicit sale of stolen medications meant for those in dire need. So, why are medicines that ...
May 07, 2024•21 min
Today, we're shining a light on a topic that keeps many African nations in the dark – the struggle for stable electricity supply. Africa has the lowest access to electricity in the world. Roughly half a billion people lack access to a stable power supply, including two of the continent's biggest economies — Nigeria and South Africa. Recently in Sierra Leone, people faced longer than average blackouts in the capital city Freetown and other main cities across the country. The reason behind these p...
May 06, 2024•21 min
Regular attacks by men on motorbikes wielding AK-47 rifles have become a common occurrence in Plateau State in central Nigeria. People in the state are still reeling from the trauma of Christmas Eve attacks just over four months ago, when gunmen attacked 25 villages killing over 150 people. Over the years, the clashes have mostly been between Muslim Fulani herders from the north and Christian farmers in the state. The conflict however seems to have morphed into a complicated situation, with the ...
May 03, 2024•20 min
Federalism in Africa is the topic of today’s episode. Depending on how you define the term, there are only around six countries in Africa that use the federal model, with Nigeria and Ethiopia among them. But what is federalism and what does it look like in practice? How does it function and differ from a system where power is centralised under one authority? Mpho Lakaje has been looking into all of this and examining whether this is a form of government that suits Africa. He is in conversation w...
May 02, 2024•19 min
“We should also harvest the water, store it in the soil. Grow our crops and grow our trees. Because the storage in the soil is much, much bigger than any store we can ever put on the surface. God has already given us a huge reservoir where we can put our water.” Kenya has been ravaged by flooding this month: dozens have died – specifically after a dam burst and a passenger ferry capsized – and thousands more have been made homeless. Schools were closed and farmers have seen their crops destroyed...
May 01, 2024•19 min
We’ve spoken many times on Africa Daily about mining and whether natural resources are actually a blessing or a curse for the continent. It’s led to decades of conflict in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighbouring Central African Republic - and reports from Human Rights organisations about the appalling conditions miners - including children - often work in. But we rarely get a real sense of what it’s like for people living in these areas. The BBC’s new Global China Un...
Apr 30, 2024•18 min
“Before pronouncing sentence on Bobrisky, the judge asked, ‘are you male or female?’. For me this was a red flag. Bobrisky’s gender has nothing to do with whether he (or she) abused the Naira.” Money spraying is part of Nigerian culture: throwing bank notes or putting them on a person’s forehead to congratulate them at weddings, birthdays or other big social events. But since 2007, it’s technically been illegal – as those bank notes can fall to the ground and be trodden on - and the maximum puni...
Apr 29, 2024•20 min
“If I have my money, I have my assets, I have my farms, my houses, my cars, I have everything I need, I don’t need to be friendly with any white person” – Sandile Swana, former freedom fighter. In 1948, the National Party came into power in South Africa and introduced apartheid, a system that segregated society along racial lines. Black people were not allowed to share toilets, beaches, theatres and other public facilities with their white counterparts. In the decades that followed, the black ma...
Apr 26, 2024•20 min
“It feels like a black man deserves the worst. The poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer. I don’t know how things will change” – Alexandra resident, Vusi Mbeye. On the 27th of April 1994, millions of South Africans voted in their country’s very first democratic election. During white minority rule, black people were not allowed to vote. Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress won that election and then introduced policies like Affirmative Action and Black Economic Empowerm...
Apr 25, 2024•20 min
Togo's President Faure Gnassingbé's proposal to change the constitution has ignited a fierce debate in the country. Some say it's a power grab disguised as reform, while others insist it's a step towards a more democratic future. The reforms aim to switch Togo from a presidential to a parliamentary system, but critics worry it will only prolong the Gnassingbé family's rule. Helping to keep him in power until 2031 and potentially beyond. President Gnassingbé came to power in 2005 after the death ...
Apr 24, 2024•18 min
Earlier this month we marked the 10th anniversary of the kidnapping of the Chibok girls. It was one of the first mass kidnappings of children witnessed in Nigeria. In 2014, 276 girls were abducted from their school by militants from Chibok, a town in the country’s north east. Over the past 10 years, mass abductions and kidnappings have become a common occurrence in Nigeria. So what is the government doing to get a handle on security? In today’s Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja speaks to Mohammed Idris...
Apr 23, 2024•15 min
“Development is all about leadership. You can get all the resources in the world, you can get all the best human capital… but if the leadership is not there you can’t make the best of the resources you have and eventually move your country forward.” Ibrahima Cheikh Diong is UN-Assistant Secretary General and Director General of the African Union specialized agency “the African Risk Capacity Group” or ARC, which works with governments to help them deal with climate related disasters. But in a var...
Apr 22, 2024•21 min
You’ve gone to the grocery store and bought your week’s supplies… so can you imagine receiving your change in sweets, chocolates and other small items? That’s the situation in Zimbabwe where a shortage of US dollars – and a plummeting Zimbabwean dollar – has now led the government to introduce a new currency pegged to gold. The Zimbabwean dollar has already lost three quarters of its value this year. But will this latest move work any better than other attempts by the government to stabilise the...
Apr 19, 2024•16 min
Earlier this month, the goalkeeper of Spanish third-tier team, Rayo Majadahonda, went into the stands to confront a fan who allegedly racially abused him. Cheikh Sarr, a black man originally from Senegal, said he heard an elderly man join others as they made monkey gestures. But what took many people by surprise was the Spanish football federation’s decision to slap the player with a two-match ban for the confrontation. It’s not the first time European football has been rocked by a racism scanda...
Apr 18, 2024•19 min
Ghana and Ivory Coast, responsible for over 60% of the world's cocoa supply, are suffering from catastrophic harvests. Illegal gold mining, climate change and a devastating virus have formed a perfect storm. Over 590,000 hectares of cocoa plantations have been affected according to Ghana’s cocoa marketing board Cocobod. Meanwhile, shoppers who indulged in Easter treats in the United States found the cost of chocolate had increased by more than 10% on last year, according to data from research fi...
Apr 17, 2024•12 min
Yesterday, Africa Daily heard from two Sudanese men about how a year of war has forever changed their lives. But the impact is also being felt beyond Sudan’s borders: South Sudan’s oil industry – its main income generator – has been heavily impacted because routes to the coast for export have been cut off. Chad and South Sudan are hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees each. And in border areas, armed groups have been growing more active and refugees report extortion, brutal attacks and murde...
Apr 16, 2024•20 min
On April 15th last year, fighting broke out between the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and a powerful paramilitary group know as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). As the conflict escalated millions fled for their lives. According to the United Nations World Food Programme, around 18 million people in Sudan are facing food insecurity – a situation likely to worsen because of failed harvests. In Darfur, now mostly in the hands of the RSF, whole cities have emptied out as civilians faced ...
Apr 15, 2024•16 min
This month marks ten years since the kidnapping of the Chibok girls in north eastern Nigeria when militants abducted nearly 300 girls. Most of the girls have either been freed or escaped but dozens remain unaccounted. In the years since, kidnapping for ransom - for profit- by criminal gangs has also become the norm, even in places like trains or in the capital Abuja, which used to be considered relatively safe. In today’s episode Alan Kasujja speaks to a woman who was kidnapped twice on her way ...
Apr 12, 2024•24 min
On the 14th of April 2014, 279 girls were abducted from their school in Chibok, in north eastern Nigeria. Since that fateful night some have escaped, many have been rescued but sadly others remain missing. As Nigeria and the community of Chibok mark 10 years since the kidnapping of the girls, the country has seen many more abductions. One estimate suggests more than 4,000 people have been abducted in Nigeria in the past 8 months. So today Alan Kasujja will be looking at how the girls, now women,...
Apr 11, 2024•21 min
“The problem is that communities are always excluded when important decisions are taken. Companies impose decisions on communities” – Fana Sibanyoni, a resident of Embalenhle in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province In today’s episode, Mpho Lakaje sits down with Sharon Mbonani and Fana Sibanyoni, the residents of Embalenhle in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province. They share their personal stories on how they are affected by air pollution. Their province is known for being home to some of South Afric...
Apr 10, 2024•15 min
Last week, Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a national disaster due to a prolonged drought crisis, saying the country needed $2 billion to address hunger. Zimbabwe, once a regional food producer, now grapples with high inflation and scarcity, intensified by climate change-induced droughts. This crisis affects not only food production but also electricity generation, leading to power cuts. And it’s not just Zimbabwe. Neighbouring countries are also struggling, with Zambia and Mala...
Apr 09, 2024•17 min
Recently Africa Daily presenter Mpho Lakaje had a shock - he found he had been the victim of identity theft. The person or people behind the crime had opened accounts using his personal details and taken out six loans to a total value of $2,000. It has so far been impossible for the local police to make arrests because everything happened online. He's far from alone: the Southern African Fraud Prevention Services says reports of the crime increased by 356% in South Africa from 2022 to 2023 - and...
Apr 08, 2024•21 min
