It’s nearly three years since a BBC Africa Eye investigation uncovered multiple cases of children being stolen and sold for cash in Kenya. The film saw Njeri Mwangi speaking to mothers who were still looking for their children years after they went missing. Many people were shocked to see a former nurse, a hospital worker and a homeless woman caught on camera trying to sell children. In recent weeks, one of them was sentenced to 25 years in prison. But not all of them have faced justice. So, wha...
Oct 16, 2023•23 min
Since the second world war, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have attempted to help countries in financial difficulties by providing low interest loans. This week the two Bretton Woods institutions have been holding their annual meetings in the Moroccan town of Marrakech - the first time they’ve been on African soil in 50 years. The two institutions divide opinion. Some people believe they have had a positive impact. But others say the organisations are dominated by the w...
Oct 13, 2023•18 min
Over the past 14 years Boko Haram has wreaked havoc in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. The group gained international notoriety with the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria in 2014 which sparked the ‘Bring Back Our Girls campaign’. Their attacks also spread to Cameroon, Chad and Niger leaving thousands dead and three million people displaced according to the United Nations. Le Spectre de Boko Haram, an award winning documentary, recently screened in at the London Film Festival...
Oct 12, 2023•19 min
Known as the ‘pearl of the desert’, Timbuktu was a spiritual and intellectual capital in the 15th and 16th centuries - the home of mosques and libraries and commerce. For years its treasures drew tens of thousands of tourists each year. But now it’s a city under siege. Attacks on civilians have spiked. An Al Qaeda affiliated group announced a blockade of the city - and in September, a rocket attack on a passenger boat led to dozens of deaths and hundreds injured. This led to the cancellation of ...
Oct 11, 2023•21 min
“I can’t look at things, but I can see them.” The words of Winston Fani, a blind tour guide from South Africa. He shares his journey with Alan Kasujja and explains he found himself working in an industry where very few professionals are living with disability. Winston is part of about 7.5% of South Africa’s population living with some form of disability, according to government data. Alan also chats with Ugandan tour operator Amos Wekesa about how accessible tourism destinations are on the Afric...
Oct 10, 2023•16 min
Last week, hundreds of protesters marched in Ghana’s capital, Accra. They called for the resignation of the governor of the Bank of Ghana over billions of Ghanaian cedis lost in the 2022 financial year. The country is facing its worst economic hardship in over a generation with the high cost of living being driven by inflation of more than 40%. It has stoked tensions which have led to protests in recent months. Last month, more than 50 protesters have been arrested in Ghana for defying a police ...
Oct 09, 2023•22 min
Can East Africa cope with heavier than average rainfall – predicted to possibly arrive between October and December, linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon? Forecasts show there’s an 85% higher chance of wetter-than-usual conditions across most parts of the horn of Africa this year. Scientists say areas expected to face floods will include southern Ethiopia, eastern Kenya and southern Somalia, but that parts of Uganda and South Sudan may also face drier conditions. El Nino is a climate pattern...
Oct 06, 2023•15 min
For his whole life, Fallou Ngom believed his father was illiterate. It was only after he died that Professor Ngom returned to Senegal and found unusual writing samples among his belongings. Through his research, he found that the notes were written in Ajami, a modified form of Arabic used to write many African languages. But Fallou had no idea that many people of his father’s generation were using it to communicate, record debts, and write poems, prayers and stories. He says that for decades peo...
Oct 05, 2023•21 min
“The hardest thing is not being able to help someone beyond what you are able to do with the little medication you have. You examine your patients but don’t have what you need to solve their medical needs. And that has a psychological effect on me” In today’s podcast, Africa Daily’s Mpho Lakaje hears from healthcare workers trying to assist Sudanese refugees at camps in Chad. There are more than 20 such shelters in eastern Chad, housing at least 400, 000 people. This humanitarian crisis has been...
Oct 04, 2023•15 min
“As days passed, and bodies continued to be recovered, they became very hard to identify – and it was difficult to cope with it emotionally. Swollen bodies, bodies with fractured faces, decomposed bodies… It was the most excruciating experience, but our help was very crucial for the process. So, we had to do it.” On October 3rd, 2013 – exactly 10 years ago - a boat crammed with around 500 people caught fire and sank - just off the coast of the Italian Island of Lampedusa. The victims’ support gr...
Oct 03, 2023•18 min
“In Gabon, football and paedophilia go hand in hand, we were all told the stories.” In December 2021 a British newspaper named several leading figures in Gabonese football, alleged to have sexually abused hundreds of boys over a period of decades. The former head coach of Gabon's youth teams, Patrick Assoumou Eyi - widely known as "Capello" - admitted charges of "raping, grooming and exploiting young players" and remains in prison awaiting sentencing. Three other coaches were arrested but deny t...
Oct 02, 2023•21 min
It’s been more than two weeks since devastating floods swept away large parts of the city of Derna. The government in the east of the country says more than 4000 people lost their lives in the disaster, although this number remains disputed. Many more thousands of people are still missing and displaced by the disaster. In the weeks since the floods, fear and horror has turned to anger, with people taking to the streets to demand answers. So, how are people in Libya coping and trying to rebuild t...
Sep 29, 2023•17 min
Ugandan politician and musician Rachael Magoola says she’d be flying planes if she had been paid the way she should have been paid for the success of her music. She was elected in 2021 and says her music played a big part in winning a seat in Uganda’s parliament. She’s most famous for her song Obangaina which she wrote late 1990’s but she says she did not earn as much as she should have from the song. Since becoming an Member of Parliament, Rachael Magoola has launched the Parliamentary Forum fo...
Sep 28, 2023•20 min
During Sierra Leone’s civil war in the 1990’s, child soldiers roamed mutilating and killing their victims. Economic turmoil ensued once the conflict ended, with high unemployment and poverty. And the 2014 outbreak of the Ebola virus left almost 4,000 people dead there. There are physical scars from the events of those years but also scars that are less visible. This year President Julius Maada Bio launched a Mental Health Taskforce to address the country’s lack of mental health resources. The in...
Sep 27, 2023•24 min
If you search for ‘philosophy’ or ‘philosophers’ online, chances are you’ll find lots of photos of white men. Wikipedia will tell you that historically, the main traditions include Western, Indian, Arabic-Persian and Chinese philosophy. But some people question how insightful these ideas are to life on the continent. Meanwhile, some of the oldest philosophical texts were produced in ancient Egypt. And terms from African philosophy such as Ubuntu – “I am because we are” – are influential around t...
Sep 26, 2023•17 min
“The journey has been very difficult. It’s time consuming, it’s stressful. It hasn’t been easy”, says a mother who adopted a child with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. According to a number of published medical papers, South Africa has the highest reported rates of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in the world. It’s 111 per 1,000 people. A baby can be born with this condition if its mother drinks alcohol while pregnant. It's accompanied by all sorts of medical complications. Some people with i...
Sep 25, 2023•15 min
It was a shocking attack which still has implications today: in September 2013 fighters from the Somalia-based al-Shabab militant group burst into the Westgate mall in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi – taking control of the building for the next four days. At the end of the siege, 67 people were dead, with almost 200 wounded. So what impact did it have on relationships between different Kenyan communities? And why has it led many Somalis in Kenya to rethink their culture of hospitality?...
Sep 22, 2023•15 min
In September 2013 members of the Somalia based militant group al-Shabab attacked and took control of the Westgate mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The attack was the start of a four day siege. 67 people were killed and almost 200 people wounded. The majority of those killed or injured were Kenyans but there were several foreign nationals who died in the attack, including Ghanaian poet and diplomat Kofi Awoonor. Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja speaks to his son, Afetsi Awoonor, who survived with a...
Sep 21, 2023•19 min
Last Sunday Storm Daniel hit Libya bringing heavy rain and catastrophic flooding. Derna, a city in the east, suffered the most. A tsunami-like river of water swept through its streets when two dams burst. More than 10,000 people are missing and almost 4,000 people have been confirmed dead according to the United Nations. It’s a situation any country would struggle to deal with but in Libya, there’s an added complication because it’s a country with two rival governments. So today Africa Daily’s A...
Sep 20, 2023•19 min
Kenyans have got used to a system of political coalitions with long-term politicians forming new alliances, changing parties…. often in the run up to elections. But is this a good thing? Does it give Kenya a more consensual form of politics? Or is it just a system of patronage which rewards the political elite – and is inherently instable? For Africa Daily Alan Kasujja discusses the subject with Musalia Mudavadi, Kenya’s ‘Prime Minister’ – as well as about his government’s hopes for Kenya to tak...
Sep 19, 2023•17 min
"Our biggest challenge now is monetisation". Social media influencers in Africa say it’s harder for them to make money from their online content. These content creators say they don't get paid in the same way as creators in the UK, the US or European Union do. Content creators in those other countries have access to what is called a creator fund – a pot of money that pays creators for their content. So what’s being done about it in Africa and how can African creators make money from their conten...
Sep 18, 2023•14 min
Over the last week, Moroccans have been tested to their limits after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit the High Atlas mountains south of Marrakesh. Whole villages were buried in landslides – while residents of other towns have been forced to sleep outside or in tents as their houses are too damaged to sleep in. There are fears about how they’ll manage as winter approaches. Almost 3,000 people are now known to have died in the disaster and the death toll is expected to rise. But on Africa Daily toda...
Sep 15, 2023•19 min
In today’s podcast, Alan Kasujja sits down with award-winning South African health practitioner professor Lucille Blumberg. She explains why she thinks she was recognized for her efforts in fighting malaria. She also tells our presenter why thousands of people across the African continent are still dying of the disease, despite the medical advancements of recent times. In addition, Alan explores the discovery of a strain of natural bacteria which promises to help fight malaria transmission. He a...
Sep 14, 2023•15 min
The family-run business model is as old as business itself. Across Africa and the rest of the world, it is family businesses that dominate production and trade. From massive global brands like BMW or Nike to your local grocery store, it is a common set-up. But a family business can be difficult to manage, and often they don’t survive beyond one or two generations. Issues around money, control, who does what, are complex enough in a commercial setting, let alone with your own flesh and blood. So ...
Sep 13, 2023•21 min
Every year the G20 – a group made up of the world’s wealthiest and most powerful countries - meet to discuss and make decisions on global challenges: climate change, energy security, trade and conflict. For many years there have been complaints that many of those affected by those decisions aren’t represented. So with the African Union now a member, will this mean Africa’s voice will be heard more? Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja speaks to Mikatekiso Kubayi, a researcher at the Institute for Global ...
Sep 12, 2023•14 min
Bola Tinubu was officially sworn in as President of Nigeria just over 100 days ago. Since then, opposition candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi have alleged widespread fraud in the election. But last week, Nigeria’s Appeal Court rejected challenges to his narrow victory. The problems President Tinubu inherited are huge. There’s widespread insecurity, the cost of living crisis, high unemployment, a shrinking oil industry and high inflation. So how’s he begun to deal with those challenges? And ...
Sep 11, 2023•19 min
This week the first ever Africa Climate Summit took place in Nairobi, to discuss ways the continent can respond to the threat of climate change . At least 23 African heads of state and government joined thousands of delegates at the summit, with a goal to influence climate commitments, pledges and outcomes. At the close of the summit on Wednesday, the African leaders adopted a joint declaration outlining the continent’s position on climate finance and green growth. In the declaration- the Africa...
Sep 08, 2023•20 min
As the World Cup is set to start in Paris, President of Rugby Africa says investment is needed for more countries to replicate the Springbok’s success
Sep 07, 2023•21 min
“What I saw was really traumatizing. It was traumatic to see people jumping out of a building” On the 31st of August, a fire destroyed a block of flats in the Johannesburg inner city, in South Africa. A total of 77 people died while dozens of others remain in hospital. The police are still investigating how the fire started. The authorities say those who died in the catastrophe were living in the derelict and abandoned building illegally. This is part of what has been described as ‘building hija...
Sep 06, 2023•14 min
The leader of Gabon's military junta has vowed to return power to civilians after "free, transparent" elections. However, in a speech after being sworn in as interim president, he did not give a date for military rule to end. The coup, that ended more than 50 years of rule by the Bongo family in Gabon, was welcomed by crowds of cheering civilians that turned up at the inauguration. However, some question his links to the old regime and say Gen Nguema's rule will be a continuation of the Bongo dy...
Sep 05, 2023•23 min
