“A lot of times women were the power behind the throne, so they never got documented.” Women are often missing from historical records, their voices are not heard, their roles in society reduced to the background of a story. This is something that the Women’s History Museum of Zambia is trying to re-balance. Through examining how women often took a leadership role in indigenous culture, the founders of the museum, Samba Yonga and Mulenga Kapwepwe, are re-discovering the importance and power of w...
Dec 06, 2024•19 min
Malaria, a preventable mosquito-borne disease, kills 600,000 people annually in Africa, most of them are children under five. Nigeria accounts for 30% of these deaths globally. This week, the country started administering the R21 malaria vaccine to children aged 5 to 11 months, beginning in Bayelsa and Kebbi states, which have high infection rates. Developed by Oxford University and manufactured in India, the vaccine has 75% efficacy. With 1 million doses donated by Gavi, the campaign is expecte...
Dec 05, 2024•23 min
In this episode, we explore President Joe Biden’s historic visit to Angola, his first and only trip to Africa during his presidency. As the first U.S. president to step foot in Angola, Biden brings an agenda aimed at strengthening economic ties and countering China’s growing influence in the region. At the centre of his efforts is the multibillion-dollar Lobito Corridor project, a revitalisation of a century-old railway linking the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to Angola’s Atlantic por...
Dec 04, 2024•19 min
“We are encouraged by the fact that indigenous farmers will now have these land titles and may be able to find value in the land they own. It’s optimism with a lot of caution” – Zimbabwean farmer Kudakwashe Musasiwa Zimbabwe’s government recently announced that it will give black farmers permanent title to land seized from white farmers in the past two decades. In this way, the indigenous citizens will finally own these properties and be in a position to secure affordable finance from banks. Thi...
Dec 03, 2024•20 min
This week campaigning in Ghana comes to an end as candidates make their final arguments in an election where every vote counts. For most people, Ghana’s economic turmoil has been at the top of concerns. In 2022 the Central Bank lost $5 billion in one year. The government asked the International Monetary Fund for a bailout and there have been accusations that the economy has been mismanaged High inflation has left many unable to afford basic goods, levels of unemployment are rising and hundreds o...
Dec 02, 2024•20 min
In today's podcast, we are looking at life for people with Down Syndrome in Africa. Down Syndrome is a genetic condition where a person is born with an extra chromosome; they’ll have an extra copy of chromosome 21, making 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46. It alters the development of the body and brain, leading to delays in areas like speech. In Africa, people with the condition often face additional barriers, a shorter life expectancy because of limited healthcare, delayed diagnosis, and ...
Nov 29, 2024•20 min
Last week the Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye, appeared before a military court in Kampala, following his arrest in Kenya. His wife said he’d been abducted and driven overnight across the border into Uganda. He denied charges including the illegal possession of firearms and negotiating to buy arms abroad, and objected to being tried in a court martial, saying that if there were any charges against him, he should be tried in a civilian court. But Dr Besigye’s case is far from unique. Over...
Nov 28, 2024•21 min
African negotiators at the COP29 left deflated and disappointed with the $300 billion deal reached at the summit, saying it fell short of their expectations. Delegates from the continent at the summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, had called on rich nations to commit $1.3 trillion per year to help poor countries address climate change. But after two weeks of intense negotiations a deal was reached, with rich nations agreeing to pay $300 billion annually to poorer countries. But some expressed relief that...
Nov 27, 2024•22 min
“The warrant signals to Israel, it signals to the supporters of Netanyahu [that] you have moved out of the realm of approval of a very great number of nations” – Professor Emeritus André Thomashausen, University of South Africa On the 21st of November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Mohammed Deif, a military commander of the Islamist group, Hamas, has also been added to the ICC’s ...
Nov 26, 2024•20 min
"I was hoping that by 9 months I will be a mother, but then they told me that I will carry the baby for at least 1 year and 5 months. So, I did not understand." A year-long investigation by the BBC's Africa Eye team has exposed how fraudsters in Nigeria are targeting women struggling with infertility with the promise of miracle babies in exchange for hundreds of dollars. Vulnerable women are tricked into believing they’re pregnant and told delivery of their baby won’t happen without payment for ...
Nov 25, 2024•21 min
Mozambique’s government has banned protests and restricted internet access amid post-election unrest that has left several people dead and injured. The unrest follows last month’s disputed presidential election, won by the long-ruling Frelimo party, which denies opposition claims of vote-rigging. Opposition leader, Venâncio Mondlane, went into hiding after his lawyer and aide were shot dead while preparing to challenge the results. BBC Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja spoke with Mozambican journalist...
Nov 22, 2024•18 min
“We don’t have clear legislation (for) the carbon market that can guarantee the rights of local communities and indigenous people.” The Congo Basin forest is known as the “lungs of Africa” because of its ability to absorb carbon dioxide – around 1.5 billion tons each year. It also provides food and income for indigenous and local populations in the six countries it spans. And this week, at the COP 29 climate conference, it’s being discussed as an example of a carbon sink which can help the world...
Nov 21, 2024•17 min
“I ask myself, where will I be after graduating? And looking at ownership of a house, it seems like a farfetched dream that could never materialize” – First time Namibian voter Rivaldo Kanongo Kavanga On the 27th of November, the citizens of Namibia will choose a new president in an election expected to be the most competitive since independence in 1990. The ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) is fielding veteran politician Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah who is tipped to become the co...
Nov 20, 2024•19 min
Eritrea is the worst place to work as a journalist in the world and is one of the most repressive countries on press freedom. In the latest World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders, Eritrea was ranked last out of 180 countries. Since 2001, the government has banned all independent media outlets, leaving only state-controlled media under the Ministry of Information. That year, about 11 journalists were arrested and put in jail without trial in a crackdown against the count...
Nov 19, 2024•16 min
“You should not put too much expectation on your young ones, especially those from a humble background. They have their own lives to live.” Femi Olayanju. “Parents put themselves on hunger strike so they can abolish poverty from their families. And then this child grows up and comes back to say ‘I’m sorry I can’t take care of you’. That’s insensitive.” Abosede Sodiq ___________________________________________________________________________ It’s always been an expectation: when children reach ad...
Nov 18, 2024•19 min
In 2018, Nigeria passed the Not Too Young to Run bill, opening doors for younger candidates by lowering the age limits to hold office. This movement was meant to bring a shift, a break from the old ways of using power. But did it? Last month Nigerian MP Alex Ikwechegh, was caught slapping and intimidating a taxi driver who had delivered food to his house. Ikwechegh, aged 42, is one of Nigeria’s youngest MPs, he was brought to office by the Not Too Young to Run movement. The taxi driver filmed th...
Nov 15, 2024•20 min
Huldah Momanyi Hiltsley has just made history. She’s become the first Kenyan-born woman to be elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives. Moving from Kisii in Kenya to the US Huldah faced challenges, including navigating the immigration system to prevent her family’s deportation. Amid Donald Trump’s re-election as the 47th president, she is focused on amplifying minority voices and empowering immigrant communities. She joins trailblazers like Somali-born Ilhan Omar, in reshaping the polit...
Nov 14, 2024•18 min
“If you’re poor in Kinshasa, you are going to stay single, even to the day you die.” In the Democratic Republic of Congo, it’s traditional for a man to pay a dowry to the family of the woman he wants to marry. But in recent years the cost has spiralled – with some parents asking for thousands of pounds, or even items like flat-screen TVs. And there are also fees to be paid by those wanting to get legally married after their first traditional marriage. The rising expense has meant many couples ar...
Nov 13, 2024•16 min
The COP 29 climate summit has been christened the finance COP - and negotiators will seek to agree on a new goal for how much money richer countries should be paying to poorer countries to help them adapt to climate change. A new fund to be known as the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) is replacing the $100 billion a year fund which was meant to have been paid out from 2009 to 2022 but which hardly took off. As the latest summit got underway in Baku, Azerbaijan, negotiators for the Least De...
Nov 12, 2024•15 min
“Women are getting more empowered to know their rights… the law is there, violence is a crime, but following through and reporting is also a problem because of the way we are brought up to think that women are supposed to be subservient and bear it all.” Martha Koome describes herself as a defender and advocate for women’s and children’s rights, and in 2020, she was runner-up for the ‘United Nations Person of the Year’, in recognition for her work in this field. But Chief Justice Koome has also ...
Nov 11, 2024•21 min
“Tug at my jacket – tell me what needs to be done.” Later today, Botswana’s newly-elected president, Duma Boko, will be inaugurated in Gaborone – but he still found time this week for a discussion of his agenda with Africa Daily’s Mpho Lakaje. In a wide ranging discussion he talks about signing a new deal with global diamond giant De Beers, how he wants to help people to become entrepreneurs, and why he wants to grant permits to undocumented Zimbabweans to make the system more ‘orderly’ and to a...
Nov 08, 2024•25 min
In today's podcast, we explore the tradition of bridal counselling in Zambia. Before marriage, elderly women share tips on how to run a home, how to look after the husband, how to look after the children, how to resolve conflict and there are lessons about sex too. For many, this training is a way to strengthen a marriage, but for some women it’s meant lasting harm. ‘Bride of Zambia’ is a short film which tells the story of a young Zambian-American woman who reluctantly has this counselling ahea...
Nov 07, 2024•20 min
This week Botswana’s president-elect Duma Boko will be inaugurated in an event that’s expected to be attended by dignitaries from across the continent. The 54-year-old lawyer and his Umbrella for Democratic Change beat Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Botswana Democratic Party, which had been in power for 58 years. When he officially takes over as the country’s president, Mr Boko will be hoping to create jobs particularly for young people who’ve been agitating for change. But some are still wondering how he ...
Nov 06, 2024•19 min
Last month, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) awarded Nigeria victory in a forfeited 2025 Nations Cup qualifier against Libya, and fined Libya $50,000. It came after an investigation found that a plane carrying the Nigerian squad had been deliberately redirected to the wrong airport – where the Super Eagles were left for nearly 20 hours without food, water or internet access. The incident has yet again exposed the unorthodox – and unsporting - tactics which are often used against visit...
Nov 05, 2024•20 min
The 2024 US election, set for Tuesday November 5, could have major implications for African economies and African communities in the United States. As Africa’s global significance grows, the election may reshape US engagement in areas like investment, health, security, and climate policy. On one side, former President Donald Trump has pledged to prioritise domestic issues, which could mean a reduction in US aid and military presence abroad. In contrast, Vice President Kamala Harris has focused o...
Nov 04, 2024•23 min
After two years of conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region, the 2022 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (CoHA) finally put a stop to the fighting between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). Both sides agreed to work together to find lasting solutions, including the restoration of constitutional order in Tigray. Two years on, some say the Ethiopian government is downplaying the seriousness of the current situation in the country - while aid agencies warn of signif...
Nov 01, 2024•17 min
Today Alan Kasujja sits down with Ghanaian artist, Israel Derrick Epeti, to discuss the environmental disaster that’s caused by illegal mining. Mercury is being used to extract gold by miners digging on a massive scale in forests and farms across the west African country. The 26-year-old artist recently visited the town of Twifo Praso to see for himself how the Pra River is polluted by chemicals. “I was able to paint with the water on my canvas. That’s how bad it was”, he tells Alan. He further ...
Oct 31, 2024•17 min
“The stigmatisation extends to the fact that in some cultures, there’s a presumption that if an elderly person is talking bizarrely or behaving unusually, they’re suspected of being witches or wizards or something like that.” Three and a half million people are currently estimated to live with dementia in Africa. Dementia is an umbrella term use to describe neurological conditions which lead to the loss of memory, language, and the ability to think clearly. People can start to struggle to get dr...
Oct 30, 2024•20 min
“We sit on some of the best grains in the world… things that can grow in really tough environments and give you harvests several times a year.” Celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson was born in Ethiopia but was adopted by a Swedish couple and taken to Sweden as a small child after his mother died of tuberculosis. After travelling across Europe and to Japan for his training, he rose to prominence as a chef in the US - cooking for the rich and famous including Barack and Michelle Obama, Desmond Tutu, N...
Oct 29, 2024•17 min
"I started out life not being acutely aware of being blind. I was more aware of what I could do as opposed to the reality of being blind and the accompanying limitations." Nigerian musician Cobhams Asuquo has produced for some of Africa’s biggest stars and become a celebrated musician himself. In today’s Africa Daily, Cobhams talks to Alan Kasujja about turning obstacles into opportunities. He's been using his platform for an even greater cause—advocating for childhood immunisation. With the rel...
Oct 28, 2024•21 min
