“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
“We didn’t harvest anything at all” – Zimbabwean resident Hlengiwe Moyo Today, Africa Daily’s Mpho Lakaje focuses on Zimbabwe, one of several southern African countries recently hit by a prolonged drought. Seven million people are now desperate for food assistance. The World Food Programme, along with several nations, partnered to donate bags of maize, pulses and cooking oil. Other countries that were hardest hit include Zambia and Malawi. Namibia even resorted to slaughtering wild animals such ...
Mar 11, 2025•17 min
Autism remains one of the most misunderstood conditions in many African countries, often leading to stigma, misdiagnosis and a lack of support. Why do so many children in Africa go undiagnosed, and what impact does this have on their futures? BBC Africa Daily’s Peter Musembi speaks with Cameroonian author Delly Singah, whose personal journey as a mother of an autistic child has shaped her advocacy. Through her book ‘Diary of a Special Mum – Kicking Autism to the Curb’, Delly challenges misconcep...
Mar 10, 2025•18 min
“South Sudan is on the brink of a return to full-scale civil war - and this civil war could be on a much larger scale than we’ve seen in the past.” What’s going on in South Sudan? This week alarm bells have been ringing after leading allies of the Vice President, Riek Machar, were arrested – and Machar’s own home in Juba was surrounded temporarily by troops. It follows clashes between a militia called the ‘White Army’ which fought alongside Machar during the civil war, with government troops in ...
Mar 07, 2025•19 min
“I believe that when I sing things will change and we shall have a bright future. We are going to be the ambassadors of change for our country South Sudan." War and displacement leave scars that go beyond the physical. In Bidibidi, one of the world’s largest refugee settlements, many struggle with trauma, substance abuse, and uncertainty. Bidibidi is home to over 250,000 refugees but a performing arts centre is helping refugees find healing, and hope for a better future, through music, dance, an...
Mar 06, 2025•21 min
Schools in South Sudan could remain closed for another four weeks as a severe heat wave continues in the country. Last week the government ordered schools across the country to close for two weeks as temperatures rose above 42°C, with reports indicating that an average of 12 students had been collapsing daily due to the soaring heat. It is the second consecutive year schools have been shut down during the hottest months, disrupting the academic calendar. Floods have in the past contributed to th...
Mar 05, 2025•18 min
The bacteria in our stomachs – known collectively as the microbiome - are increasingly seen by scientists as playing an important role in our overall health. According to research, it can show markers of disease as well as affect everything from digestion to mental health. Everyone has a different microbiome depending on where you live, your lifestyle, and various external factors. But data in Africa has been lacking. Now a new study of four different countries on the continent – Burkina Faso, S...
Mar 04, 2025•18 min
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing the world - from healthcare to finance, agriculture to education. But in Africa, the stakes are different. How do we make sure AI isn’t just another import but is something built for Africans, by Africans? With so many languages, infrastructure gaps, and the need to protect our own data, building a truly African AI comes with big challenges, but also huge opportunities. Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja speaks to Ambassador Philip Thigo, Kenya’s Special Envoy o...
Mar 03, 2025•15 min
