Many buildings in the centre of the South African city of Johannesburg, where a horrific fire has killed more than 70 people, are deemed unfit to live in. Yet these old blocks, abandoned by their owners or the city authorities, are full of families often paying rent to criminal gangs who run them. The buildings, which lack running water, toilets or a legal electricity connection, are then said to have been "hijacked". We find out what this means. A private plane found with more than $5m in cash,...
Sep 01, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast At least 15 truck drivers stuck on the Egypt-Sudan border have recently died from heat stroke. Hundreds have been stuck at the border due to bureaucratic red tape causing congestion What are the medium and long term implications of the coup in Gabon? Plus we meet Koyo Kouoh, the woman in charge of the biggest museum of contemporary art in Africa.
Aug 31, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Senior army officers in Gabon announced a coup shortly after President Ali Bongo's re-election was announced. One of the BBC's team spends 24 hours with Tunisia's coast guard as it finds people desperate to cross continents. How to win an argument? We debate the pros and cons of the art of debating with high school students.
Aug 30, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sierra Leone is grappling with a serious substance crisis. A cheap and illegal synthetic drug known as Kush that is wreaking havoc among the youth. Around 500 schools have been shutdown in Cameroon. Will they open in time for the new school year? Plus what's life like as the great granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie?
Aug 29, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast The runner-up in Zimbabwe's presidential election, Nelson Chamisa, has accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of carrying out an electoral coup. Former Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria chairperson Attahiru Muhammadu Jega is leading the Carter Center's observer mission to Zimbabwe. He talks about his role as electoral observer. It has been more than a month since the military in Niger overthrew former President Bazoum. Burkina Faso and Mali have also been living under military g...
Aug 28, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast The BRICS bloc of developing nations agreed this week s to admit six new countries. The countries Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - are set to join in January. Can this counter Western dominance? As thousands of UN troops speed up their pull out of Mali, despite a deteriorating security situation. We talk to BBC Arabic’s Feras Kilani the first journalist to travel to Northern Mali since French forces ended their military operation there two years ago P...
Aug 25, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Wagner boss Prigozhin is presumed dead after Russia plane crash. In his last address, he said the Wagner group is making Africa "more free". His presumed death received little media attention or official reactions in Mali and the Central African Republic where thousands of mercenaries are active. So in today's episode, we ask what would be the impact of Prigozhin’s presumed death on Wagner in Africa. Also, in Tunisia dozens of environment activists are appealing harsh prison sentences handed dow...
Aug 24, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Haiti has been rocked by deadly violence since the assassination of the country’s President Jovenel Moïse two years ago. A Kenyan delegation has held meetings with Haitian police officials, weeks after the Kenyan government offered to lead a multinational team in tackling the country’s extreme gang violence. We hear from a local businessman on what life is like for ordinary citizens. In the aftermath of the coup in Niger, false claims and misinformation are being shared online, adding to the ten...
Aug 23, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Saudi border guards are accused of the mass killing of migrants along the Yemeni border in a new report by Human Rights Watch. The report says hundreds of people, many of them Ethiopians who cross war-torn Yemen to reach Saudi Arabia, have been shot dead. We delve into the intricacies of coup attempts, as David Otto, Director for Geneva Centre for Africa Security & Strategic Studies shares insight on the crucial factors that determine their success or failure. Plus we speak to Nigerian music...
Aug 22, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast South Africa to host Brics summit but Russia’s President Putin will only join by video link. On the agenda global economic and security matters and the creation of new financial institutions. More than 1,400 people starve to death in Ethiopia's northern Tigray since food aid was suspended because of theft And Ghanaian immunologist Yaw Bediako on how to expand research and keep African scientists on the continent.
Aug 21, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Zimbabwe prepares to hold its second election since the 2017 overthrow of President Robert Mugabe, with many disenchanted at a lack of progress under his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa. Many Zimbabweans face economic hardship, and some young people are turning to drugs to fill the void created by a lack of opportunities. Plus, we look at the impact of the World Bank saying Uganda won’t receive new loans from the institution, as a result of the country passing a stringent anti-LGBTQ+ law in May. Ug...
Aug 18, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Libya's political chaos continues. Two powerful militias clashed this week in the capital Tripoli. Calm was restored but over 50 people were killed, and more than 140 were injured. A group of opposition parties in South Africa have been meeting to form an alliance to dislodge the ruling African National Congress from power. But why was the EFF excluded? And a petitioner calls on members of parliament in Kenya to ban the use of popular social media app TikTok. He argues that the application is co...
Aug 17, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast After the military junta ruling Niger closed the country’s airspace, we look at the potential implications for the country, and for aviation in Africa more broadly. The move will force commercial aircraft to find alternative routes, increasing flight times and prices for passengers. Plus, we take a look at why Ethiopia is desperate to establish permanent access to a sea port, and why recent comments from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed have provoked the ire of the country’s coastal neighbours. And we ...
Aug 16, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast We speak to a farmer who had to flee Sudan due to the ongoing conflict, while the UN is warning that 20 million people in the country face severe acute hunger. What makes a good leader? We'll find out from young Burundian leadership coach Iris Irumva. And we bring you the second part of our special looking at the story behind the prison escape of convicted criminal Thabo Bester, a case that has transfixed South Africa.
Aug 15, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast A group of data labellers in Kenya want parliament to step in to offer protection from mental trauma caused by reviewing harmful content. Plus, the story of the girl in Mauritania who was arrested for blasphemy over an essay she wrote for school. And how the case of escaped convict Thabo Bester is shining a light on prison privatisation in South Africa.
Aug 14, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast ECOWAS leaders have ended their emergency summit on the coup in Niger. They say all options are still on the table. They have also called for the immediate activation of a standby force. A new report accuses the Angolan police of serious human rights abuses. And a global survey explores the hopes and aspirations of the world's youth.
Aug 11, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Endless queues and empty bakery stalls. Earlier this week, around 200 Tunisian bakers staged a sit-in after a government decision to stop selling them subsidised flour, a move threatening the closure of hundreds of bakeries. Five people, including a police officer have died in violent protests related to the taxi strike in Cape Town, South Africa. We'll hear a first hand account of what it's like to live through the Cape Town minibus taxi strike in South Africa. And we'll also hear from the Nige...
Aug 10, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast With the coup leaders in Niger refusing demands to hand power back to the elected government, the West African regional block ECOWAS is considering options including a military invasion of the country. ECOWAS is due to hold an extraordinary summit in Nigeria on Thursday to discuss its next move. Plus, we speak to the reporter behind a new BBC investigation into the 'spiritual healers' sexually abusing women in Morocco and Sudan. And we hear about what the African Development Bank is doing to imp...
Aug 09, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Russia's Wagner mercenary group is "taking advantage" of instability in Niger, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told the BBC. What does this mean and what is next for Niger? Surviving the bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi's capital 25 years ago, a woman reveals her children face still stigma due to her injuries. More than 200 people died and thousands of others were injured in the 1998 al-Qaeda attacks. Authorities in the South African province of Limpopo have introduced the ‘midnight...
Aug 08, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast BBC Africa Eye reveals abuse of elderly people at a care home in Kenya. Secret filming shows staff mistreating residents and leaving medical conditions untreated. Plus, we look at the current intensification of fighting in Ethiopia's Amhara region. And Nigeria lose to England at the Women’s World Cup, but will Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses maul France?
Aug 07, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast BBC Africa Eye reveals abuse of elderly people at a care home in Kenya. Secret filming shows staff mistreating residents and leaving medical conditions untreated. Plus, we look at the current intensification of fighting in Ethiopia's Amhara region. And Nigeria lose to England at the Women’s World Cup, but will Morocco’s Atlas Lionesses maul France?
Aug 07, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast We bring you reaction to the Senegalese authorities banning TikTok, which activists have been using to coordinate a string of recent protests. Tensions are high in the country, with repeated protests over legal cases against opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, whose PASTEF party was dissolved by the government this week. Plus, ahead of Zimbabwe’s elections later this month, we speak to democracy activist Namatai Kwekweza about the state of politics in the country. And we break down the story behind...
Aug 04, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kenya’s government has ordered cryptocurrency company Worldcoin to stop signing up new users, due to privacy concerns over the company’s eyeball scanning technology. We look at some of the concerns around digital identities. What's behind the spate of Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark? South Africa's Banyana Banyana reach the knockout stage of the Women's World Cup for the first time with a stoppage-time goal.
Aug 03, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Niger’s military rulers reopen the borders, as Mali and Burkina Faso warn ECOWAS not to use military force to reinstate deposed president Mohamed Bazoum. Plus, following the jailing of its leader Ousmane Sonko, Senegalese authorities dissolve the country’s largest opposition party Pastef. And we take you to the exhibition showcasing Nigerian artists in a part of South London famous for its connection to the diaspora.
Aug 02, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Mauritius, Morocco and Madagascar are leading African countries in making inroads in the fight against smoking, which claims over 8 million lives annually around the world. What's behind the staying power of South Africa's second largest opposition party the EFF and its leader Julius Malema? And Nigeria makes it into the Women's World Cup knockout phase
Aug 01, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast West African regional body ECOWAS has threatened a military response to the coup in Niger, if deposed president Mohamed Bazoum is not reinstated within a week. Plus, we look at the impact of Kenya suspending the reopening of its border with Somalia after 11 years of closure, due to attacks by al-Shabab militants. And we look at the impact of South Africa adopting sign language as the country’s twelfth official language.
Jul 31, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Nigerian doctors tell us why they called an indefinite strike, as we discuss some of the challenges facing the country’s healthcare sector. Plus, Mali relegates French, removing it as one of the country’s official languages, after the recent constitutional referendum. And we’re in Kenya, where it’s hoped electric boda boda taxis will save drivers from rising fuel costs while saving the environment.
Jul 28, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Soldiers in the West African country of Niger have announced a coup on national TV. They said they had dissolved the constitution, suspended all institutions and closed the nation's borders. From street child to MP- Meet the man who led the campaign to abolish the death penalty in Ghana. The journeys of church bells that herald Africa's new role as the beating heart of Christianity. Hannah Ajala follows the Marinelli bells to Nigeria where she interviews one of the country's most famous pastors,...
Jul 27, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Devastating wildfires along Algeria's coast and in neighbouring Tunisia have destroyed homes and killed at least 34 people. We focus on the efforts to bring them under control. We look ahead to the second Russia-Africa summit starting tomorrow in St Petersburg. How much leverage do African leaders have? Plus, why polyamory is a growing lifestyle choice among some young Africans.
Jul 26, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast We look at how illicit financial flows are costing African governments billions of dollars in lost revenue and affecting spending on vital public services. Plus, as the conflict in Sudan surpasses the 100-day mark, we examine international efforts to mediate an end to the fighting. And we take you to the new International African American Museum in South Carolina in the United States.
Jul 25, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
