Africa

Photo: Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba. Credit: Foreign and Commonwealth Office of Gabon.

Whereabouts of Ailing Gabonese President Being Debated

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) - Gabonese President Ali Bongo is receiving medical treatment in London after his health deteriorated during a visit to the city, according to people familiar with the matter.

But news of the absent president was immediately contradicted in an official press release this week in a pattern common to many ailing leaders. The leader of this oil-producing country is merely spending time at his London residence while on a short period of leave, the official statement read. He is undergoing routine medical checks and will soon return to Gabon.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 September 2019

Photo credit: twitter.com/antonioguterres

UN Chief Applauds Japan-Africa Partnership Through TICAD

By Taro Ichikawa

YOKOHAMA (IDN) – "I see Africa as a dynamic continent of opportunity where winds of hope are blowing ever stronger. TICAD has played a critical role in focusing international dialogue on Africa, built on the twin principles of African ownership and international partnership," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres kicking off the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7). The United Nations, UN Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and the African Union Commission (AUC) co-hosted the conference in Yokohama city.

: Taro Ichikawa; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 September 2019

Photo: Aerial view of Sochi, located on the Black Sea coast. CC BY-SA 3.0

Sochi Summit Expected to Open Russia’s Door to Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – As Sochi, a Russian city located on the Black Sea coast, prepares to host African leaders, experts have been discussing the possible outcome of this first high-level event in the history of Russian-African relations, with the heads of all states of the African continent invited, as well as leaders of major subregional associations and organisations attending.

According to official sources here, the summit on October 24 will play special attention to the current state and prospects of Russia's relations with African countries and to the expansion of the political, economic, technical and cultural cooperation.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 30 August 2019

Photo: Musicians perform on the streets of Maputo, Mozambique, on International Jazz Day 2019. Photo: Mauro Vombe

Peace Through Jazz Music

The Trumpet Is a ‘Cool’ Instrument to Unite People

By Franck Kuwonu from Africa Renewal

NEW YORK (IDN) – Each year, on April 30, music lovers around the world celebrate International Jazz Day to “honour jazz and its enduring legacy, as well as its power to bring people together,” says Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), which works to promote global peace, justice and rule of law.

Jazz events held each year in different countries around the globe culminate in the International Jazz Day, a star-studded musical concert in a major city. This year it took place in Melbourne, Australia. Other cities have hosted the event since 2012, when the UN headquarters in New York City hosted the inaugural.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 August 2019

Photo: National Museum of Slavery (Portuguese: Museu Nacional da Escravatura) located in Morro da Cruz, Luanda, Angola. Source: Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0

Reframing the History of Slavery in Angola and the U.S.

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – If the U.S. has 35,000 museums, a writer asked in 2014, why is only one about slavery? And if the wealth of this country was built on the backs of enslaved people from Africa, why has that story been vastly under-reported in our media, in our schools and in our political discourse?

The first question was asked by John J. Cummings III, a retired lawyer who redeveloped the Whitney Plantation in New Orleans as a memorial. The second question is being examined today by writers, artists, and citizens from perspectives running right to left.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 28 August 2019

Photo: Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Great Novelist Ben Okri Explains Why Nigeria Has Become a 'Literary Factory'

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – “In the beginning there was a river. The river became a road and the road branched out to the whole world. And because the road was once a river it was always hungry.”

This must be one of the best opening lines ever penned by a novelist. It’s the work of the Nigerian novelist, Ben Okri, who won English literature’s premier annual award, the Booker prize, for his book, The Famished Road.

: Jonathan Power; ARTS & CULTURE; 27 August 2019

Photo: President Filipe Nyusi addressing the Russian-Mozambique Business Forum on 21 August 2019 on Moscow. Credit: World Trade Center.

Mozambique Embraces Russia’s Investment Efforts

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – Keen to intensify and widen bilateral relations, Russia and Mozambique have signed several intergovernmental documents as well as business agreements during President Jacinto Filipe Nyusi’s visit here. Its highlights were talks with President Vladimir Putin and the Russian-Mozambican business forum, the first gathering of businesspersons from Russia and representatives of companies from Mozambique, in Moscow.

The importance of the August 20-23 visit is underlined by the fact that it has taken place in the run-up to the Russia-Africa summit in Sochi on October 23-24. However, because of general elections in Mozambique on October 15, President Filipe Nyusi might not be able to attend the summit, reports said.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Africa; 24 August 2019

Image credit: Cambridge Science Festival.

Artificial Intelligence Offers Benefits for Africa

By Hugo Bourhis *

NEW YORK (IDN | Africa Renewal) – When some people think of artificial intelligence (AI), they think of humanoid robots turning against their creators in an apocalyptic science fiction movie. In reality, AI is already playing an increasing role in many existing and evolving technologies, from driverless cars to translation software, virtual assistance devices and monitoring agriculture and biodiversity.

Satellite images provided by AI can assist policymakers in finding solutions to problems of hunger, drought and climate change, to name only a few.

: Africa Renewal; THE WORLD; Africa; 22 August 2019

Collage of photos of Sierra Leone's octahedral diamond crystal and chromite – from Wikimedia Commons.

Diamonds Leave Sierra Leone Villagers Poor and Sick

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since the first diamonds were found in the 1930s, the villagers of Kono, in the eastern region of Sierra Leone, have seen the wealth under their feet make others rich. Instead of joy, the shiny stones have left a trail of contaminated water, pockmarked mud brick houses, and countless other indignities.

Adi Kalie Bangura, a traditional healer, showed a reporter the black welts that dot his arms and legs as a result of drinking and bathing in poisoned water.

Sierra Leone is one of Africa’s leading diamond producers by value.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 August 2019

Photo: UN AIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima. Credit. UNAIDS

New UNAIDS Chief Winnie Byanyima Has an Ambitious Target

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – “The end of AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is a goal that is within the world’s reach, but I do not underestimate the scale of the challenge ahead,” says Winnie Byanyima, the new Executive Director of UNAIDS. Working with all UNAIDS partners, she will continue to speak up for the people left behind and champion human rights as the only way to end the epidemic.

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, appointed Byanyima as the UNAIDS head and UN Under-Secretary-General “following a comprehensive selection process” that involved a search committee constituted by members of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board. The UNAIDS Committee of Cosponsoring Organizations made the final recommendation on the appointment to the Secretary-General.