Africa

Photo: Eritreans protest next to the European Commission headquarters in Brussels. Credit: Klara Smits.

Eritrean Refugees in the Netherlands Want Ban on Diaspora Tax by Asmara

By Reinhardt Jacobsen and Klara Smits

AMSTERDAM | BRUSSELS (IDN) – Hundreds of Eritreans have been taking to the streets in various cities and refugee camps all over the world against the Eritrean regime to express solidarity with the unusual protests that took place in Asmara, the country's capital, on October 31. The latest in the protest series was on December 22, 2017 in Brussels next to the European Commission headquarters.

Among the protesters' demand is the closure of the Eritrean embassy in Brussels, which is responsible for the Netherlands, because people who have fled the country must fear the ‘long arm' of the regime and a culture of fear perpetrated by Asmara, according to a Dutch research report. This has prompted a debate in the Netherlands about the Eritrean regime's repressive activities in the country.

: Klara Smits; THE WORLD; Africa; 22 December 2017

Photo: Professor Calestous Juma. Credit: The Breakthrough Institute

Controversial Kenyan Advocate of GM Seeds Dies in Boston

By Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) –The Kenyan director of the Science, Technology and Globalization Project at Harvard University, Professor Calestous Juma, passed away in Boston, Massachusetts, on December 15, at the age of 64.

Juma served as Professor of the Practice of International Development, and was affiliated with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Center for International Development, and the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.

: Ramesh Jaura; NEWSBRIEFS; 19 December 2017

Photo: Patrice Nganang at the Paris Book Fair, by Georges Seguin CC BY-SA 3.0

Writers Protest the Arrest of New York Professor in Cameroon

By Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The African Literature Association and other professional associations of writers and scholars are demanding the release of a Cameroonian-American writer and university professor, detained on December 6 without explanation at the airport in Douala, Cameroon.

Patrice Nganang, who teaches at Stony Brook University's cultural studies and comparative literature department in New York, was reported missing from a connecting flight to Zimbabwe where he was expected to meet up with his family.

The previous day he had published an article on the French website Jeune Afrique that was critical of the Cameroonian government’s handling of a series of strikes by the minority English-speaking population which is seeking equal rights with the majority French-speakers.

: Global Information Network; NEWSBRIEFS; 19 December 2017

Photo: Winner of the new student category, Moussa Ngom attending CESTI, Senegal. Photo: Hyppolite Valdez Onanina

African Fact Checkers Expose ‘Fake News’ And Win Prizes

By Global Information Network

NEW YORK | JOHANNESBURG (IDN) – Striking a blow against fake news, reporters from Kenya, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Cameroon scooped the top prizes this year in a competition organized by Africa Check, the leading fact-check organization on the continent.

Founded by the French news service AFP in partnership with the journalism department of the University of the Witwatersrand, Africa Check holds public figures accountable by sorting fact from fiction.

As well as producing its own reports, the website of Africa Check provides tips and advice on how to fact-check. It also offers a library of databases and fact-checking tools.

: Global Information Network; NEWSBRIEFS; 19 December 2017

Photo: Dutch appeal court has ruled in favour of Mirjam van Reisen, professor and human rights activist in a case filed by Bahibi, the center of the Eritrean intelligence in the Netherlands. Credit: Tilburg University.

Dutch Court Rules Against 'Center of the Eritrean Intelligence Network'

By Martin Plaut*

AMSTERDAM (IDN-INPS) – In 2015, Dutch professor and human rights advocate Mirjam van Reisen was interviewed by Dutch radio station 'BNR Nieuwsradio' about people with ties to the Eritrean regime being employed as interpreters at the Dutch Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND).

Van Reisen is professor at the Tilburg University and Leiden University.

In response to her remarks in this interview, the then chair of the Young People's Front for Democracy and Justice (YPFDJ) in the Netherlands, a nationalist Eritrean Diaspora youth organisation connected to the Eritrean ruling party, the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), started legal (interim injunction proceedings) against Van Reisen.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 15 December 2017

Photo: Zimbabwe’s new president Emmerson Mnangagwa (left) with finance minister Patrick Chinamasa (right), who held that portfolio also under former President Mugabe. Credit: zimbabweelection.com

Sparkle of Hope Fast Disappearing in Post-Mugabe Era

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – When Robert Mugabe resigned late November as president of Zimbabwe, hopes were rekindled that the country would finally be set on the course of a fresh start after 37 years of widely criticised authoritarian rule of this Southern Africa nation.

For years, under Mugabe's regime, the Southern African nation’s state security apparatus dominated the country and was responsible for widespread human rights violations, with Mugabe maintaining the revolutionary socialist rhetoric of the Cold War era, blaming Zimbabwe's economic woes on conspiring Western capitalist countries.

: Jeffrey Moyo; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 December 2017

Photo: EU and UN officials flanked by Kenya’s Environment Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu (first from the right among the seated officials) during the signing of Euro 17.2 million from the EU to fund initiatives to combat wildlife killing and trafficking in Africa. Credit: Justus Wanzala | IDN-INPS.

EU & UN Aid African Countries in Fighting Wildlife Trafficking

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – African and Asian countries face a huge challenge in protecting their wildlife from the illegal killing and trafficking that has already endangered some species.

Over the years, national and regional efforts to combat the threat have met with mixed success and wildlife and their products continue to be sold in many countries around the world.

Figures released in March 2017 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) under its Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme showed that by 2016 the trend in poaching of African elephants – which had increased steadily since 2006, peaking in 2011– had been halted and stabilised. Nevertheless, the levels of illegal killing still remained unacceptably high overall.

: Justus Wanzala; UN INSIDER; 10 December 2017

Photo: Less child marriage, fewer teen pregnancies, and more years spent in school would boost Uganda’s overall earnings. Credit: World Bank/Rachel Mabala.

World Bank Explains Uganda Benefits of Ending Child Marriage

By Ronald Joshua

NAIROBI (IDN) – With a new report, the World Bank is striving to put an end to child marriages in Uganda deploying a carrot-and-stick approach. Subsequently, the report titled 'Accelerating Uganda’s Development: Ending Child Marriage, Educating Girls' argues that ending child marriage could generate $3 billion per year for the East African country by 2030.

On the other hand, the perpetuation of child marriage would lead to lower educational attainment for girls and their children, higher population growth, substantial health risks, higher intimate partner violence, and lower earnings for women, as well as higher poverty.

: Ronald Joshua; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 December 2017

Galleries, Fairs Offer African Art Feast in Paris

By SWAN

Image: Paintings from Ebony Curated gallery at AKAA. PARIS (IDN-INPS) – Fans of African art in France have been spoilt for choice this year, with an abundance of exhibitions around the country, particularly in the capital Paris

During the spring, Art Paris Art Fair featured Africa as its “guest of honour”, with works from all over the continent, while the Louis Vuitton Foundation dedicated its vast space to art from South Africa and other countries in the region.

Paintings, sculptures and photographs have all been on view, with established and emerging artists showcased. The highlights of the year so far include the thrilling Also Known as Africa (AKAA) art and design fair and the highly praised exhibition of photographs by Malian icon Malick Sidibé, titled Mali Twist and running until Febuary 25, 2018.

: THE WORLD; Africa; 06 December 2017

Photo: Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta on a state visit to Ghana in July 2017. Credit: Malta President's Website

Need to Perceive Africa from an African Point of View

By Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta

Following are extensive extracts from the speech delivered by Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta, at the 17th session of the UNIDO General Conference 'Partnering for Impact: Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals' in Vienna on November 27, 2017. Li Yong was re-appointed for a second term (2017-2021) as the Director General of the Organization at the opening of the session. – The Editor

VIENNA (IDN) – Two years have passed since the adoption of the United Nations’ Agenda 2030. Its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals are still the main benchmark for the international community, to work for the aspirations of humanity, for effective global development in a holistic and an integrated way.