Africa Review 20/11

Dear reader,

I hope November is treating you well. It is, in case any case, already coming to an end. I am flying to Nairobi to attend the African Union — European Union Innovation Agenda Event (I know, the visuals are terribly uninspiring). I expect fruitful discussions on how to drive further (and better) AU-EU research and innovation cooperation. Here's the registration link, for those interested in attending.

POLITICS AND CONFLICT

Ethiopia and Tigray rebels sign aid and disarmament deal. Aid flows to Tigray. In Angola, dozens of former soldiers belonging to the presidential guard were jailed for fraud and embezzlement. President William Ruto is looking West. DRC: could Tshisekedi and the M23 rebels finally talk? Burkina’s transitional legislature takes office. On Alaa Abd El-Fattah, the Egyptian activist that inspired protests at COP27. He has ended his hunger strike.  The Africa-Europe Foundation has launched its annual report on the state of relations between the two continents. The rise of disinformation against MINUSCA, MINUSMA and MONUSCO. Wagner becomes a favourite target of JNIM jihadists. Understanding internally displaced people in Africa. Borges Nhamirre writes about Mozambique’s march towards authoritarianism. A 2-day event on the implications of COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine for Africa-Europe relations. Equatorial Guinea is going to the polls this Sunday. Getting the tone right in UK — South Africa relations. French withdrawal from Mali — the end of Operation Barkhane in the Sahel. Other countries will pull out too: Ivory Coast and the UK. No sanctions by the AU to Chad. Xi Jinping and Macky Sall meeting. A good interview to Malawi’s former president Joyce Banda. The Senegalese Plastic Man. 

ENVIRONMENT / AGRICULTURE

PCNS policy brief on a pan-African approach to food security. Another PCNS policy brief: regional market integration within the AfCFTA to further agri-food transformation and food security — the case of the Republic of Madagascar. The future of African food security. 

OTHER

Fela’s love songs — always a joy. An essential readings list by the author of Decolonize Museums. Dillibe Onyeama, Nigerian writer, known for becoming the first black person getting into Eton College, has died. Tijan Sallah's elegy to Chinua Achebe. Wake up, this is Joburg!

New Radical History Review issue: Historicizing the Images and Politics of the Afropolitan. Omeife, Africa’s first humanoid. Ghana’s informal residents show how social innovation can solve urban challenges. On what was thought of imperialism and decolonisation from the 1920s to 1970s. Poverty and Wealth in East Africa. Colonial racial capitalism. "I am simply exhausted by politics”. 20 years of the Afrobarometer. This is where I want to spend my weekend: Architecture and Politics in Africa. 

OPPORTUNITIES

The Republic is hiring for sub-editor. Three ERC starting grants “AfDevLives: The Afterlives of Development Interventions in Eastern Africa”. EURAXESS Africa held a webinar this week on Horizon Europe opportunities for Sub-Saharan African countries — the recording will be available soon.

All for now. Until next Sunday.

Cat 🐕