WHY SOUTH AFRICA HAS NO NAME

Why is South Africa named after its location?

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NIGER NATIONALISES WATER

After 22 years of French monopoly over its drinking water, Niger's new government has nationalised the water sector. The government of Abdourahamane Tchiani came to power in July 2023 via a military coup. Now it has created a new state-owned water company, La Nigérienne des Eaux.

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GALLOWAY: WESTERN DEMOCRACY A FAILURE

Whenever the West preaches about ‘democracy’, it often leaves one question unanswered: Democracy for whom? In this video clip from Beijing, George Galloway rips the mask off. The former UK Member of Parliament argues the differences between Western political parties are mostly aesthetic, as ‘both sides’ band together to further Western interests, when it comes down to it. The reality is no political party has done much to improve the lives of their citizens.

China has been demonised in the West as being an ‘autocratic’ state. However, the country is responsible for perhaps the biggest improvement in living conditions for humanity. From 1979 to 2019, China lifted about 800 million people out of poverty, equivalent to more than 10 times Kenya’s population. Its home ownership rate is more than 90 per cent.

Continued….While the United States was bombing West Asia and Africa, and jailing journalists who dared expose their crimes, China has been building high-speed rail and investing in technologies of the future, such as artificial intelligence and robotics.

As Africa kicks development into high gear, pressure to emulate the West has been unrelenting. For example, we saw the French-backed Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) sanction and threaten to invade Niger after a Western darling was ousted last year. Meanwhile, the new military governments of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso seem to be part of a very small club, advancing their people’s interests.

Are Africans comfortable with Western-style leadership or is there a need to reconvene and strategise? Let us know in the comments.

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CHALLENGING WESTERN NARRATIVES ON AFRICA

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of 'Americanah,' 'Half of a Yellow Sun' and 'Purple Hibiscus,' delivered a powerful speech at the 2019 Hilton Humanitarian Symposium and Prize Ceremony. The event's theme was 'The Future of Humanitarian Action: Seeking Higher Ground,' as it was held in Beverly Hills, California, USA.

In this speech excerpt, she said a US professor said her first novel lacked 'African authenticity.' She pointed out that when Africans are not poor or when they drive cars, people in the West do not consider that African enough. We must take a page from the award-winning author's book and reclaim our narrative of what is African.

Do you agree with Adichie? Let us know below.

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FUN TIMES WITH BLOOD DIAMONDS

'Blood diamonds' are the term for gemstones mined in a war zone and sold to finance an insurgency, an invading army's war efforts, terrorism, or a warlord's activity. Statistic vary, but as much as 15 per cent of diamonds in the world have their origins in conflict.

Nevertheless, a young person from the United States recounts a recent date with a blood-diamonds dealer, who took her from South Africa to Uganda to exchange the gems for cash.

SOMALIA & CUBA’S ROCKY RELATIONSHIP

The presidents of Cuba and Somalia were all smiles at the recent COP 28 summit in Dubai. They met on the sidelines as if old-time friends. But it wasn’t always like that. For decades the relationship between their countries was on the rocks over geopolitics.

But things have been patched up, their interests have married again and a win-win future is being promised.

Let us know your thoughts below.

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NIGER SEVERS MORE FRENCH LINKS

Niger’s new military government continues to sever ties with former coloniser France. It's now completely pulled out of The International Organisation of the Francophonie, which promoted French language, culture and co-operation on foreign policy issues. The move comes after Niamey expelled French troops and diplomats following last summer’s coup.

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This is Margaret Douglass. She was jailed in Virginia in 1854 for teaching Black children in the U.S. how to read - something that was illegal under anti-Black literacy laws in force in many southern states at the time.

Despite the law, a year earlier, she and her daughter had set up a school for free African children in Norfolk, VA. Twenty-five kids enrolled.

But then the police turned up, and the school was shut down. Douglass and her daughter were up before a grand jury, and she received a one-month jail sentence.

After her release, she wrote a memoir. In it, she shed light on White anxieties about educated Blacks - saying many southerners feared that this would lead to more slave revolts. They feared the idea of Africans acquiring knowledge, and this did not end with slavery.

Continued….Kwame Nkrumah's editorial assistant, June Milne, claimed his book 'Neo-Colonialism, The Last Stage of Imperialism' spurred the US into sponsoring the coup that removed him. It caused such a stir on its release that America cancelled its aid to Ghana before the CIA sponsored a coup to remove Nkrumah from office.

Knowledge is power, and power is what they couldn't stomach us having.

Tupac Shakur said it best when he rapped:
"It just don't pay to be, a truth-tellin' MC
They won't be happy 'til I'm banned
The most dangerous weapon: an educated Black man"

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ARGENTINA NOT JOINING BRICS - CHANCE FOR AFRICA?

Argentina did not join the BRICS economic club on New Year's day as planned - after its new president, Javier Milei, cancelled the move in late December 2023.

Argentina was among six countries invited in August 2023 during the BRICS summit in South Africa to join the group.

Milei has embarked on a radical policy shift away from a rising multipolar world, and is hedging Argentina's bets with the US. He is also a staunch supporter of Israel, pledging to move his country’s embassy to Jerusalem.

Now Argentina will miss out on friction-freer trade with BRICS members, who account for 46% of the global population.

Continued….That, say analysts, means it will be less able to profit from its vast lithium reserves, as demand for batteries for electric vehicles and energy-storage systems grows. Argentina is forecast to surpass Chile to become the second-largest lithium producer in the world by 2030. It currently has 13 lithium projects in the pipeline, more than any other country.

Could Argentina’s BRICS exit open the door for a resource-rich African country to take its place? There is no shortage of African states that can offer what Argentina was set to bring in.

Think of the Democratic Republic of Congo. With its abundant mineral resources, is this a chance for Kinshasa to free itself from the clutches of Western hegemony and join BRICS? Can Zimbabwe, with a lithium reserve of 42-million tonnes - one of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium resources - finally escape US sanctions by becoming a BRICS member? Namibia, Ghana and Mali also have considerable lithium resources to meet global demand.

Let us know what you think!

Cartoon Credit @vicmann.

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