There’s not a single gold mine in France, but Paris boasts the world’s fourth-largest gold reserves - with an estimated 2,437 tonnes worth $112 billion. On the other hand, Mali has over 800 gold mines but has no gold reserves of its own. Why is that?

Mali was a French colony from 1892 to 1960 and during that time a lot of its wealth, including gold, was taken to Paris. France also dominated gold mines in other former colonies in West Africa.

Even after independence, Mali remains economically tethered to France via the Communauté Financière Africaine (‘African Financial Community’). This uses the CFA franc, which is controlled by the French Treasury. One of the rules is that central banks of the nations using the CFA franc have to keep at least 50% of their foreign currency reserves in France.

Continued….Following the overthrow of president Ibrahim Keïta in 2020, Mali embarked on a programme to regain control of its resources. In 2023, Mali introduced a new mining law and also signed a deal with Russia to build a gold refinery in Bamako. It has vowed to make gold ‘shine for ordinary Malians.’

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PLO: AFRICA WELCOMED OUTSIDERS, THEY ABUSED US

Over the ages, Africans have been welcoming to foreigners - but foreigners, often, have come with malicious intent to our continent. Watch Pan-African scholar PLO Lumumba get visibly emotional as he recites the long list of outsiders who came - and abused. What do you think about his final warning about China? Is he right that they too abuse us?

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The number of cheating students paying for fake qualifications has got so bad Nigeria’s government has banned recognising degrees from dozens of universities. On the barred list are institutions in the UK, US, Togo and Benin while others in countries like Kenya are being closely watched.

It comes after an investigative journalist exposed how criminal syndicates offer desperate students degrees for a fee. One picked up a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications from Benin without attending a single lecture. He got it within six weeks, when it would normally take a student four years of learning.

However, it's feared the blanket ban could affect 10,000 Nigerian students who're currently studying and have done nothing wrong.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Education says it’s investigating a further 107 universities over the scandal.

Has it gone too far, or not far enough?

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FARRAKHAN’S TAKE ON VIOLENCE

As the far right across the globe claims ‘replacement theory’ and ‘white genocide’ threaten Europeans, this 1990 throwback of Minister Louis Farrakhan hits back! The Nation of Islam leader challenged a white audience member on her fear of African ‘violence’ during an appearance on ‘The Phil Donahue Show,’ which broadcast on US television. In this controversial episode, Farrakhan tackled issues like reparations, racism and the need for self-determination.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.

HOLLYWOOD’S WHITE-MADE ‘BLACK’ CULTURE

Many non-Black people understand Black culture and identity through the lens of US TV and cinema. The problem is that the biggest sitcoms and movies often project a completely false picture of our community - one riddled with negative racial stereotypes. Typically, that’s because they’re noscripted and directed by Whites. This issue is picked up in this clip by podcasters Jr. and Autarchii, a.k .a. (and respectively) ‘The Bald Head - N - The Dread.’ They cite the pervasive trope of the Angry Black Woman with Attitude. They also note that these misleading portrayals not only reinforce false perceptions but can lead to mimicry in the community via the feedback loop of media consumption - almost as if sitcoms and movies are re-programming some of us into our worst versions of ourselves. What are your thoughts on this?

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NASSER: U.S. SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL IS THE PROBLEM

Today is the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser’s birthday.

A Pan-Africanist and Pan-Arabist, Nasser had ambitions of returning all of Palestine to the Palestinians. But he was dealt a blow by Israel’s pre-emptive 1967 attack, as a result of which Egypt lost Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula. Tel Aviv also took the West Bank from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria.

In this 1967 interview, he dished out some African advice that would serve US foreign policymakers well today - if they only listened to it. He argues that, as a simple matter of fairness, a superpower like the US shouldn’t take sides, but should equally listen to Arab voices and concerns.

Continued….Nasser’s view that US support for Israel is the problem is even more relevant today than it was in 1967. President Joe Biden has come out strongly in support of Israel, whose armed forces have killed over 23,000 Palestinians since October 7 - supposedly acting in self-defence.

Moreover, the US supplies Tel Aviv with $3.8 billion worth of arms annually, giving it seemingly unconditional support on the diplomatic front. And as the world awaits the outcome of South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ, analysts say Washington’s unconditional support makes it complicit.

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SOUTH AFRICA FM DESTROYS FAKE NEWS

Let’s be honest in reporting on the Palestine-Israel conflict, urged South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor.

She was responding to Cornelius Mulder, a member of the South African National Assembly. He had asked during Pandor’s 7 November address to the elected body if the South African government denies widespread claims of H*m*s beheading babies. US President Joe Biden later walked back his claim that he had seen images of decapitated babies. Israeli authorities also confirmed the claims are unverified.

Continued….Pandor amplified the facts that some quarters have been trying to downplay: The Palestinian people had been denied their human rights for long before the 7 October escalation in Gaza. Nearly 24,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed since the conflict between Palestine and Israel escalated 7 October.

In response to the ongoing horror, the South African government dragged Israel to the International Court of Justice on 11-12 January in an attempt to stop Tel Aviv’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip. South Africa’s legal application, filed on 29 December 2023, argues Israel is violating the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.

Tell us what you think of the South African official’s remarks.

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BULLETS VERSUS SONG IN SUDAN

One of the saddest parts of this ongoing war in Sudan between two greedy generals backed by greedy, external forces is the price that our Sudanese sisters are paying. As a result of this brutal conflict, the UN estimates that 4.2 million Sudanese women and girls in Sudan are at risk of gender-based violence. Several videos have surfaced online of Rapid Support Forces militia men stating r*pe as their ‘right’ in war.

Continued….Women always pay a heavier price in war, but the attack on women seems to have an extra layer of motivation because it was the Sudanese women, the Kandakas, who led the Sudanese revolution in 2018/2019 - a revolution that both generals in the Sudanese war have opposed, despite their attempts at lip service.

We are reposting this clip to remind those who need reminding of the strength and spirit of our Sudanese sisters who led the movement to topple Omar al-Bashir in 2019. In it, our sisters are chanting a song of the revolution in defiance of the power-hungry generals who, even back then, seemed destined to prevent Sudan from ever transitioning to a civilian-led democracy. They chanted about peace and reconciliation - saying bullets won’t stop a new generation of Sudanese from building a better future under civilian, not military, rule.

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TUTU STATUE FOR PALESTINE

In another show of support for Palestinians, a life-size statue of Archbishop Desmond Tutu draped in a special Palestinian-African scarf has been unveiled in Cape Town.

It’s been placed on the balcony of his foundation’s headquarters at the Old Granary Building. And it will stay there until a ceasefire is declared in Israel’s three-month war on Gaza that’s killed over 23,000 Palestinians.

Continued….Tutu was an outspoken critic of Israel’s policies which he likened to apartheid in South Africa, marked by the humiliation of checkpoints, confiscation of land for settlements, house demolitions and the confinement of Palestinians to blobs of territory. He visited the region several times, including as an emissary of the United Nations, and called for nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation through boycotts and sanctions. He believed, just like in apartheid South Africa, international isolation would play a major role in forcing change.

Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla, was at the statue’s unveiling and explained the scarf’s pan-African colours of yellow, green and red had been made intentionally for Africa at a Gazan factory.

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HERO’S WELCOME FOR SOUTH AFRICA’S LEGAL TEAM

Upon landing at Johannesburg Airport, the South African legal team was greeted with a thunderous ovation. The team is returning from the World Court based in The Hague, where they presented a legal case accusing Israel of committing the crime of genocide in breach of the 1948 Genocide Convention.

During their three-hour long presentation, the team detailed the brutality inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza - to wit, the mass killing of Palestinians, bodily and mental harm, forced displacement and food blockade, destruction of the healthcare system, and preventing Palestinian births.

It could take years for the ICJ to reach a final judgement, but today the people of South Africa have welcomed their heroes home.