Egypt is still recovering from celebrations over January’s Africa Nations Cup. There was the minor achievement: winning the title for the seventh time and for the fourth time in a row. Then there was the major achievement: a crushing 4-0 victory over Algeria, who had three players sent off, in the semifinals.
If you’re uncertain why news and sports commentators continue to discuss Egypt’s successes, and in particular the win over Algeria, with such national pride and vigour, just think Germany and England. That’s possibly a fair resemblance to Algeria and Egypt.
But not entirely. In most issues, bilateral relations between Egypt and Algeria are stable. Even in music, there is mutual pride: the two countries share the famous female artist “Warda”, born in Algeria and finding fame in Egypt. However, sports encounters, especially football, always, without fail, lead to tensions.
New EA correspondent Seth Kikuni Masudi files his first report:
Nigeria is preparing to celebrate 50 years of independence and sovereignty on 1 October this year. Any expectations, however, have been dampened by recent rioting in the city of Jos between Muslim and Christian gangs.
Religious conflicts have always been an important issue for the Federal Republic, with Muslims prevalent in the northern part of the country and Christians in the south. Jos, with its central location, has always been a battleground for the two communities. There were similar conflicts in 2001, 2004, and 2008, killing more than 2000 people and displacing many others.
The main cause of these clashes remains, according to the local population, provocation and manipulation by religious leaders. Those leaders, on the other hand, claim no responsibility and associate the trouble with poverty and unsolved tribal issues.
In the absence of President Umaru Yar’adua, who has reportedly been in hospital in Saudi Arabia since November 2009, interim leader Goodluck Jonathan ordered the deployment of the army and imposed a curfew on Jos, apparently restoring calm.
The wider issues, which include but are far beyond the headline arrest of the young Nigerian militant Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab for his alleged attempt to blow up a US-bound airliner on Christmas Day, remain. “Terrorism” and religious conflicts are likely to dampen the 50th-anniversary excitement for some time to come.
On Monday, Africans and the rest of the world witnessed an unusual dialogue when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was at an open forum with young people in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A student took the microphone and asked what Mr. Bill Clinton was thinking about the involvement of China and the World Bank in the Congo. To this interesting question, Clinton’s reaction was fast and severe: “My husband is not the Secretary of State; I am!”
OBAMA: Good morning. It is an honor for me to be in Accra, and to speak to the representatives of the people of Ghana. I am deeply grateful for the welcome that I’ve received, as are Michelle, Malia and Sasha Obama. Ghana’s history is rich, the ties between our two countries are strong, and I am proud that this is my first visit to sub-Saharan Africa as President of the United States.
I am speaking to you at the end of a long trip. I began in Russia, for a Summit between two great powers. I traveled to Italy, for a meeting of the world’s leading economies. And I have come here, to Ghana, for a simple reason: the 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Voters go to the polls in South Africa today. It is a betting certainty that the African National Congress will retain power, with Jacob Zuma as President. Christian Hennemeyer argues in Global Post, however, that the evolution from “dictatorship to democracy” is still impressive:
South Africa’s extraordinary, ordinary elections
Jacob Zuma, the man who will in all likelihood be elected South Africa’s next president, has been accused of corruption and rape.
Helen Zille, the white mayor of Cape Town and head of one of the main opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance, has been called a racist and a colonialist — although these charges are widely seen as unfounded.
The other main opposition party, the Congress of the People (Cope) — which made history it broke away from the African National Congress last year — seems more interested in internal wrangling than in mounting a serious campaign to be the election spoiler.
The good news is that the run-up to South Africa’s national elections looks and sounds a lot like routine politics in the western world, full of venom and vituperation, and less like the brutal and bogus polls held by many other developing nations. After the bloodshed and chaos of recent elections in Kenya and Zimbabwe, for example, South Africa’s exercise in democracy is cause for celebration. Read the rest of this entry »
Last week, in a series of stories we featured on Somalia, the issue of dumping of toxic waste off the Somalian coast emerged. I have just discovered this story in Al Jazeera from 11 October 2008:
‘Toxic waste’ behind Somali piracy
By Najad Abdullahi
Somali pirates have accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukranian ship they captured, saying the money will go towards cleaning up the waste.
The ransom demand is a means of “reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years”, Januna Ali Jama, a spokesman for the pirates, based in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said. Read the rest of this entry »
Amidst general statements about the response to piracy off the Somalian coast, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s four-point plan announced earlier this week, Teri Schultz of Global Post assesses the possibility of the fight being taken into Somalia:
Leaders to discuss taking pirate fight to land
BRUSSELS — The dramatic tale of the Capt. Richard Phillips’ rescue in the Gulf of Aden earlier this week captured the attention of the world and trained unprecedented attention on the increasing problem of Somali piracy.
Now U.S. and European officials are increasingly discussing the possibility of bringing the fight on land to address the roots of the problem in Somalia. Read the rest of this entry »
Yesterday Tristan McConnell of Global Post and Enduring America’s Josh Mull offered analyses of Somalia, and the response to its political, paramilitary, and social situation, which went far beyond “Kill the Pirates” rhetoric. Writing for URB Magazine, K’Naan, a Somali-Canadian poet and musician, offers this perspective with the context of recent Somali history and ongoing “Western” activities off the Somali coast:
Why We Don’t Condemn Our Pirates in Somalia
Can anyone ever really be for piracy? Outside of sea bandits, and young girls fantasizing of Johnny Depp, would anyone with an honest regard for good human conduct really say that they are in support of Sea Robbery? Well in Somalia, the answer is: it’s complicated. Read the rest of this entry »
Christina Baghdady writes for EA:
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Voters go to the polls in South Africa today. It is a betting certainty that the African National Congress will retain power, with Jacob Zuma as President. 
Last week, in a series of stories we featured on Somalia, the issue of dumping of toxic waste off the Somalian coast emerged. I have just discovered this story in Al Jazeera from 11 October 2008:
Amidst general statements about the response to piracy off the Somalian coast, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s four-point plan announced earlier this week, Teri Schultz of Global Post 
Yesterday 
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