|
The wheel turns, but it turns slowly. Who would have imagined, when the Nigerian activist Wole Soyinka wrote Death and the King’s Horseman in 1975, that he would become the first African to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986? Or that, in 2022, the play would become a Netflix movie in the country’s Yoruba language? Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman is a reflection on the loss of traditional values and the pervasive moral corruption of colonialism. Babatunde Onikoyi reflects on its journey to the global stage.
For that matter, who would have imagined that a young actress from South Africa – Thuso Mbedu – would be starring alongside US icon Viola Davis in a blockbuster action movie? The Woman King, about the women warriors of Benin fighting European colonisers, signals a renewed interest in African history and decolonisation. Of course, the true history of the “amazons” of Dahomey is far less glamorous than all that, as anthropologist Dominique Somda reveals.
When the Nyege Nyege Festival was first staged in morally conservative Uganda in 2015, who’d have thought it would become a global hotspot for electronic dance music, attracting thousands of enthusiasts from across the planet? It’s been banned and unbanned by Ugandan politicians twice (so far) in the process. As Amos Ochieng explains, the festival – on this weekend – is walking a line between the country’s morality police and a young population eager to be
part of a global network.
|
|
Charl Blignaut
Arts, Culture and Society Editor
|
|
Babatunde Onikoyi, University of Regina
Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman, is a film of a play by author and activist Wole Soyinka. It premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival.
|
Dominique Somda, University of Cape Town
From Lovecraft Country to Black Panther to a statue in Benin, the “amazons” of Dahomey continue to trend in global popular culture.
|
Amos Ochieng, Makerere University
The four-day, non-stop dance party has been banned and unbanned twice in four years.
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Dorrit Posel, University of the Witwatersrand
High unemployment rates are among South Africa’s biggest challenges. Three of the president’s advisors talk through what is needed to change the status quo.
-
Timothy Njagi Njeru, Egerton University
Kenya’s new administration needs to prioritise investing in sustainable solutions to fix perennial maize shortages.
-
Martin Magidi, University of Cape Town
Skills training in Zimbabwe excludes students from poor backgrounds. The informal sector should be used as a training ground for them.
|
|
Health + Medicine
|
Ajike Saratu Omagbemi, Babcock University
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is common among women and girls in Nigeria but not many know its impact on their lives and reproductive health.
|
|
|
-
Candice Bailey, The Conversation
Small, organised groups of South Africans who are stopping undocumented foreigners from using hospitals bring the issue of migrants accessing healthcare into the spotlight.
-
Micheal Boachie, University of the Witwatersrand
Lowering obesity and overweight rates will lift the burden on healthcare spending.
-
Charles MacRobert, Stellenbosch University
Confusion over which government department should regulate the tailings dams may explain the Jagersfontein tragedy.
|
|
Environment
|
Henry Ngenyam Bang, Bournemouth University
Cameroon has many potentially dangerous gas-charged lakes. But not much has been done to mitigate the risks they pose.
|
|
|
-
Stephen Appiah Takyi, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST); Owusu Amponsah, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)
Ghana’s government should shift to a community-based and voluntary approach to forest restoration and conservation
-
Olasunkanmi Habeeb Okunola, University of the Witwatersrand
Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital city, is notorious for frequent building collapses. A risk reduction expert offers five recommendations on how to prevent these disasters.
|
|
Politics
|
-
John J Stremlau, University of the Witwatersrand
Both presidents are committed democrats operating in hostile environments. They are also committed to forging mutually beneficial ties.
-
Nisar Majid, London School of Economics and Political Science
Millions of Somalis are in urgent need of aid. But not enough is being done to reach marginalised groups.
-
XN Iraki, University of Nairobi
Kenya’s new president campaigned on economic promises, but meeting them won’t be easy or instant.
-
Michael Jennings, SOAS, University of London
Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, Africa has slipped from its precarious but tangible place in UK political discourse.
-
Adam Haupt, University of Cape Town
The British empire brought the practice of commons enclosure to Africa to claim land. Its effects continue today at sites like the Liesbeek River in Cape Town.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
Jules Siedenburg, University of East Anglia
The research reviewed the available evidence on microalgae as food supplements, livestock feeds, biofertilisers, biostimulants and biochar feedstocks.
|
| |
|
|
20 September 2022
•
Johannesburg
|
|
22 September 2022
•
Lagos
|
|
27 September 2022
•
Johannesburg
|
|
29 September - 2 October 2022
•
Pretoria
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
Would you like to republish any of these articles?
|
|
It’s free to republish, here are the guidelines.
Contact us on africa-republish@theconversation.com in case you need assistance.
|
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
