SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS - The African Mirror

Jan

04

2024

Coca-Cola in Africa: a long history full of unexpected twists and turns

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

A new book called Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African tells the story of how the world’s most famous carbonated drink conquered the continent. It’s a tale of marketing gumption and high politics and is the product of years of research by critical writing lecturer Sara Byala, who researches histories of heritage, sustainability and the ways in which capitalist systems intersect with social and cultural forces in Africa. We asked her some questions about the book. SARA BYALA, Senior Lecturer in Critical Writing, University of Pennsylvania What do you hope readers will take away? There are three main takeaways. The first…

Dec

16

2023

By KRISTOF TITECA

Who paid the price for Uganda’s refugee fraud scandal (and who didn’t)?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ANTWERP, Belgium In 2018, as Uganda was catering for hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese escaping conflict across the border, a major corruption and mismanagement scandal hit the country's widely praised refugee programme. The scandal, which implicated both government officials and the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR), made global headlines. Yet almost five years on, many of those most involved appear to have avoided legal or professional repercussions, Kristof Titeca, an associate professor of international development at the University of Antwerp in Belgium, believes. “Little meaningful accountability occurred on the side of the Ugandan government,” Titeca told The New Humanitarian, summarising the…

Dec

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Humiliation and violence in Kenya’s colonial days – when old men were called ‘boy’ and Africans were publicly beaten

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

WHEN King Charles visited Kenya in November 2023, many Kenyans renewed their demands for an official apology for atrocities committed by the British government during the colonial era. The widespread human rights abuses during the Mau Mau rebellion are the best-known of these atrocities. Yet we should not forget more mundane, everyday acts of domination. BRETT SHADLE, Professor, Virginia Tech I am a social historian who has studied race, violence, colonialism and white settlement in Kenya. From the start of colonialism in 1895 to the drawing down of the Union Jack on December 12 1963, black Kenyans were constantly subjected…

Nov

30

2023

By The African Mirror

Sharpeville: new research on 1960 South African massacre shows the number of dead and injured was massively undercounted

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ON 21 March 1960 at 1.40 in the afternoon, apartheid South Africa’s police opened fire on a peaceful crowd of about 4,000 residents of Sharpeville, who were protesting against carrying identity documents that restricted black people’s movement. The police minimised the number of victims by at least one-third and justified the shooting by claiming that the crowd was violent. This shocking story has been thus misrepresented for over 60 years. NANCY L CLARK, Dean and Professor Emeritus, Louisiana State University WILLIAM H. WORGER, Professor Emeritus of History, University of California, Los Angeles Our new research retells the story of Sharpeville,…

Nov

28

2023

By The African Mirror

Southern African troops versus M23 rebels in the DRC: 4 risks this poses

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, EDITORS CHOICE

The security situation in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continues to deteriorate. The region comprises North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri provinces. It’s about seven times the size of neighbouring Rwanda. DELPHIN R. NTANYOMA, Visiting Researcher, University of Leeds The violence in North Kivu has drawn most of the attention of the DRC’s neighbours and the international community. This close attention is aimed at preventing possible confrontation between Rwanda and the DRC. Since late 2021, North Kivu has been confronted by M23 rebels who have executed people and forcibly displaced thousands within the province and…

Nov

25

2023

By TITO CORREA, NYASHA CHINGONO and MIGUEL LO BIANCO

In Quito and Harare, advice and warnings about dollarization for Argentina

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

FROM Zimbabwe's capital Harare to Quito in Ecuador, green bills circulating on the streets and in shops with images of U.S. presidents reflect a big choice that has been made: picking the dollar over the local currency to bring economic stability. The two countries offer a lesson - and warnings - for Argentina, the latest nation globally to toy with the idea of ditching an embattled local tender in favour of the greenback, a signature campaign pledge of President-elect Javier Milei. Dollarization or the part-way option of a peg to the dollar has generally been triggered as a last-ditch option to…

Nov

23

2023

By The African Mirror

Ghana: Akosombo Dam disaster reveals a history of negligence that continues to this day

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

RECENT heavy downpours in the Lower Volta area of Ghana led to the worst flooding in the region’s history. The flooding was caused by a spillage (a deliberate release of water) from the Akosombo Dam, the country’s biggest hydroelectric dam. Over 26,000 people were displaced. No deaths have been officially announced. The last recorded spillage was in 2010. STEPHAN MIESCHER, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara The Volta River Authority, the state agency that manages the Akosombo Dam, opened the floodgates to release pressure on the dam after unusually high rainfall. By September, Volta Lake, the vast, 400km-long…

Nov

22

2023

By The African Mirror

South Africa’s police are losing the war on crime – here’s how they need to rethink their approach

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa’s crime statistics for the third quarter of 2023 show that people continue to face a serious problem of violent crime, especially murder and attempted murder. The country’s per capita murder rate for 2022/23 was the highest in 20 years at 45 per 100,000 (a 50% increase compared to 2012/13). GUY LAMB, Criminologist / Senior Lecturer, Stellenbosch University In response to this crisis, the South African Police Service has reconfigured its policing strategies and plans. Yet, these approaches offer very little innovation. They mostly reaffirm the way the police have typically pursued policing for the past three decades –…

Nov

21

2023

By BRIAN GANSON, ANNE SPENCER JAMISON and WITOLD JERZY HENISZ

Projects funded by the World Bank Group’s private sector arm fuel violent conflict – it’s time to reform the system

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

TO what extent does private investment help developing countries to reduce conflict and violence and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals? This is a hotly debated issue. Most international institutions such as the World Bank Group take the stance that the problem is not enough private investment. So they mobilise public resources to subsidise and protect private sector actors with the goal of greatly increasing foreign direct investment. Meanwhile, community, labour and human rights advocates – particularly in fragile and conflict-affected countries – tend instead to see the dominant patterns of foreign direct investment as part of a continuing history…

Nov

09

2023

By The African Mirror

World Bank suspension of Uganda funds over anti-homosexuality law: what this says about the struggle over funds and sovereignty

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, EDITORS CHOICE

THE World Bank issued a statement on 8 August 2023, announcing that it had effectively suspended all new public financing to Uganda over concerns with the country’s anti-homosexuality law, which “fundamentally contradicts the World Bank Group’s values”. According to Human Rights Watch, the anti-homosexuality act violates multiple fundamental rights guaranteed under Uganda’s constitution and a number of international human rights agreements which the government of Uganda has signed. The act was first proposed in March 2023, and adopted by the Ugandan parliament in early May. JON HARALD SANDE LIE, Research Professor, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs The World Bank, and…