SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS - The African Mirror

Oct

31

2023

Agoa trade deal talks: South Africa will need to carefully manage relations with the US and China

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa must tread carefully in its economic relationships to avoid being caught in the escalating tension between East and West, and more specifically China and the US. The country’s hosting, and the outcome, of the 2023 Agoa Summit should strengthen its role in diplomatic relations and contribute towards safeguarding the country’s economic interests. ARNO J. VAN NIEKERK, Senior lecturer in Economics, University of the Free State From 2-4 November 2023, the US and 35 sub-Saharan African countries will meet in Johannesburg for the 20th Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (Agoa Forum). It entails strengthening trade and investment ties…

Oct

28

2023

By The African Mirror

The thorny issue of ‘race’ in South African politics: why it endures almost 30 years after apartheid ended

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

“RACE” continues to have much political salience in South Africa, a country where, in the past, perceived differences of skin colour were used to construct a hierarchy of “races”, with whites at the top, to justify their political economic domination. The move to constitutional democracy in 1994 committed the country to non-racialism. However, almost three decades after the end of apartheid, politicians of different stripes continue to use “race” as a wedge issue to mobilise support. ROGER SOUTHALL, Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand The question is why. Two answers stand out. The first is that racial oppression has…

Oct

20

2023

By The African Mirror

Bird flu in South Africa: expert explains what’s behind the chicken crisis and what must be done about it

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AN outbreak of avian flu – a highly contagious viral infection that affects wild birds as well as poultry – has hit poultry farms in South Africa. Two different strains are causing outbreaks in the country – A(H5N1) and influenza A(H7N6). A specialist in poultry health, Shahn Bisschop, answers some questions put to him by The Conversation Africa. SHAHN BISSCHOP, Senior lecturer, specialist poultry veterinarian, University of Pretoria What strain has broken out in South Africa? The outbreak caused by a highly pathogenic (HPAI) strain of H7N6 avian influenza is causing the most concern at present. The strain was first…

Oct

07

2023

By Prof Robert Bragg

South Africa’s poultry sector in crisis

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE poultry sector in South Africa is currently undergoing serious challenges. The ongoing load shedding and power disruptions have put tremendous pressure and additional costs on the industry, which makes producing poultry products extremely expensive. One company (Astral Foods) has spent an additional R919 million as a result of load shedding alone. This has obviously had a significant impact on the profitability and sustainability of the company. Now to make matters worse – the local poultry industry has been hit with a major avian influenza epidemic. Avian Influenza (AI) is a viral disease of birds, including poultry. The term “AI”…

Oct

03

2023

By The African Mirror

Trade unions and the new economy: 3 African case studies show how workers are recasting their power in the digital age

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

FROM US car factories to public sector workers in Nigeria and South Africa, strikes by trade unions continue unabated among the established sectors of the working class. In Detroit in the US, workers are resisting contract employment. In Nigeria, they are angry over the rising cost of living and in South Africa, municipal workers are striking for better wages. EDWARD WEBSTER, Distinguished Reserach Professor, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to build sustainable worker organisations as companies employ more people on a casual basis in the digital age. Work has become more…

Sep

30

2023

By The African Mirror

Charms and rituals are used by criminals in Nigeria – should police deploy spiritual security too?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

CRIME is among the major challenges confronting Nigeria as a nation. The pervasiveness of crime has repeatedly called into question the effectiveness and efficiency of the Nigeria Police Force. This is despite their exclusive reliance on modern policing strategies and techniques. USMAN A. OJEDOKUN, Sociologist/Criminologist, University of Ibadan Traditionally, crime-related matters have been handled through what’s known as “spiritual security”. This is a knowledge system that involves the use of amulets, charms, rituals and talismans for protection, power and clairvoyance. As sociologists specialising in criminology, we were interested in what the Nigerian police personnel had to say about these mechanisms…

Sep

29

2023

By The African Mirror

Lagos building collapses: we used machine learning to show where and why they happen

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

BUILDING collapses have become a major menace in Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos is the business hub of the country and has its largest seaport and airport. With an estimated population of 15.4 million, it is the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa and the second largest in Africa after Cairo. The city has two distinct geographical areas: Lagos Island and Lagos Mainland, connected by three bridges. Lagos Island is the historical nucleus of the city. This area is renowned for its eclectic mix of architectural styles, a blend of modern skyscrapers, remnants of colonial-era structures and bustling traditional markets. It serves as…

Sep

27

2023

By JOHN IRISH and EDWARD MCALLISTER

Analysis: West losing sight of Sahel after France announces Niger withdrawal

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

FRANCE'S decision to pull 1,500 troops from Niger leaves a gaping hole in Western efforts to counter a decade-long Islamist insurgency and could bolster Russian influence across the vast, insecure scrublands of West Africa, analysts and diplomats said. Niger was the West's last key ally in the central Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert until a July 26 coup brought in a military junta which called for France to leave. France's forces have already been kicked out of neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso following coups in those countries, weakening its influence in its former colonies amid a wave of anti-French…

Sep

23

2023

By AMIRA OSMAN, AMIRA OSMAN, Tshwane University of Technology; AKRAM AHMED ELKHALIFA and TALLAL ABDALBASIT SAEED

Khartoum’s burning tower: architects on the destruction of a city – and what it’ll take to rebuild

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THERE has been a continued escalation in fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The destruction of the capital Khartoum continues – physically, economically, socially and culturally – as buildings are bombarded and homes looted. One of the city’s landmark skyscrapers, the Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower, was recently engulfed in flames. We asked three Sudanese architecture experts – Amira Osman, Akram Elkhalifa and Tallal Abdalbasit Saeed – about the skyscraper and the destruction of the city. Osman also interviewed Khartoum-based architects Arwa Ahmed and Hassan Mahmoud for this article as part of her ongoing research.…

Jul

13

2023

By The African Mirror

Gold fraud: The Goldenberg scam that cost Kenya billions of dollars in the 1990s – and no one was jailed

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE Goldenberg scandal in the early 1990s is Kenya’s largest documented gold fraud. The scheme involved Goldenberg International Limited, which pretended to export gold and diamonds, and in exchange received substantial subsidies from the government for “earning” foreign exchange. Kenyan businessman Kamlesh Pattni – who was at the centre of the scandal and was charged with fraud but eventually acquitted – was recently named in a new investigation into gold fraud. This time his operation is allegedly being run through Zimbabwe from his base in Dubai. Economists Roman Grynberg and Fwasa Singogo, who have researched the Goldenberg case, and the…