THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

May

12

2023

South Africa walks a tightrope of international alliances – it needs Russia, China and the west

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RELATIONS between the People’s Republic of China and Russia on one hand and the West, specifically the US, on the other have become increasingly tense in recent times. For the US, China and Russia represent authoritarian regimes. For China, the US is the source of global insecurity. Author THAPELO TSELAPEDI, Politics lecturer, Rhodes University With a few exceptions like France and the UK, the West sees the presence of Russia and China in the BRICS bloc (which also includes Brazil, India and South Africa) as contaminating the entire bloc as well as their relations with the individual BRICS member countries.…

May

11

2023

By The African Mirror

Namibia and South Africa’s ruling parties share a heroic history – but their 2024 electoral prospects look weak

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

NAMIBIAN president Hage Geingob used his recent state visit to South Africa to also address a meeting of the national executive committee of the governing party, the African National Congress (ANC). This underscored the ANC’s historic ties to Namibia’s governing party, South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo). According to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who also heads the ANC, the party had a “wonderful engagement” with Geingob, who posted on Facebook: As former liberation movements, we learn from one another, a manifestation of the deep bonds of solidarity formed during our struggle against oppression. Authors HENNING MELBER, Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political…

May

11

2023

By BIRD STORY AGENCY

Getting women’s rights, right

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

WE have all come across headlines that begin with "Women in tech", "Women in business", "Women in politics", or "Women in sports". While these headlines may seem well-intentioned, with time, the ongoing use of the phrase "Women in…" has become disempowering for women. Although there is a need to highlight underrepresented bodies and communities, using qualifiers reinforces the idea that the existence of women, first, is an anomaly and, secondly, that their presence in specific spaces continues to be uncommon. Using titles like 'Black Woman', 'Queer Woman', and 'Career Woman' may seem empowering, but it is not. This practice has…

May

06

2023

By NDEY TAPHA SOSSEH

May 3 reflections honouring contributions of journalist victims and friends of the Gambian media

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

WEDNESDAY, May 3, 2023, marked the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day with the global theme, Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of Expression as a driver for all other human rights. As a journalist, I have always believed that all other rights are intrinsically linked to the right to express oneself. This year’s theme falls in line with principles I have tried to uphold over the past 24 years. At the start of my journalism career as a cub reporter in 1998, I did not articulate it. Then, I was no activist or human rights defender. NDEY TAPHA…

May

09

2023

By The African Mirror

Sudan’s conflict will have a ripple effect in an unstable region – and across the world

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SUDAN, Africa’s third largest country by land mass, shares borders with seven countries in an unstable region. This means that Sudan’s current conflict will have economic, social and political ripple effects across a number of countries, including the Central African Republic, Egypt, Libya, Chad, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Author JOHN MUKUM MBAKU, Professor, Weber State University The conflict might also affect countries further afield, including the US, Russia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, which have close economic ties with Sudan. It could destabilise the Sahel region and the Horn of Africa and jeopardise US interests in…

May

06

2023

By The African Mirror

Sudan: the longer the conflict lasts, the higher the risk of a regional war

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE 2019 Sudan uprisings that ousted long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir and installed a military-civilian transitional government gave hope that the northern African country could finally transition to democratic rule. The country has been ruled by the military for most of its independence since 1956. Author MAY DARWICH, Associate Professor of International Relations of the Middle East, University of Birmingham But Sudan’s bumpy transition to democracy has come to a complete halt. The country now faces the worst conflict in its history as a full-blown civil war – with external entanglements – looms. The Sudanese armed forces and a paramilitary force…

May

06

2023

By The African Mirror

Honouring contributions of journalist victims and friends of the Gambian media

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

WEDNESDAY, May 3, 2023, marked the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day with the global theme, Shaping a Future of Rights: Freedom of Expression as a driver for all other human rights. NDEY TAPHA SOSSEH As a journalist, I have always believed that all other rights are intrinsically linked to the right to express oneself. This year’s theme falls in line with principles I have tried to uphold over the past 24 years. At the start of my journalism career as a cub reporter in 1998, I did not articulate it. Then, I was no activist or human rights…

May

05

2023

By The African Mirror

Paul Kagame could be president of Rwanda until 2035 – what’s behind his staying power

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RWANDA’S ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), recently concluded its 16th congress. This also marked 35 years of its existence. The centre piece, however, was the election as chairman, yet again, of the country’s president Paul Kagame. With 99.9% of the votes – 2,099 of the available 2,102 votes – Kagame was re-elected and put on course to potentially run for yet another electoral term in 2024. Author DAVID E KIWUWA, Associate Professor of International Studies, University of Nottingham The constitution allows Kagame to seek re-election until 2035. That’s a long way off and he has not indicated when…

May

04

2023

By The African Mirror

World Bank and IMF are Western tools with doomed future

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, stated the obvious at a California conference when she lamented the gradual decline of the US dollar in global trade. Addressing the 2023 Milken Institute Global Conference in the US this week, she said: “There has been a gradual shift away from the Dollar, it was 70% of (world) reserves, now it is slightly under 60% .” ABBEY MAKOE Well, the writing has been on the wall for a long while. The US dollar is certainly losing its once unassailable dominance as a kind of an omnipotent world’s main…

May

02

2023

By AIDAN LEWIS and TOM PERRY

Analysis: Sudan risks long conflict as entrenched rivals struggle for control

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SUDAN'S warring factions are locked in a conflict that two weeks of fighting shows neither can easily win, raising the spectre of a drawn-out war between an agile paramilitary force and a better-equipped army that could destabilise a fragile region. Even with hundreds of people killed and the capital Khartoum turned into a war zone, there has been little sign of compromise between army commander Abdul-Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commonly known as Hemedti. Foreign mediators have struggled to arrest the slide to war: a series of ceasefires brokered by the United States and others…