3 things we found interesting
African Countries Brace for Coronavirus
Countries around the world are taking extreme measures to ward off the highly contagious coronavirus, including canceling flights to China, the epicenter of the global health crisis. But the fear is especially acute on the African continent, where strained healthcare systems are ill-prepared for an outbreak as severe as the one in the Chinese province of Wuhan, where hundreds have died and thousands have been infected in a matter of weeks.
Some experts fear the inevitability of the disease’s arrival in Africa, pointing to the explosion of Chinese trade and investment on the continent in recent years. In response, many countries have instituted airport screenings and quarantines, and Côte d’Ivoire, where the first suspected case was announced, installed thermal imaging technology. As African countries brace themselves for what could be coming, Africans in China are already living a nightmare. Tens of thousands of African students in China have found themselves quarantined on their campuses as a result of the outbreak. On Thursday, Quartz reported that the students are having trouble finding food and supplies, and some had not yet been contacted by their officials from their embassies.
African Ban
Under the specious label of “national security,” the Trump administration has extended limits that affect four African countries—Eritrea, Nigeria, Tanzania and Sudan. The inclusion of Africa’s biggest country is especially odd. While the administration had already been targeting Nigeria, this racist policy is effectively also a family separation one. Without falling into the fallacy of good vs bad immigrants, it bears highlighting that Nigerian immigrants have been among the most successful in the US. Nigeria is also a big us trading and tech partner, has a vocal contingent of Trump supporters. We hope to see the large diaspora mobilize and continue to support the overall overturning of all of this administration’s senseless policies.
Africans at The Grammys
With two African nominees, the competition was stiff in the Best World Music category at the 62nd Grammy Awards held a week ago. The trophy ultimately went to now four-time winner Angélique Kidjo. But the Beninese singer used her winner’s speech to highlight the accomplishment of her fellow West African competitor, Burna Boy, whose afro-fusion sound has received international recognition in the past couple of years. 2019 was the Nigerian singer’s most important year yet, with multiple sold-out shows, the release of his widely-praised album African Giant, and a feature on Beyoncé’s soundtrack for the Lion King live action film. Some critics regarded Burna Boy’s loss a snub, while others took issue with the limitations of the Grammy’s method of categorizing overall. Perhaps this is just one more sign of the Grammy’s increasing irrelevancy.
Did you know
What a 3,000 year old mummy sounds like
ECOWAS is debating imposing a two-term limit on presidents
Africa is colonizing the English language
Post colonialism does not exist in France
Vegetarianism goes (back?) to Africa
An Ivorian photographer took her lens to environmental destruction
A youth climate activist from Kenya stood up for herself after being cropped out of a photograph with other activists
The trailer for the film based on Franco-Rwanda rapper-turned-writer Gaël Faye’s “Petit Pays” dropped yesterday
Oh, also:
A feminist reading of Things Fall Apart
War, home and identity in Zimbabwe
The issues that caused Nigeria’s civil war haven’t abated
An audit of Russia’s growing footprint on the continent
[Long read] From foreign policy to global policy
Benin’s Vodou celebration
Peace & Love,
Anakwa and Katie