We look at the implications of Cameroonian-born Prof. Achille Mbembe — one of the fiercest critics of France’s grip on Africa — accepting Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to organize the next France-Africa Summit. We also examine Nigeria’s ban of Twitter, after the American social media giant deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweets for threatening Biafra secessionists with violence. Buhari’s government now says it will arrest and prosecute any Nigeria who tweets.
In this episode we look back at some of the most innovative entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed, and why they are struggling to get their brilliant ideas off the ground. Instead of assisting them, African governments continue to welcome dumping of plastics and other toxic materials that seem to make worse the problems these innovators are trying to solve.
It seems like one of the most dangerous jobs in the world is Prime Minister of Ivory Coast. Two former occupants of the office have died in the past year, and the current one, Patrick Achi, was recently hospitalized in France. Thankfully, we have our very own Emmanuel Nado to explain what the hell is going on in his home country.
Continue reading “Episode 59: The curse of the Ivorian Prime Minister’s office”
Word from the motherland is President Idriss Déby, Chad’s ruler for the last 30 years, dies in the front line fighting rebels in the northern part of the country. Do we at Africa Straight Talk believe it? One thing we believe, though, is that Dr. Stephen Karanja, the infamous chairman of Kenya Catholic Doctors Association who swore in the name of the Virgin Mary that Covid-19 was a hoax, died of — you guessed it …
Following the murder of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Minn., Tom Gitaa of Mshale, the Minneapolis-based African community newspaper, joins us to discuss what it means for African immigrants like Mayor Mike Elliot, who have ventured into political leadership positions traditionally held by white people.
Elliot, who was born in Liberia and was elected mayor of Brooklyn Center in 2018, has found himself having to walk the thin line between supporting Black Lives Matter protests against racist policing and standing with the institution of white supremacy he supposedly commands.
Byb Bibene has toured the world as a professional dance educator, choreographer, and cultural organizer. He is also a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught at many other colleges, high schools, and arts institutions across the United States. Bibene is also an independent financial professional and strategist helping families, individuals, and students in the African and African-American communities close the wealth gap and plan for their future.
Born in the Republic of the Congo, Bibene completed his Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Finance at the Marien Ngouabi University before moving to France, and eventually to the United States. To contact him, follow this link to his LinkedIn profile.
Whenever anyone in the west tries to express concern over the state of affairs in our continent, our leaders often begin chanting the “African solution for African problems” mantra. Now that President John Magufuli of Tanzania tried the African solution of prayers and failed miserably by dying of suspected of Covid-19, will our leaders start looking for real practical solutions?
Continue reading “Episode 54: Will Africa learn any lessons from Magufuli’s death?”
Fely Tchaco performing at the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, California. Photo: Courtesy of Felymusic.com.
Ivorian-American singer, songwriter performer and visual artist, Fely Tchaco, shares a remarkable story of resilience and how making music helped her deal with trauma from a violent childhood, and from the abusive relationships she got into as an adult.
Continue reading “Episode 53: How creating music has helped Ivorian songbird Fely Tchaco deal with trauma”
In this episode, we offer “thoughts and prayers” for Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli, Africa’s Covid-19 denier-in-chief, who hasn’t been seen in public since Feb. 27 and is rumored to be hospitalized outside his country.
Word from the Motherland is that Magufuli, 61, who defied World Health Organization recommendations and stopped reporting his country’s coronavirus cases in May, has finally caught the virus and is in intensive care in a hospital somewhere between Kenya and India.
For much of the past year, Tanzanians have gone about their business as if the pandemic doesn’t exist, although some acknowledge there is an increase in cases of “pneumonia.” As you would expect, Magufuli is an anti-vaccine religious wacko who believes, “Vaccinations are dangerous. If white people were able to come up with vaccinations, a vaccination for AIDS would have been found.”
And, oh, he has a PhD in Chemistry, though, we suspect he fried his brains by getting high on the chemicals he was supposed to use for laboratory experiments.
If it’s true that Magufuli has finally caught the virus he’s been blowing kisses to for a year, does he deserve to live? And if the man known as “the Bulldozer” bulldozes through the virus, will he finally accept that it’s real?
Adoubou Traore, an Ivorian-born educator, activist, and community organizer, has dedicated his life to helping African immigrants to navigate the complex U.S. immigration system. He minces no words in challenging successful African immigrants to do more for the new arrivals in their community. Traore is the co-founder and executive director of African Advocacy Network (AAN), a non-profit organization that collaborates with community partners, individuals, faith-based groups, and immigration advocates to serve refugees and immigrants in Northern California.
AAN is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization that relies on grants and donations to provide services. To make a tax-deductible donation click here.
