AfricaIs aCountry

Tell ’em to skate

Africa Is a Country Podcast
African Five-a-Side Podcast

Tell ’em to skate

By
Sonja Sugira

The first, and only, half-pipe in East Africa, built entirely by the youth from the Kampala suburb of Kitintale.

Images: Yann Gross.

The Uganda Skateboard Union has (deservedly) been getting a lot of love lately. They’ve been featured in the UK Independent, GOOD, and now in the current issue of Guernica. Much of that has been facilitated by Swiss photographer Yann Gross, who has also documented the skateboarders. He had initially gone to Kampala to visit a girlfriend.

When I first saw the skate park, I couldn’t believe it… the first and only East African half pipe was located in the middle of nowhere: a field with some goats running around.

I decided to stay a few months in the suburb and every day I went to skate at the park. The kids were still learning how to ride on the board, so I was able to teach them some tricks. Then, we organized a contest in order to promote skateboarding in Uganda, since nobody knew about the game. We visited the local newspapers and TV channels and even invited the National Council of Sports Assistant.

By all accounts, this is the first, and only, half-pipe in East Africa, built entirely by the youth from the Kampala suburb of Kitintale. Now, with some assistance from Birdhouse Skateboards and the Tony Hawk Foundation—who are both sponsoring the park on an ongoing basis—they’ll be skating for a while. Needless to say, I like this.

And I love the photos. For more, you can read their blog here (highly recommended for some great action shots), visit their website here, and see more pictures on Gross’ site here.

Sorry, I’ve had Gyptian’s “Hold Yuh (the remix featuring Nicki Minaj) in my head for a couple of weeks now.

Further Reading

Progress is exhausting

Pedro Pinho’s latest film follows a Portuguese engineer in Guinea-Bissau, exposing how empire survives through bureaucracy, intimacy, and the language of “development.”

The rubble of empire

Built by Italian Fascists in 1928, Mogadishu Cathedral was meant to symbolize “peaceful conquest.” Today its ruins force Somalis to confront the uneasy afterlife of colonial power and religious authority.

Atayese

Honored in Yorubaland as “one who repairs the world,” Jesse Jackson’s life bridged civil rights, pan-Africanism, empire, and contradiction—leaving behind a legacy as expansive as it was imperfect.

Bread or Messi?

Angola’s golden jubilee culminated in a multimillion-dollar match against Argentina. The price tag—and the secrecy around it—divided a nation already grappling with inequality.

Visiting Ngara

A redevelopment project in Nairobi’s Ngara district promises revival—but raises deeper questions about capital, memory, and who has the right to shape the city.

Gen Z’s electoral dilemma

Long dismissed as apathetic, Kenya’s youth forced a rupture in 2024. As the 2027 election approaches, their challenge is turning digital rebellion and street protest into political power.

A world reimagined in Black

By placing Kwame Nkrumah at the center of a global Black political network, Howard W. French reveals how the promise of pan-African emancipation was narrowed—and what its failure still costs Africa and the diaspora.

Securing Nigeria

Nigeria’s insecurity cannot be solved by foreign airstrikes or a failing state, but by rebuilding democratic, community-rooted systems of collective self-defense.