Emmanuel Macron’s Twitter fingers

The stuff we couldn't cover the second week of December, so we compiled them here in byte sizes.

Emmanuel Macron, French President.

First up, Emmanuel Macron continues his streak of African agitation. This week his target –on Twitter — was Algeria. Previously, Macron acknowledged that France’s colonial war in Algeria was “a crime against humanity.” He didn’t give specifics or apologize to Algerians for atrocities committed during the war (during one French military airstrike in 1945, over 40,000 Algerians were bombed to death), Now he wants Algeria to allow the return of “thousands of Algerians who fought for the French army against Algeria during the war of independence from 1954 to 1962” and who have lived in France since then.

Speaking of Algeria: December 6 was the anniversary of Frantz Fanon’s death from leukemia at the age of 36. Some thoughts on a couple new books (published here on Africa is a Country) that seek to present the philosopher to us in a new way.  [A few, older pieces that are also worth revisiting on Africa is a Country about Fanon’s legacy are here, herehere and here–Ed]

Regarding the ongoing migrant crisis in Libya, we must look to countries of origin, destination, and transit to bear a joint responsibility for the migrants.

In fact, it is better looked as a confluence of many displacements and migration crises.

Muammar Gaddafi’s son is coming back to Tripoli and could stand for next year’s Libyan elections. 

Has Angola had a revolution of its own? Or are the new wide-ranging reforms still in the context of a political “musical chairs”?

It appears that in Soviet Russia, sorry, modern-day Nigeria, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad is extorting, assaulting and intimidating citizens. People have had enough, and there is widespread call for wider Nigerian police (ranked worst in the world) reform. #EndSARS

After paying $700m for the last 10 years, in installments, the Swiss government will return the final $320m money the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha stashed away between 1993 and 1998.

Another leader from Kano, Sanusi Lamido, puts forth another way to look at the Sahel and how West African nations and North African one can work together. 

Kenyan’s national elections made all the headlines. But the down-ballot votes show the success of devolution and suggest a path for addressing the ever-widening inequality; and

As international pressure grows on tax-dodging and financial havens, Mauritius looks to diversify its economy. 

Further Reading

From Naija to Abidjan

One country is Anglophone, and the other is Francophone. Still, there are between 1 to 4 million people of Nigerian descent living in Côte d’Ivoire today.

De Naïja à Abidjan

Un pays est anglophone et l’autre est francophone. Quoi qu’il en soit, entre 1 et 4 millions de personnes d’origine nigériane vivent aujourd’hui en Côte d’Ivoire.

L’impérialisme ne localise pas

En 1973, Josie Fanon a interviewé Oliver Tambo, alors président de l’ANC, à propos d’Israël et de l’apartheid en Afrique du Sud. Il est désormais disponible pour la première fois depuis sa publication originale.

On Safari

On our annual publishing break, we ask: if the opposite of “weird” is normal, what if normal is equally problematic?

Zau is a mirror

Inspired by a tapestry of Bantu folk stories, the video game ‘Tales of Kenzera: Zau’ is rich with mythology that many Africans know as our heritage.

Food wars

The theft dispute between Onezwa Mbola and Nara Smith reveals the consumerist undertones behind content for women in the online creative economy.

Not an obvious hero

In a new film, former UN-Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld is portrayed as a defender of a fledgling postcolonial state. But his role in the Congo Crisis is more complicated.