The Africa Issue #1: How Secondhand Clothes Are Killing Africa’s Economy
‘The Africa Issue’ is a new monthly brief aimed at rounding up collection of topics across the continent to help us all get to know more about the cultural and economic happenings in Africa.
For South Sudanese Refugees, Bedsheets Are a Reminder of Home and Hope — www.nationalgeographic.com
South Sudan, which became the world’s newest country in 2011, has been engaged in a civil war over the last few years as a result of opposing power conflicts between leaders. Over a million refugees have migrated across the border into Uganda, where they’re allowed to work, farm, and go to school, making Bidibidi one of the world’s largest refugee settlements. For many refugees, the milayas (bedsheets) are the only thing left from home — and a means to make a living. Women who learned how to make these beautiful ornate sewings in bedsheets, are now teaching young girls and started a collective for women to sew and sell milayas.
The Negative Economic Impacts of Secondhand Clothes in Africa
Secondhand clothes, discarded at thrift stores from overseas and then shipped thousands of miles to another continent, is a very lucrative business. Kenya alone imports about 100,000 tonnes of secondhand clothes a year, providing the government revenues from customs duties. Until the 1980s, high tariffs protected homegrown garment and other local businesses, and then trade programs backed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund started taking hold in African countries.
Tariffs were lowered and local factories had to contend with new and cheap competition, causing many to fail and shut down. African countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Togo and Uganda which are huge producers of cotton, from which clothes are made, remains some of the places where the sale of second-hand clothing is thriving. African economists argue that Africa cannot hope to build its own industry when it is flooded with cheap imports.
How Johannesburg’s Young Black Creatives Are Shaping The Future They Want
Twenty-four years after Mandela’s election, South Africa’s first post-apartheid generation is now coming of age. Young artists like Emtee, Nasty C, Moonchild Sanelly, and others, talk about their experiences growing up in a post-apartheid-but-still-segregated South Africa, gentrification of Johannesburg, and struggles of inferiority complex in comparison to their black UK and US counterparts.
Kenya’s Safaricom Pushes Innovation in Mobile Payment
Kenya mobile network operator Safaricom launched a platform that will allow its customers to send and receive money while they chat. The move is set to reinforce the dominance of its mobile money transfer service ‘M-Pesa’ advancing its ambition to become an innovative global business. The launch also positions Safaricom as a social networking site, allowing its near-30 million subscribers to send direct messages on a singular free platform and also help them conduct business meetings and enhance their commercial experience. Kenya’s government holds a 35% share in Safaricom which is majority-owned by the UK’s Vodafone Group, and boasts over 80% of the mobile money transfer service in Kenya.
Africa’s Scientists Finally Get Its Own Scientific Journal
www.theguardian.com
A new journal to showcase Africa’s often-overlooked scientific research has been launched to give its scientists better global recognition. ‘Scientific African’ which will be the first mega-journal in Africa, was unveiled at Africa’s biggest science conference, the Next Einstein Forum (NEF) conference. The publication will highlight pioneering work of scientists searching for cures to diseases like HIV and malaria and solutions to climate change
A Ghanaian entrepreneur uses recycled plastic to make cheaper roads and building blocks — qz.com
For Nelson Boateng, the plastics business is all he has known since he started working at a factory when he was 13. In 2015, Boateng’s company, Nelplast, which makes plastic shopping bags, was pushed to think of a way to keep the business alive. Using knowledge learned informally, he came up with a production process that mixes sand with shredded plastic and red oxide to make one-square foot pavement blocks.
At sale of $1 each, his company’s blocks are cheaper than the average price of $1.50 for a concrete block. His plastic-infused blocks have been used to pave some homes and to rebuild a pitted stretch of road in Ashaiman, the densely-populated township where he grew up.
Businesses Are Driving Towards pan-African Economic Integration
According to a new report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). African companies, including airlines, financial institutions, and telecoms operators are leading the efforts of pan-African economic integration. Between 2006–2007 and 2015–2016, average annual African foreign direct investment — defined as money African companies invested in African countries — more than doubled from $3.7 billion to $10 billion, the report shows. In the same period, average annual intra-African exports also grew from $41 billion to $65 billion.
African leaders are also making moves to ease economic integration through policies such as the recent agreement to create the African Continental Free Trade Area, also African countries launched the Single African Air Transport Market aimed at boosting connectivity and reducing the cost of travel across the continent just as several African countries have relaxed visa rules for African nationals.
Chart of the week
What Else I’m Currently Reading
- Swaziland officially changed its name to ‘eSwatini’, 50 years after its independence from the British.
- In NYC? Check out these 8 African Art events this month.
- The 2 South African women who stopped the Russia nuclear deal
- Floods in Kenya and Somalia displace 100,000s of people
- How Egypt/Liverpool’s Mo Salah is breaking down cultural barriers, one goal at a time.
Watch “Winnie” — The Winnie Mandela Story — www.netflix.com
This is a brilliant documentary which examines the incredible and complicated legacy of one of history’s polarizing figures, a woman both beloved and demonized: Winnie Mandela.
Music: Africa to the World by Sun-El Musician — open.spotify.com
This brief roundup was curated while listening to Africa to the World, an album by Sun-El Musician. My fav tracks: Akanamali, Bamthatile.
Thank you for reading through this first African edition! Hope you found a couple interesting articles to spark your next happy hour or office water-cooler conversation. I’d definitely appreciate your feedback on the format, content and interest for future briefs.
Which article did you find most interesting this week?
Cheers,
Valentine
