Olivia Ndubuisi
‘Sandwich’ helps tech giants avoid tax in Africa via the Netherlands and Ireland. Google's office at the airport residential area in Accra, Ghana, sits inside a plain white and blue two-storey building that could do with a coat of paint. Google, which made more than US$ 160 billion in global revenue in 2019, of which an estimated US$ eighteen billion in ‘Africa and the Middle East’, pays no tax in Ghana, nor does it do so in most of the countries on the African continent. Google Street View of the... ‘Sandwich’ helps tech giants avoid tax in Africa via the Netherlands and Ireland. Google's office at the airport residential area in Accra, Ghana, sits...
Emiel Martens & Wouter Oomen
Hungry children and white saviours are still very much present in campaigns by Dutch aid organizations. But also, many of the new aid campaign genres are problematic, observe media scholars Emiel Martens and Wouter Oomen. Every year they present the Fly in the Eye Award for the worst campaign on behalf of IDleaks, a Dutch non-profit organization committed to better humanitarian communication. What is going wrong, and how can it be done better? This week, Save the Children UK, the oldest... Hungry children and white saviours are still very much present in campaigns by Dutch aid organizations. But also, many of the new aid campaign genres are...
Marlene le Roux
What a sad week it has been, as we have witnessed acts of femicide, genocide and senseless killings. It seems unconscionable that a 14-year old girl could stab a 28-year old man to death. Kirvan Fortuin was a respected dancer, choreographer, and LGBTIQ+ activist, who ploughed his artistic talents back into the community of Macassar, the community from which he hailed. The arts is a powerful tool through which to engage communities, empowering them and giving a voice to the voiceless. The arts... What a sad week it has been, as we have witnessed acts of femicide, genocide and senseless killings. It seems unconscionable that a 14-year old girl...
ZAM Reporter
On 24 April, 2020, the al-Naba newsletter reported a massacre by a local affiliate of the transnational jihadist IS killing 52 villagers in Cabo Delgado, a province in the northern part of Mozambique. António Guterres, the United Nation Secretary-General warned that extremist groups are taking advantage of Covid-19 lockdowns to spread hatred and intensify the recruitment of young people. Tibor Nagy, the Assistant Secretary for the US State's Bureau of African Affairs, compares the IS operations in... On 24 April, 2020, the al-Naba newsletter reported a massacre by a local affiliate of the transnational jihadist IS killing 52 villagers in Cabo Delgado,...
Richard de Nooy
Amsterdam based South African writer Richard de Nooy envies his daughter's insistence to march. ‘Things are easier to judge from the helicopter’, I tweeted to a friend yesterday, when she expressed concern about the Black Lives Matter demo on the Dam, to which I’d been invited by my youngest daughter. She’s 19, but has been doing her own thing in Amsterdam for quite a while. I see her less often than I’d like, but when we do meet we talk about music, ambition, love, relationships, politics and... Amsterdam based South African writer Richard de Nooy envies his daughter's insistence to march. ‘Things are easier to judge from the helicopter’, I...
Kiza Magenda & Yannicke Goris
With more than 22 percent of its residents coming from over 220 foreign countries , the Netherlands is one of the most diverse nations in the world. As a result, the country is home to a variety of diaspora communities and organisations that represent them. It has been argued that these diaspora organisations could play a crucial role in making Dutch development policies and programmes more effective . At present, however, both the Dutch development sector and the Dutch government seem to struggle... With more than 22 percent of its residents coming from over 220 foreign countries , the Netherlands is one of the most diverse nations in the world. As a...
Benon Herbert Oluka
The death of George Floyd under the knee of now former Minnesota Police Officer Derek Chauvin shook me to the core, as it has a lot of people around the world. And yet I did not even watch the video of the heartbreaking incident. Just like I did not watch the video of the point-blank shooting of a boda boda rider by a Local Defence Unit (LDU) militia-man in Masaka district in central Uganda. And just like I have not watched videos of other violent or gruesome murders that seem to litter social... The death of George Floyd under the knee of now former Minnesota Police Officer Derek Chauvin shook me to the core, as it has a lot of people around the...
Mpanzu Bamenga
George Floyd is not dead He lifts his fist with us Who shout repeatedly, 'I can't breathe'. George Floyd is not dead not in Denver not in Atlanta not in New York not in Los Angeles not on the paved streets of Minneapolis where he died breathless while a police officer held a knee to his neck George Floyd is not dead he is present at all assemblies and law-givings he peers through the windows and into the hearts of people George Floyd who only wanted to live with dignity in the Minneapolis sunshine... George Floyd is not dead He lifts his fist with us Who shout repeatedly, 'I can't breathe'. George Floyd is not dead not in Denver not in Atlanta not in...
ZAM Reporter
In this piece on The Elephant , John-Allan Namu revisits a gruesome chapter in East-African history, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. On 16 May, 2020, exactly 26 years later, one of the prime instigators of this mass murder, Felicien Kabuga, was arrested in Paris, France. The arrest could have happened 17 years ago if Kenyan journalist William Munuhu, who was set to lead Kenyan and US authorities to Kabuga, was not murdered. "Kenyan police first claimed that he had killed himself by lighting a charcoal... In this piece on The Elephant , John-Allan Namu revisits a gruesome chapter in East-African history, the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. On 16 May, 2020,...
Hassan Ghedi Santur
I’m a sick man. My liver hurts. Maybe it’s my kidneys. I’m not really sure. I’ll be dead soon. We’re all dying here. The whole city is dying. We are stardust. We are stardust. We are star … dust. I miss my garden. I need to get back to my garden. This is no longer the city I used to love. The stench of death is all around us. It hangs in the air like diseased molecules. Mass graves are being dug in the outskirts of the city, the radio said. Every night, I stand on my balcony and watch my curfewed... I’m a sick man. My liver hurts. Maybe it’s my kidneys. I’m not really sure. I’ll be dead soon. We’re all dying here. The whole city is dying. We are...
Vanessa Offiong
Nigeria had been waiting for it, expecting it, anticipating it. But no one knew exactly as it came in. Only in hindsight would the country piece together the story of an Italian man who arrived by air in Lagos on March 24, infected with SARS-CoV-2. By four weeks later, 1,337 people had been infected, among whom 40 people had died, and 255 people had been discharged from hospital. The number of people released from hospital is encouraging but questions swirling about the virus are prompting concerns... Nigeria had been waiting for it, expecting it, anticipating it. But no one knew exactly as it came in. Only in hindsight would the country piece together...
ZAM Reporter
'People need help to comply with rules', say ex SA Revenue Service employees. Collecting tax and organising a COVID 19 lockdown have more in common than you’d think. In both cases, people have to be convinced to do something that is considered unpleasant, but that nevertheless needs to be done. In an op-ed published in South Africa , former South African Revenue Services (SARS) officials Ivan Pillay, Sridharan Kesavan* and Yolisa Pikie draw on their experience in getting people to pay their taxes... 'People need help to comply with rules', say ex SA Revenue Service employees. Collecting tax and organising a COVID 19 lockdown have more in common than...
Ayo Adéné
While America’s black people die at 2 to 3 times the rate of the white population, and like a wicked witch suffering from nocturnal insomnia, the Orange Man announces a midnight defunding of fire-fighting WHO, mid-blaze, peak-inferno. I feel frustrated that no matter the slew of impeachable offenses and costly display of unpresidential conduct, Americans continue to pretend they have a person fit to remain in their White House. And in a world joined at the hips by Corona yet severed at the limbs by... While America’s black people die at 2 to 3 times the rate of the white population, and like a wicked witch suffering from nocturnal insomnia, the Orange...
ZAM Reporter
A response to the Coronacrisis. The threats that are hanging over the African continent with regards to the spread of COVID-19 demand our individual and collective attention. The situation is critical. Yet this is not about mitigating another 'African' humanitarian crisis but to diffuse the potentially damaging effects of a virus that has shaken the global order and put under question the bases of our living-together. The coronavirus pandemic lays bare that which well-to-do middle classes in... A response to the Coronacrisis. The threats that are hanging over the African continent with regards to the spread of COVID-19 demand our individual and...
Evelyn Groenink
It’s going to be terrible, she says. People will be dying in the streets. Have you seen the images from Ecuador? Piles of bodies. It will be like that in Africa. These vulnerable people in their small shacks cannot protect themselves. They don’t even have water. The disease will strike poor people in Africa more than anywhere. It is the eyes that annoy most. Those big, concerned, white saviour eyes. ‘It is as if she actually hopes for disaster, so she can come to save us from ourselves again’,... It’s going to be terrible, she says. People will be dying in the streets. Have you seen the images from Ecuador? Piles of bodies. It will be like that in...
Oyunga Pala and Bart Luirink
The Corona virus rages through the world and affects us all. Almost everywhere, people are in a state of readiness and doing everything in their power to protect themselves and their loved ones. The lack of vaccines and medication is cause for great uncertainty. Economies falter. A state of job insecurity and food scarcity—an ever existing daily reality for millions—is now also prevalent in a once prosperous world. Health facilities are buckling under great pressure. Public life is paralysed, often... The Corona virus rages through the world and affects us all. Almost everywhere, people are in a state of readiness and doing everything in their power to...
ZAM Reporter
‘We are not poor in knowledge (...) It's vital that we pool our intellectual resources’, Patrick Kadima writes in the South African City Press . Calling the coronacrisis a 'test of Africa's solidarity and resilience', a 'safe and healthy and integrated continent can only be realised if African countries (...) build public healthcare systems as a priority'. Tanzania: 'Let's gather and pray' If it comes to this, Tanzania's response to the corona crisis is not very promising. In an article on New... ‘We are not poor in knowledge (...) It's vital that we pool our intellectual resources’, Patrick Kadima writes in the South African City Press . Calling...
Betty Guchu
It’s ridiculous I know, but I have been reduced to hoping that the lady I met at an agrovet in Nyahururu town last week is right after all, that above all other peoples of the world, God loves Kenyans the most. She made this extraordinary statement when I hesitated to shake hands with her, citing coronavirus fears and pointing to the critical situation prevailing in Italy, which had gone into lockdown in an attempt to contain the pandemic. 'We shall be ok, God will make sure of that because he... It’s ridiculous I know, but I have been reduced to hoping that the lady I met at an agrovet in Nyahururu town last week is right after all, that above...
Peter Luhanga, GroundUp
Joshua Matshidiso, 68, had both legs amputated due to an infection in 2010. On Monday 30 March, he joined other social grant beneficiaries who rose before sunrise to collect their grants at a nearby retailer pay point in Dunoon, near Milnerton in Cape Town. The SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) had made provision to enable grant beneficiaries to access their funds during the nationwide lockdown to disrupt the spread of Covid-19. Matshidiso arrived at the Dunoon cash payout point at 9am and by... Joshua Matshidiso, 68, had both legs amputated due to an infection in 2010. On Monday 30 March, he joined other social grant beneficiaries who rose...
Pumla Dineo Gqola
On the 60th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, I woke up long before dawn and drove almost 200km to deliver supplements, medicine and groceries to my ageing mother. The novel coronavirus was on everybody’s mind, believers and sceptics alike. As we kept abreast of the news, sifting out the fake from the real, my siblings and I grew increasingly concerned about Mama’s vulnerability, at 77, to the menacing virus. On this drive, I carried a mask because nobody wants to be the woman who... On the 60th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, I woke up long before dawn and drove almost 200km to deliver supplements, medicine and groceries to...
ZAM Reporter
1. In a blog for Africa is a Country , South African author and opinion maker Sisonke Msimang questions the idea that the current corona crisis can bring opportunities for a better and fairer world. Msimang, who delivered the first ZAM Nelson Mandela Lecture in 2019, recalls that black people, as well as women and queer people, do not feel vulnerable for the first time as a group, like many people who grew up in privileged and prosperous countries. 'Those of us who fall outside the bubbles of... 1. In a blog for Africa is a Country , South African author and opinion maker Sisonke Msimang questions the idea that the current corona crisis can bring...