News in West Africa
The Buhari administration’s anti-poverty schemes aren’t working
By Olakunle Ologunro
Two years ago, Foluke Akinosho*, a 63-year-old petty trader who sells food provisions in the Mushin area of Lagos, Nigeria, received a TraderMoni loan of N20,000 to help her business. The process was simple: she put down her name and phone number, and after these details were...
Is TikTok a safe space for queer Nigerian content creators?
By Mariam Sule
When Harry Itie created a TikTok account, he was looking to escape from the noise on other social media platforms. “I used...
Nigerians struggle to eke out a living in the U.S.
By Damilola Banjo
At 55, Monsumola Adeniran should be planning her retirement. She had built a flourishing textile business and lived an upper middle-class life,...
Niger state armed vigilante groups to fight insecurity. Will it work?
By Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu
LAPAI TOWN, Nigeria — On January 17th, 2021, at around 2 am, gunmen suspected to be members of a yet unidentified...
Nigeria’s vaccination campaign is hampered by ad hoc procurement and distribution...
By Ope Adetayo
The Nigerian government plans to vaccinate 40 percent of the country’s population, an estimated 80 million people, before the end of 2021,...
Edtech is changing the learning experience for secondary school students in...
By Kemi Falodun
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted gaps and deficiencies in many sectors of society, but it has also revealed major opportunities for innovation....
Can the acquittals of Laurent Gbagbo and Blé Goudé bring lasting...
By Ahmed Coulibaly
ABIDJAN —The International Criminal Court appeals chamber upheld the 2019 acquittals of former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and his Minister of Youth...
Digital archives immortalize West African culinary and political history
By Kay Ugwuede
The seeds that blossomed into Ozoz Sokoh’s FeastAfrique, a digital archive and library of West African culinary history, were several: past experiences...
Adji Sarr and Ousmane Sonko, or rape culture at its zenith
By Aïda Dramé
What country is this when at night, the law of the strongest strikes? These mythical lyrics of Michel Berger keep repeating in...
Igangan ablaze: How Nigeria’s farmer-herder crisis is spinning out of control
By Pelumi Salako
IGANGAN, Nigeria — On the day of his death, December 11th, 2020, Dr. Fatai Aborode rode on the back of a motorcycle...
Mauritania: A history of land slavery and forced displacement
By Houleye Thiam
Black Mauritanians have historically been stripped of their land ownership rights, most notably beginning in the 1980s when a new law provided...
Joe Biden’s renewed commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community provokes mixed reactions...
By Shade Mary-Ann Olaoye
On February 4th, 2021, U.S. President Joe Biden renewed the United States’ commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community around the world by...
Senegal’s vaccination campaign works to overcome mistrust
By Aïda Dramé
Nearly a year after the start of the pandemic, the development of vaccines in record time is perceived in Senegal as a...
Côte d’Ivoire: Legislative elections cause a spike in Covid-19 cases
By Ahmed Coulibaly
Though the figures are a far cry from the rates in Europe and North America, the number of Covid-19 infections and deaths...
Healing from depression, “demons” and deliverances: The cost of mental healthcare...
By Ope Adetayo
When Tukura John Daniel was a child, he noticed he was energetic in one moment and in the next, he was sad...
Guinea: Hospitals full after Covid-19 spike
CONAKRY- In Guinea, a spike in Covid-19 cases has saturated epidemiological treatment centers in the country. Due to a lack of space in hospitals,...