Podcast
Africa Daily
Wed, August 30 2023 3:00:00 GMT
BBC World Service
Episodes
10 Apr
What’s it like living in an air polluted area?
<p>“The problem is that communities are always excluded when important decisions are taken. Companies impose decisions on communities” – Fana Sibanyoni, a resident of Embalenhle in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province
In today’s episode, Mpho Lakaje sits down with Sharon Mbonani and Fana Sibanyoni, the residents of Embalenhle in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province.
They share their personal stories on how they are affected by air pollution.
Their province is known for being home to some of South Africa’s major mines and power stations.
This conversation comes after Greenpeace Africa released a report stating that Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa are leading air polluters in Africa.
Some of the main culprits include power plants that use fossil fuel for electricity generation, and the results are devastating.
The report has revealed that air pollution is responsible for 6.7 million deaths every year on the continent.
So, how are the nations mentioned in the study responding to this problem?</p> 09 Apr
How is Southern Africa responding to the drought crisis?
<p>Last week, Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared a national disaster due to a prolonged drought crisis, saying the country needed $2 billion to address hunger. Zimbabwe, once a regional food producer, now grapples with high inflation and scarcity, intensified by climate change-induced droughts. This crisis affects not only food production but also electricity generation, leading to power cuts.
And it’s not just Zimbabwe. Neighbouring countries are also struggling, with Zambia and Malawi also declaring drought a national disaster.
BBC Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja hears from an impacted farmer in Zambia and hears from the BBC's Shingai Nyoka how people are coping in the region.</p> 08 Apr
Why is identity theft an increasing problem?
<p>Recently Africa Daily presenter Mpho Lakaje had a shock - he found he had been the victim of identity theft.
The person or people behind the crime had opened accounts using his personal details and taken out six loans to a total value of $2,000. It has so far been impossible for the local police to make arrests because everything happened online.</p><p>He's far from alone: the Southern African Fraud Prevention Services says reports of the crime increased by 356% in South Africa from 2022 to 2023 - and an Interpol report shows that South Africa tops Africa in cyber threats and is third in the world.
In today’s episode, Mpho makes a trip to the police station to sort out his now complicated affairs - and sits down with another identity theft victim Cisca. He also speaks to Chad Thomas of IRS Forensic Investigations.</p><p>So just how big a problem is impersonation fraud in Africa? And what can you do to protect yourself from cybercriminals?</p> 05 Apr
Returning to Rwanda 30 years after fleeing the genocide
<p>This episode contains graphic description of violence.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++</p><p>“I do not know when I will die maybe it’s today or tomorrow - but I felt if I died without forgiving him the burden would be on my children.”
This weekend marks 30 years since the start of the Rwandan genocide. In 100 days, nearly 1 million people were killed based on their ethnicity.</p><p>At 13 years old, Claudette was attacked with a spear and shot – but somehow survived. Most of her family were less lucky and were killed. And yet she’s taken the remarkable decision of forgiving her attacker. </p><p>She’s one of a number of people who told her story to BBC reporter Victoria Uwonkunda on a recent visit to the country to mark the anniversary. </p><p>Victoria was just a year younger, 12 years old, when she herself fled Rwanda and the genocide with her family. She lived as a refugee in the DRC and Kenya before being settled in Norway. She has spoken about her struggles with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.</p><p>In this episode of Africa, she tells Alan Kasujja about her trip back to her home country – the first since she left – and shares more of Claudette’s story.</p><p>Presenter: Alan Kasujja @kasujja
Reporter: Victoria Uwonkunda @afroscandi</p><p>To hear more, listen to Victoria’s full documentary on https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0hm1sbt</p> 04 Apr
100 Influential Africans: What are the main challenges to doing business in Africa?
<p>"It's hard to live in Africa. It's hard to pay your bills. Public transport is hard... And it's hard to run a business in Africa."</p><p>Alan got a belated Christmas surprise this year – when he found out he’d been named as one of New African Magazine’s list of 100 most influential Africans. </p><p>He’s in good company… Senegal’s Ousmane Sonko, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu and Guinea’s coup leader and president, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, are also on the list. </p><p>But the list isn’t just about politics: it also gives a nod to changemakers in business, science, sport - and to those working to improve the environment. </p><p>So in the first in a series of conversations, Alan speaks today to two young, energetic business leaders who are on the list - and are changing how money is used on the continent. </p><p>Presenter: Alan Kasujja @kasujja
Guests: Coura Sene, West Africa Regional director for Wave and Ham Sirunjogi, Co-Founder & CEO of Chipper Cash</p> 03 Apr
Why are there still so few black women winemakers in South Africa?
<p>South Africa is one of the top wine producers in the world yet, nearly thirty years after the end of apartheid, the industry is still dominated by white-owned wineries. Black-owned brands account for less than 1% of wine sales per litre in South Africa, even though black South Africans make up over 80% of the population.</p><p>But a determined group of black women wine-makers want to change this. They’ve been supported by a British company ‘On Cloud Wine’ and its owner, Emily Batchelor, who gave them the financial support to export their wines – after many found it difficult to sell it themselves within South Africa
But 30 years after apartheid, why are there still so few black women involved in winemaking in South Africa?
Guests: Nondumiso Pikashe and Vivian Kleyhans.
Presenter: Mpho Lakaje</p> 02 Apr
How did a shy elephant charm a local community in Kenya?
<p>“Davy became our friend.”</p><p>Tales of conflict between animals and people are all too common across Africa. People have been cast off their land to make way for wildlife parks for tourists. Animals have attacked humans, poachers kill for tusks and scales, and large animals like elephants trample on crops and destroy them. </p><p>But today we’re travelling about 200 km west of Nairobi in Kenya to an area called Sachangwan, where a shy elephant managed to charm his way into the hearts of the local community when he wandered into their area as a calf in 2017. Despite him causing some damage, the local people grew fond of him and learnt to live with him – and even gave him the name Davy.</p><p>But last month the Kenya Wildlife Service finally captured him and moved him to the Aberdare National Park where they say he’ll have the company of other elephants. They also say it’s not a good thing for elephants to live in such close proximity to humans. </p><p>So on today’s Africa Daily, Muthoni Muchiri asks – how can humans and elephants co-exist for the benefit of both?</p><p>GUESTS:
Joel Too - local pastor
Abigael Simaloi Pertet - Co-Existence Project Manager at the Mara Elephant Project</p> 01 Apr
What obstacles still remain for blind students in Africa?
<p>Approximately 26.3 million people in Africa have a form of visual impairment, and it’s estimated that 5.9 million are blind.
Blindness in people can occur at birth or later in life, and many people across the continent who are blind face several daily challenges.
Amidu Abubakar made history when he became Sierra Leone’s first ever blind law graduate.
So what’s it like to study law as a blind person? What changes made it possible for Amidu to reach this dream of studying law?
Umaru Fofana, based in Freetown, has been finding out in this episode he guest presented.</p> 29 Mar
Can a land-for-cash deal save Egypt’s economy?
<p>The Ras al-Hikma peninsula on the north coast of Egypt is going to become a new city. But it’s going to be built and managed by another country, the United Arab Emirates. </p><p>In a deal signed earlier this year, Egypt gave the UAE the right to develop this 170 square kilometre area in return for $35 billion dollars. The Egyptian economy was in a critical position, and needed a quick cash injection to get it out of trouble, and the Ras al-Hikma deal was seen as the solution.
But it is a very unusual deal. Both because of the amount of money involved, but also because it gives another country the right to essentially build and own a city in Egypt. And it’s not known whether it provides a long-term solution to Egypt’s economic problems.
Presenter: Mpho Lakaje
Guests: Wael Gamal, from ‘The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights’ a human rights think tank based in Cairo, Yomn Hamaky an Economics Professor at Ain Shams university in Egypt, and Ahmed Ghoneim, Professor of Economics at Cairo University.</p> 28 Mar
Nigeria: What’s it like when your child is kidnapped?
<p>This month there have been six mass abductions in the north of Nigeria, many involving children. </p><p>One school that was attacked by armed men was in the town of Kuriga in the North West. There, the parents of 137 children had to wait, helpless, for the next 16 days, not knowing where their children were, or how they were being treated by the kidnappers. </p><p>The Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu, took a tough line, saying there would be no ransom paid. </p><p>But then, on Sunday, there was relief after it was announced they'd been released. It’s not clear how this happened, but all the children are believed to have survived. There was one fatality, a teacher called Abubakar Issa, who had been kidnapped with the children.</p><p>For today's Africa Daily, Mpho Lakaje speaks to Dahiru Abdulahi, the parent of one of the students who was taken.</p>