Why Africa could do with a dose of punctuality and cleanliness By Sandile Swana

Rwanda's capital Kigali.

There is plenty of discussion on macro and micro economics and the big theories of economic development, but it seems the African worldview is a primary problem. It is opportune to discuss more fundamental inhibitors to economic development and growth. In my view this entails a fundamental change in how things get done.

The reluctance of Joseph Kabila to cede power could push Congo to the brink BY Richard Moncrieff

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The actions of President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) make clear his intention to stay in power beyond his second term. But with the people set against it, and a strong and unambiguous two-term limit in the constitution, his ambitions are leading his country to a dangerous impasse.

Since 2010, Kabila has deployed various tactics to delay the elections, hoping that this will allow him to stay on in a transitional arrangement. He has already achieved one of his goals: the timetable for presidential elections this year is no longer feasible.

Photos: Soun of Ogbomosho 90th Birthday Celebration

 

The Sòun of Ogbomosho celebrated his 90th birthday at his palace in Ogbomosho. We at FOB are saying Happy Birthday to His Royal Highness. More Pics after cut...

Photos: Nigerian Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo Meet With Social Media Activists In Abuja

The Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, engaged in an interactive session with some Social Media activists, to mark President Buhari's first year anniversary, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. More pics after cut...

Opinion: Eating fruit during pregnancy linked to higher IQ in children

 In a recent study, Canadian researchers from the University of Alberta found that one of the factors contributing to improved cognitive development in children was the amount of fruit their mothers ate during pregnancy.
The scientists studied 688 one-year-old babies, who were controlled for factors otherwise affecting their learning and development, such as family income and parental education.

Photo: WILLOM TIGHT MAKES A COMEBACK WITH “MONEY” FEATURING RUNTOWN AND UHURU

What better way is there to celebrate Africa Month than by showing appreciation to one of the currently buzzing hits in the continent? This time around, Shamiso Music& Entertainment signed Afro Jazzstar, WillomTight is all about the money!

Produced by Uhuru’s DJ Maphorisa, WillomTight’s current single, “Money” features Nigerian artist, Runtown and four- man South African music group, Uhuru. The single is taken from his forthcoming album M.A.N.I.F.E.S.T.O which also features the legendary Afro pop singer, Salif Keita from Mali, Riot from South Africa and Tjay from Ghana.

Photos: Police Brutalize Protesters in Kenya #stoppolicebrutality.

  

A Kenyan riot policeman repeatedly kicks a protester as he lies in the street after tripping over while trying to flee from them, during a protest in downtown Nairobi, Kenya

Widely viewed pictures and video of a protester being kicked by Kenyan riot police as he lay on the ground have caused a stir in this East Africa country, prompting debate on police brutality and civil rights.
The US and human rights activists are condemning the violence displayed by Kenyan police who on Monday beat up opposition supporters protesting for election reforms ahead of polls next year.
In one incident that has stirred anger and condemnation across Kenya, a policeman is seen beating and kicking one protester who had fallen on a road curb in the chaotic scenes after police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd in the capital, Nairobi. More pics after cut...

Photo: Nigerian schoolgirl Amina Ali abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok found Alive With Baby

Amina Ali with her baby.


Amina Ali was discovered on Tuesday in the Sambisa Forest area of Borno state, and was brought back to her home town of Mbalala, near Chibok.
The head of the Abducted Chibok Girls Parents' group, Yakubu Nkeki, said the teenager who was 17 when she was abducted, was brought to his house where she was reunited with her mother.
"When her mother approached the car the girl stepped out and her mother exclaimed, 'Amina! Is that you?'," local community leader Ayuba Alamson Chibok said.
"They ran towards each other and hugged. The mother burst into tears."

Opinion: War, rape and racism on social media By Kelly-Jo Bluen

International headlines have sporadically been punctuated by discussion of peacekeeper sexual violence. Code Blue, a campaign focusing on peacekeeper sexual violence, in March released horrifying details of sexual violence committed by French and UN peacekeepers in the Central African Republic.
In one province, 98 women and girls, some as young as seven or eight, reported sexual violence or rape by international peacekeepers.

Photos: MTN Bushfire Festival in Swaziland

 

 

 The MTN Bushfire festival started in 2007 as a gathering of people of all nationalities and generations to celebrate the arts, music, and creative expression. It takes place at House on fire, one of Swaziland’s quirkiest performance arenas, situated in the lush Malkerns valley.
It’s not just a festival – there’s a strong emphasis on giving back and upliftment. Festival and merchandise profit goes to local charities, and the aim is to stimulate the economy via tourism during the three day festival period.
You don’t have to leave the kids at home for this one – it’s very much a family-orientated event. The young’uns can enjoy family-friendly performances or play at the KidZone. The handcraft market and food stalls will also keep the whole family occupied for quite a while. This years Bushfire festival will take place from 27-29 May, 2016. More pics after cut.....

Photos: Fists Flying as EFF Clash with Parliament Security at the Parliament Chamber in Cape Town

Party leader Julius Malema and members of his Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) clash with Parliamentary security as they are evicted from the chamber in Cape Town, May 17, 2016. 

Within minutes of proceedings getting underway‚ all decorum was thrown out of the window as the EFF went to war with speaker Baleka Mbete.
The EFF was adamant that Zuma‚ whom they describe as an “illegitimate president”‚ should not be allowed to address the chamber. Zuma smiled at the spectacle.
“We are asking you not to allow the president to speak here‚” said EFF leader Julius Malema‚ who insisted the president needed to be “rehabilitated”.
More pics after cut....

Photo: Youth orchestra transforming lives in Nairobi slum

Ghetto Classics youth orchestra violinists play during their weekly practice.

 

Korogocho slum is the fourth largest in Nairobi, Kenya. Life is tough for many of its approximately 200,000 inhabitants.
Many youth, having given up on finding proper jobs with a stable income, turn to crime or prostitution. 'I'm not a dangerous man, but we have to do whatever we can to support our families, to survive', one man said, adding that he had been rehabilitated and now is trying to expand his business of a small training gym in a tin shack.

Photos: Museveni 2016-2021: 5 years, 5 challenges by Edris Kiggundu

A tightly-guarded Museveni at Kololo Independence Grounds

 

Yoweri Kaguta Museveni was yesterday sworn in as president of Uganda for the sixth time in 30 years. EDRIS KIGGUNDU looks at five issues that could define Mu- seveni’s leadership between now and 2021.

AGE LIMIT/ SUCCESSION

One of the biggest political questions facing the ruling party is not what will happen in the next five years; it is what next thereafter. Will Museveni amend the Constitution and remove the age-limit so he can stand in 2021 or will he return to Rwakitura to be with his cows, as he is wont to say?

Photos: They fled Ethiopia amid war and privation. An economic boom is bringing them home.

Abezash Tameret, who left Ethi­o­pia as a child and grew up in foster care in Georgia, founded a charity that helps HIV-positive orphans in Ethi­o­pia and recently moved back to Addis Ababa for good with her children. 

The first time Abezash Tamerat returned to her native Ethiopia, she walked out of the airport terminal’s sliding doors only to turn around and walk right back in, briefly overwhelmed by the press of beggars and taxi drivers clamoring outside.
Tamerat had left Ethiopia as a child and grown up in foster care in Georgia. Now she was going back as a 20-year-old to rediscover the far-off, unfamiliar place that had shaped her identity.
She arrived with about $40, trusting in a credit card in a country that even then, in 2003, had no ATMs. A week later, she was back at the airport trying unsuccessfully to change her ticket and get an early flight home to Atlanta.

Economic consequences of peace in South Sudan By John A. Akec

South Sudan owes its recent peace agreement to the mediation endeavors by the African countries. Particularly, to efforts of Ethiopian, Ugandan, South African, Tanzanian, and Kenyan governments; as well as to the support and persistent pressure from global political and economic powers through the UN Security Council. Specifically, United States, Britain, Norway, China, Japan, and Russia, among other players.

Nelson Mandela Foundation launches new youth engagement forum

 

 

 The Civics Academy (www.civicsacademy.co.za) offers short‚ informative videos covering topics around democracy‚ governance‚ elections‚ political parties‚ the justice system‚ the Constitution‚ economics‚ civil society and the environment.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation in partnership with the Hanns Seidel Foundation aims to constructively engage youth groups with issues crucial to South Africa’s constitutional democracy.

Environmental activist and social entrepreneur Catherine Constantinides has been chosen as a 2016 Mandela Washington Fellows under President Barak Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative.

 

Catherine Constantinides

She will leave for the United States next month with fellows from across the continent for a six-week leadership training course.
The initiative is an effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders. Nearly one in three Africans are between the ages of 10 and 24‚ and about 60% of Africa’s total population is below the age of 35.
Constantinides was recently awarded the Ubuntu Youth Diplomacy award from the South African government. She is also an Archbishop Tutu African Oxford Fellow and has worked over the past 18 months on human rights violations in Africa.

Smart Intrusion: Wrong vibrator in bed

Researchers asked 221 students to rate their smartphone usage. One in 10 admitted to being so addicted to their phone that they even check it during sex.
The study didn't mention whether the other person was aware that their partner was checking Instagram in the middle of a sex session.
The researchers were specificthat the phones were used during sex as opposed to during a post-coital cuddle.

Photo & Video : #HELLOLAYLIZZY LYRIC VIDEO IS OUT!!!

“I pick up the phone when the money is calling, Hello!” is by no doubt yetanother anthem set by hip hop artist, Laylizzy.

This collaboration between two of Africa’s hottest hip hop stars, Laylizzy and AKArepresenting Mozambique and South Africa irrespectively,has kept #HelloLaylizzy buzzing. The song was exclusively available on iTunes on the day of its release, topping the iTunes charts in both countries. The craze did not only hit this music platform but is continuously topping radio charts too, currently featured on the Top 40s of several radio stations inclusive of the hottest youth radio station in South Africa, YFM.

“Hello” continues tomake its mark at different parts of the continent, following its premiere which also took a lead on the biggest radio station in Mozambique, Super FM and playlist on the biggest radio station in Nigeria, Beat FM. Video after cut...... Hello Lyrics too

Laylizzy - Hello feat AKA (Lyric Video)

Photo: Meet the bin scavengers saving SA R750-million a year

Ryan Morgan outside a scrap yard where he sells his paper and metal after collecting it from dustbins 

His name is Peter May, and the collars of his dapper blue shirt have been ironed flat.

"I have the same name as an English cricketer," he says, pulling a trolley that bulges with rubbish bags.

But he is not a cricketer, and for him the waste inside the bags is not garbage. It is his livelihood: bundles of white paper, cardboard, newspaper and light steel sifted from bins and landfill sites across Cape Town.

Photo: Mozambique's tuna fleet rusts as an African success story fades

The 24 fishing boats rusting in the harbour of Mozambique's capital were meant to be a modern tuna fleet that would rake in hard currency, create jobs and provide a cheap source of protein for one of the world's poorest countries.

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Instead, they have become monuments to government mismanagement and heavy lending by Western banks that has buried a promising African economy in a deep debt crisis.
The boats, moored in the harbour of Maputo, were paid for out of an $850-million loan arranged in 2013 by Credit Suisse and Russia's VTB to finance "fishing infrastructure". The cash came in the form of a government-backed bond to state tuna-fishing company Ematum.

Photos: Music Legend Papa Wemba Funeral Ceremony in Congo

 Democratic Republic of the Congo President Joseph Kabila pays his respects after placing a medal of honour on the coffin of rumba musician Papa Wemba during his funeral in Kinshasa.


Wemba, born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in Lubefu in what was then the Belgian Congo, collapsed and died on stage while performing at a music festival in Ivory Coast on April 24. He was 67 years old.
A steady stream of mourners filed past his white and gold casket in the three days before Wednesday's burial as lay in state at Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament building in the capital Kinshasa.
And a crowd of tens of thousands packed the streets in front of the Notre Dame du Congo Cathedral where the city's Catholic archbishop celebrated a funeral mass on Wednesday. More pics after cut....

Photo: LAYLIZZY AND AKA PERFORM #HELLOLAYLIZZY AT THE SUPA MEGA SHOW

Johannesburg, Tuesday- 03 May 2016

The 3^rd World Boss and “Baddest” hit maker, AKA hosted the “Supa Mega Show” on Sunday, the 1^st of May at Soweto’s most popular event hotspot, Zone 6 Venue in Diepkloof. The show kicked off with AKA performing some of his latest hits as the main headliner of the show with supporting performances by other South African hip hop acts in the game; Kwesta, Big Star Johnson, Maggz, Da LES and Ma-E just to name a few. Those who attended the show and witnessed all the action will attest to it that it was one of the best live performance events to be hosted in the history of hip hop music in South Africa.  Watch video after cut

Scary number of rapes and murders in ‘safety’ of home By GRAEME HOSKEN

Home is where, according to StatsSA, murder is often planned and committed, and youngsters mature into hardened criminals. In its latest Victims of Crime Survey — which looks at sexual violence, assault and murder — StatsSA paints a bleak picture of crime and our perceptions of it.

The report is based on information obtained from crime victims and on police crime data. Those surveyed were asked about their perceptions and experiences of crime.

Zimbabwe fast running out of money

A shortage of foreign notes led Reserve Bank governor John Mangudya to announce a raft of measures, including shutting ATMs and limiting bank withdrawals to $1,000 or R20,000.

Hungry and Frightened: Famine in Ethiopia 2016 By Graham Peebles

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn 

Millions of the poorest, most vulnerable people in Ethiopia are once again at risk of starvation. Elderly men and women, weak and desperate, wait for food and water; malnourished children lie dying; livestock, bones protruding, perish.

Great Wall of Africa on the cards- African Union

The Great Green Wall would be a 14km-wide band of trees and shrubbery across the southern border of the Sahara's Sahel desert, stretching over 7000km through 11 countries, from the Senegalese capital of Dakar in the west to Djibouti on the Indian Ocean coast.

Janet Jackson pregnant at 50 With Her First Child

Janet‚ who will turn 50 years-old on May 16‚ shocked fans last month when she announced that she would be taking a break from her Unstoppable world tour to focus on building a family with her husband Wissam Al Mana.

Gifted children in Africa’s urban slums are a precious and untapped resource By Steve Humble

Through opportunity you can overcome difficulty and reach your full potential. But is this true in the developing world?

Over a number of years a team at Newcastle University has been searching for the most appropriate ways to identify children in poor areas of sub-Saharan Africa’s cities who, given the “opportunity” and additional support, could become catalysts of social change through influencing their peers and communities. If children from very poor areas are to be given a chance to contribute to their societies, and thus to economic development and growth, then identifying these possible “life changers” could be key.