A couple of weeks ago, newspaper editor Dawit Kebede, an International Press Freedom award winner, fled Ethiopia. Sadly, Dawit's Awramba Times is the latest in a long list of Amharic-language private publications to vanish from the market following the incarceration or flight into exile of their editors. Awramba Times was a breeding ground of young Ethiopian columnists. Apart from the usual news and sports reporters, the weekly had correspondents specialising in parliamentary affairs, health issues, women's issues, satire, and folklore. There were also featured guest columnists such as university professors and opposition party members.

October 2011
Ms Sanusha Naidu participated in first China-Africa People’s Forum in Nairobi recently. She comments on the nature of the event, its outcomes and possible future role in the development of civil society engagement between Africa and China. Prof K Mathews then provides an overview of bilateral ties between India and China in light of a newly proposed trilateral cooperation between India, China and Africa and concludes that it could provide an opportunity for the two emerging powers to “forge partnerships for facing common challenges”.
October edition available .

November 2011
Rahul Goswami provides his observations on Indian investments in Africa, specifically in the context of India’s domestic development challenges. He notes that the human impact of large investment activities should not be overlooked, as social justice is denied in favour of profit seeking motives. In our second commentary piece, Prof Adams Bodomo, University of Hong Kong, provides an overview of the first China-Africa Think Tank Forum that took place recently in China, bringing together experts, researchers, policy makers and politicians amongst others to discuss topics under various themes of Sino-Africa relations.
November edition available

In this edition of Africa Today, host Walter Turner interviews Dimensions Dance Theatre artistic director Deborah Vaughan. The theatre company has become widely recognised for its presentation of both traditional dances and contemporary choreography drawn from African, Jazz, and Modern dance idioms,

Every once in while, xenophobia against men and women from other African countries living in South Africa hits the headlines. Recently, there were threats in Alexander Township, and not too long ago, Somali businesses were the target. Yet, what’s missing from the media and the public eye is the everyday harassment and indifference that migrants face from those who are expected to serve and protect them. These everyday tragedies may not be enough to generate headlines, but they have a profound impact on the lives of men and women, their families, and the community as a whole.

The Israeli government has voted unanimously to launch a $160 million program to curtail illegal African migrants ability to enter the country from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The program will boost the country’s ability to build a large border fence and will also expand a detention center able to hold thousands of new illegal arrivals.

Two sons of murdered Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara have filed a suit before the regional court of Ecowas in Abuja, Nigeria, in an effort to seek justice. Ismaila Hydara and Deyda Hydara Jr called for proper investigation into the death of their father who was killed on December 16, 2004. The African Regional Office of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ-Africa) is also an applicant in the case.

A Kenyan policeman was killed and 11 soldiers were wounded after twin blasts near the Somali border with Kenya, a military spokesman said Sunday. Police said the police officer, who died in one of the explosions, unknowingly stepped on the landmine, killing him instantly.

Income inequality in South Africa as measured by the Gini co-efficient widened from the early 1990s to the late 2000s despite government efforts, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. In a report entitled 'Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising', the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) notes that income inequality in OECD member states, which are developed nations, has widened over the same period, while in emerging market economies (EMEs) it has narrowed.

Militias outside the control of Libya's central government are holding vast stores of tanks, rockets and small arms in the city of Misrata, an arsenal that will test the ability of the country's new rulers to assert their authority. A Reuters team gained rare access to militia warehouses in Misrata and counted thousands of boxes of arms and ammunition, most of it seized from forces loyal to ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi and hauled back to the city in trucks.

Anti-riot police Monday 5 December broke up a 'Day of Anger' rally by Mauritanian youths demanding the ouster of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, detaining about 20 protesters. As the tide of Arab uprisings swept to the west of Africa, police used tear gas on hundreds of demonstrators who sought to enter a square in downtown Nouakchott that has been declared off-limits for protesters since rallies began in late February.

Gambia’s opposition coalition, the United Front, has urged President Yahya Jammeh to retract his 'no coup or elections can remove me' from office statement, PANA reported. The coalition, consisting of four opposition parties that supported an independent candidate, Hamat Bah, made the call in a statement issued on the heels of the country’s just-concluded presidential election.

WikiLeaks announced a new project on 2 December that they say aims to 'reveal the details of which companies are making billions selling sophisticated tracking tools to government buyers, flouting export rules, and turning a blind eye to dictatorial regimes that abuse human rights'. The whistleblower website calls their latest release 'The Spyfiles' and launched it with 287 files available for download. Among these files are presentations and product brochures for two South African companies: VASTech and Seartech. WikiLeaks said one of the companies sold equipment that could permanently record the phone calls of entire nations.

Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzoury’s 'national salvation government' was sworn in on Wednesday 7 December, with the mysterious name of interior minister disclosed just hours before for alleged 'security reasons.' The new government includes 12 ministers from former premier Essam Sharaf’s Cabinet - two of which have been in office since ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s reign: Electricity Minister Hassan Younes and International Cooperation Minister Fayza Aboul Naga. The choice of General Mohamed Ibrahim, former head of the Giza Security Directorate, as the new interior minister heightened the agitation of activists towards the new Cabinet.

‘In the fifty years since Fanon’s passing to the other side and since the first publication of The Wretched of the Earth, both continue to live on, challenging us to not give up, to not become complacent, and to take arms, albeit symbolic, social, political, epistemic, and most of all pedagogical ones.’

Police in Garissa recently forced a Star journalist to delete photographs of 25 injured TFG soldiers. The wounded soldiers had been airlifted from Somalia after a firefight with al Shabaab at Hayo camp, 25 kilometres from Afmadow. Star correspondent Stephen Asteriko chanced on the soldiers who had been admitted to the Garissa General Hospital before being flown to Nairobi for further treatment. The soldiers, mostly below the age of 20, had received serious injuries to the head, chest and leg.

The graffiti and street art in post-revolution Libya is a constant reminder of what most fought for this year. Some of the picturesque artistry in bright and warm tones depicts nature and Libyan traditions. There are also caricatures mocking the late Muammar Gaddafi - no longer a symbol of fear.

Egypt's caretaker premier named a new cabinet on Wednesday 7 December charged with tackling worsening crime and a sliding economy after the first round of elections showing a landslide victory for Islamist parties. Interim PM Kamal al-Ganzuri announced his administration following nearly two weeks of delays, reportedly caused by problems in finding a suitable candidate to fill the highly sensitive interior ministry post.

This Newsclick video examines the role of Indian companies in African land grabs, highlighting how these companies are moving into Africa to take advantage of a lack of governance and laws when it comes to land.

Burundi has made some progress in consolidating peace, but recent developments could reverse gains, according to the UN top envoy in the country. Karen Landgren told the UN Security Council that efforts to preserve the peace are being marred by human rights challenges and politically-motivated killings.

The results of the first round of parliamentary elections indicate that female representation will be minimal, if not nonexistent - a phenomenon experts and candidates attribute to cultural barriers. Not a single woman earned a seat in parliament in the first round, nor did any female candidates contest the run-offs.