Archivo de la categoría: English

Tintin au Congo

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This week, I got this wonderful present from my fiancée. It’s a collector edition set of six  figures from the comic book “Tintin in the Congo” (sorry for the picture, does not do them justice).

Knowing that, according to a Belgian court ruling made public last week, these are not racist – will make them appreciate them even more !

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Esta semana mi prometida me ha regalado este maravilloso set de coleccionista con seis figuras del cómic Tintin en el Congo (perdón por la foto, verdaderamente no les hace justicia).

Saber que, de acuerdo con la opinión de un tribunal belga conocida la semana pasada, no son figuras racistas – me hará apreciarlas mucho más !

DRC diplomat vs. Spanish princess – awkward moment of the week

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This video, shown on TV last night, has been providing plenty of entertainment to Spanish social network users.

The incident ocurred during the annual reception by the King and the royal family of foreign diplomats in Spain. As it can be seen at 0:29, the Spanish princess Letizia and a DRC diplomat are about to shake hands when the diplomat moves his hand away and turns around leaving the princess visibly surprised.
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1 + 2 trends to watch out for in African politics in 2012

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The (by now not so much) new year always provides a good opportunity to lift our eyes from the detailed aspects of our day to day and embark on broader analysis, general reflections and compilations of what will be important for the starting year – both personally and professionally. In many ways this is a totally arbitrary decision for in fact dynamics, movements and trends do not know anything about calendar years, and what was important a few months back will in all likelihood continue without disruption. So, taking the time to reflect on what may be important in 2012 is in fact partly taking note of what has been recently happening and is likely to continue. Sigue leyendo →

8th Iberian Congress of African Studies – call for papers

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For those of us working academically on Africa in this part of the world, this year has an unmissable date with the celegration of the 8th Iberian Conference of African Studies, “Under the Palaver Tree”, in Madrid on June 14-16, 2012.
The call for papers is now open until January 31, 2012. Authors are invited to submit abstracts of no more than 400 words to any of the 49 panels – one of which is co-organised by yours truly. Abstracts for accepted papers will be available on the website on March 15. Full papers should be submitted before May 15.


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Azonto – a dance craze for 2012?

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First, happy new year everyone!

And now, let’s start looking at what may be worth paying attention for 2012. I will shortly write a detailed post looking at political trends that may be important this year, but in the meanwhile, here’s a cultural note.

The azonto dance is becoming hugely popular in Ghana (I first learnt about it a few weeks ago, when a Malawian high school friend staying there posted on Facebook the video below, and said it was the craze there). And it seems it’s also increasingly popular online. So will azonto take over the dance world in 2012?

It’s that time of the year… On Africa’s eleven top posts in 2011

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The end of the year brings with it all sorts of compilations, lists and summaries of the good, the bad and the ugly of the year that’s coming to an end. And On Africa is no exception to this – see here the top-10 stories of 2009 (in English and in Spanish/español), and the ten photos that summarise 2010 (although without photos :-( since the links broke when I transferred from Maneno to WordPress earlier this year and I have not fixed it yet…).

This year, I have compiled a list of the most viewed original posts written this year (according to WordPress). What this means is that the list excludes posts written in the past (the post most viewed this year is this one on Conguitos, a politically incorrect Spanish brand of sweets, written in march 2010). Also excluded are those posts that serve as self-promotion for pieces published for other media but to which I have made reference here.

So, whilst technically incorrect, the list makes this up in relevance, for these posts reflect better some of the most important news and stories in the African continent and beyond; with some exceptions – South Sudan independence, the war in Côte d’Ivoire (both these stories have op-ed pieces devoted to them and can be viewed on the “Other Work” section), as well as cultural notes. What is there includes: Zambia’s presidential election, Bin Laden’s death, Kenya’s invasion of Somalia and the “Arab spring” among others…

Enjoy these stories, leave below any comments you may have, and have a wonderful festive season and end of the year and beginning of 2012! Sigue leyendo →

The Role of New Media and Communication Technologies in Arab Transitions – new paper

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Last week FRIDE published the policy brief titled “The Role of New Media and Communication Technologies in Arab Transitions”. It is my latest publication for FRIDE; in this case, and given that it deals with a topic outside my geographical area of expertise, it is co-authored with Barah Mikaïl, FRIDE colleage and expert on the Middle East and North Africa.
Below is the abstract of the paper, and the full document can be dowloaded by clicking here.
I hope you find it interesting, and if you have any comments, please post them below. Sigue leyendo →

Tanzania’s 50th anniversary of independence today!

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1960 was the year of Africa, and so, last year we saw plenty of African countries “turning 50″. However by no means all countries became independent then; for some like South Africa, it took as long as 1994 to attain majority rule (and of course South Sudan has become Africa’s newest country only this summer).

And so, 9th December 1961 was the time for Tanganyika – as the territory was known back then (it became Tanzania following the union of the mainland and Zanzibar in 1964). The country became independent under the leadership of one of the most inspiring leaders of independent Africa: Julius Kambarage Nyerere, (“Mwalimu”), who developed the concept of ujamaa, and was one of the very, very few PAfrican Presidents to abandon power willingly. Sigue leyendo →