Young African and changing the narratives! By

COLUMNYOUNG, AFRICAN AND CHANGING THE By Eva Nakato NARRATIVE! By Eva Nakto

Many Western media houses and their affiliates have continuously been on the spotlight for painting the African continent as one full of problems, diseases and corruption. The youth have not been spared either since they form majority of the total population. There has always been reports of how the young people are wallowing in poverty, their constant involvement in crime and violence, drug abuse, early marriage of the girl child and the subsequent domestic violence stories, amongst others. Whereas the aforementioned scenarios might be common, there are nevertheless millions of other young people on the continent living exemplary lives and being the forces to reckon with. These youths have done phenomenal work to bring about change in their respective communities and countries. They did not wait on their governments or outsiders to run to their aid nor did they wait for others to speak on their behalf. They also did not wait until they had assumed ‘big’ positions in governmental agencies before they could attempt to tackle the most pressing issues around them and their surroundings. They simply decided to be the change themselves. In 2010 at the age of 26, Jamila Abbas, a Kenyan Software Engineer and Computer scientist decided to join forces with her friends in order to do something about the plight of Kenyan small-scale farmers through the use of technology. Together, they founded MFarm Kenya Limited, an internet-based organization that helps farmers find the best farm implements, seeds, access to weather reports and market information. The outcome of this innovation was unimaginable as hundreds of thousands of farmers immensely benefited from it. Douglas Smith, a 21-year-old Ugandan, is the CEO of Sportrise Uganda. The company manufactures soccer balls directly from plastic waste. They do this to help influence a social change for disadvantaged children and youths through playing football to help take their minds off distractive engagements and instead occupy their time with a meaningful and healthy activity. In Nigeria, Godwin Josiah and his cousins commonly known as ‘Critics’, broke the internet when they went viral for shooting a Science Fiction (Sci-Fi) movie with just a smartphone. They spent sleepless nights on YouTube watching tutorials on how to make visual effects. After saving some little money, they bought a green cloth in order to achieve the green screen effect. They then used their old and broken equipment to shoot their first project, a short sci-fi movie. Godwin maintained that their intention was to not go viral but to let the world know that kids like them could do something different. They have since then shot a number of awesome movies even with the limited equipment at their disposal. Moving on to Burundi, Dieudonne Nahimana’s vision for a national development arose after his father and other family members were brutally murdered in cold blood due to the tragic devastating war in Burundi in 1993. He was consequently unable to complete his education and hence ended up sleeping on the streets as his new home and also as a way of survival. Uncertain about his future, young Dieudonne was left with nothing but hope, perseverance and a vision. On a fateful Christmas Eve, he decided to share his meal with fellow street children. This brought a glow on their faces stirring up a vision within him. This act of kindness led to the birth of ‘New Generation Burundi’, a non-profit organization dedicated to nurturing street connected children and cultivating them into a new generation of servant leaders. Nahimana’s ability to equip, inspire and mobilize the youth has brought a tremendous healing, hope and dignity to thousands of youths and children in Burundi. Now, the aforementioned youths are not the only ones bringing about change in their respective communities on the African continent. We could actually spend several weeks mentioning all of them. Just like these change makers, there is so much that youths can put on the table in this day and era if given the chance to showcase their ability. We are neither too young or too old, too rich or too poor to make a difference in this world. We all can collectively and effectively make the world a much better place not only for ourselves, but also for the generations to come. The ultimate goal is to not leave anyone behind. Adios!

Eva Nakato is a Ugandan based writer and she wants to read from you so write her through info@thevoicenewsmagazine.com

Fighting poverty not the poor!

We had our first son when we recently moved to Belgium. By the time our second son was on his way, we had moved to Ostend from Bredene. When we approached our social worker about birth allowance, he told us bluntly that we were not eligible. Why? I asked curiously. Well, it’s for permanent residents, he told us. I told him that was strange, because in Bredene we had it all arranged by our social worker. And we had not even lived in Belgium for a year. “That’s Bredene, Mr. Nweke” he sounded formal and stern. “In Ostend, nonpermanent residents are not entitled to a birth premium” I told him I disagreed and wanted to formally dispute it... Less than a week later, our social worker invited us back and had our birth premium paid. I told him that I knew a few others in our situation who had been denied their rights. I wondered how he was going to fix the anomaly. He looked me straight in the eyes and sat down. Closing his office door, he took me through what I now recognize as my first introduction to the Belgian culture of “political compromise”. Here was the deal: If I could let go of those who had been denied their rights in the past, he would make sure everyone gets their birth premium in the future. That was in 1996. Fast forward to 10 years later, in the 2006 - 2012 legislature when I became a councillor for the Green Party at the Council for Social Welfare (OCMW/ CPAS). There were other examples of the denial of citizens’ rights by the same OCMW that should protect their rights. The OCMW council would knowingly reject the rights of citizens to social assistance. The reasoning or strategy was that they will not know their rights and will not go to court. Even when they went to court, the verdict will take some time. Some of those involved would have left the country by then. For those who may still be around, it is a strong message that the OCMW is not Santa Claus. These are bits and pieces of disgusting practices that had won Ostend the crown of poverty capital of Flanders over the years; especially when it comes to child poverty. The Green party has always raised these dehumanizing practices from the opposition up to 2018. With limited success! Now in the local coalition ruling government, what should stop us from dismantling the dehumanization? Isn’t it poverty that must be fought, not the poor? The poor have been hit hardest by the Coronavirus pandemic. And so are the struggling small business owners! In the Special Committee for Social Services (BCSD), we are doing everything we can to ensure that the broad Corona support for Ostend residents who are having a hard time ends up with the right people. This way we encourage people who can no longer pay their invoices. We deploy social workers to show those who need it the way to the Social House. In short, we want to provide material, social, medical, medico-social or psychological help to people who can no longer afford their daily expenses or expenses related to medical care due to the Corona crisis. Files are analyzed individually. By way of example: certain employees who have lost part of their income or who are faced with extra debts, employees in the sub-economic sector, employees working part-time - with a focus on single-parent families, job students, certain self-employed, people with disabilities, . .. are recognized as the needy. According to a recent council release, the interventions specifically cover the following: 1. Assistance with housing. Including the costs with the exception of the rental deposit. 2. Energy assistance. Energy consumption, including social and budgetary guidance or other support. 3. Psychosocial help. Reimbursing the costs of professionals recognized for the treatment of intimate partner violence, anxiety and psychiatric problems. 4. Health assistance. Interventions in hospital bills, medicines, ... and the purchase of mouth masks, gels and gloves. 5. Help with digital accessibility. Digital support to promote online steps, social contacts and school support in particular. 6. Financial help. Unpaid invoices as a result of a decrease in income. 7. Basic needs. Interventions in transport costs, the purchase of clothing, the purchase of medical glasses, ... 8. Help for the families in difficulty. In the context of the fight against child poverty. Through its actions and negligence, the OCMW Ostend has built up generations of poor over the years. Worse,

those who were in danger of falling into the poverty spiral were shortsightedly ignored. The last OCMW board led by Vanessa Vens played a fair but insufficient active catch-up. The current Council, led by mayor Bart Tommelein and BCSD chairman, Natacha Waldemann, have taken the bull by the horns. They provide leadership and direction. And that’s important. Decisions within the council committee are largely taken by consensus. Decisions are not driven by the ideological right versus the left, but by right versus wrong. If we really fight poverty, Ostend will win. The high poverty level has taken time to build. Logically it will take some time to eradicate too. But two years after the start of this legislature, we can honestly say that we have made a good start. And independent analyses and statistical data have confirmed the fact.

By Collins NWEKE Councillor Special Committee for Social Services | Ostend City Council

Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Mboma admits 400m Olympic ban was “a very bad experience”

Namibia’s Olympic silver medalist Christine Mboma and her compatriot Beatrice Masilingi have spoken about their bans from the 400-metre event at Tokyo 2020, describing it as “a very bad experience”, “quite disturbing” and “hard to understand.” At the start of July, a World Athletics assessment found they had differences in sexual development (DSD) and high natural levels of testosterone and, under its rules, must take drugs to reduce their naturally-occurring testosterone for women’s events from 400m to a mile. This prevented the pair from competing in their preferred 400m event at their maiden Olympics. Earlier in the year, Mboma broke the under-20 world record for the distance in 48.54sec, while Masilingi recorded a season’s best of 49.53. Both athletes were able to compete in the 200m at Tokyo 2020, with Mboma setting another under-20 world record of 21.81 to win silver - Namibia’s first Olympic medal since Atlanta 1996. Masilingi recorded a personal best of 22.28 to finish sixth. As reported by Namibian newspaper New Era, the pair has spoken for the first time over the controversy. Masilingi said during the programme titled “Namibian athletes reflect on their journey to success”, which was streamed live by the country’s information ministry, the ban from the 400m was a major source of frustration, and that focusing on the 200m required very different preparations at short notice. “It was quite disturbing at the beginning; it was hard to understand - but as time went on, we had no choice but to rather focus on the positive side of things,” Masilingi commented. “So, we decided to turn our focus and attention to the 200m and started working on it. “We had to adjust quickly; it demanded that we mentally and physically switch our thoughts very fast ahead of the Olympics. “We literally had to change how we do things on the track.” Mboma echoed Masilingi’s sentiments, explaining the impact the decision had on their training for the Games. “Very disappointed,” Mboma admitted. “It was bad news because our focus was always on the 400m and we had been training for the 400m all along. “But now, you are told you can’t run 400m. “We were not even sure if we could really do well in the 200m, but we had no choice. “It was a very bad experience. “But we had talks with our coach and we decided to do the 200m. “Getting out of the starting blocks during training for the 200m was a bit of a problem - but if you believe in yourself, everything is possible.” Since Tokyo 2020, Mboma won the women’s 200m at the World Athletics Under-20 Championships in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, with Masilingi a silver medalist in the 100m and 200m. Mboma has also triumphed in two Diamond League events in Brussels and Zürich and two World Athletics Continental Tour Gold events in Zagreb and Nairobi in the 200m. By Patrick Burke

SammYoung performs at The Voice Achievers Award 2021 in Dubai, U.A.E

One of the major highlights of this year’s The Voice Achievers Award which took place on September 19, 2021, at Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, United Arab Emirates is the entertainment by the renowned award-winning musician from Nigeria based in Dubai, SammYoung. He sang some of his songs and he did a duet with one of his signed on artist from South Africa, They sang and entertained the awardees and guests while enjoying the dinner. The awarding event opened carrying the theme “Bridging Business cultures- U.A.E. and Africa.” It was the first time that the organizer, The Voice Achievers Award had chosen an Arab country to host the event. The event was organized with the collaboration of I Am Africa and support from Dubai KPMG Lower Gulf. The founder, Ambassador Elvis Iruh appreciated the

support of UAE in bridging the economic and cultural gaps between the country and the continent of Africa. He request that the cooperation should expand to every sector of life so that life could become more meaning to all humanity. SammYoung was latter given an appreciation award and certificate for promoting Africa music and holding his head high in Dubai and projecting the image of Nigeria and Africa in general through promotion of music and entertainment in general. On his part, SammYoung pledge to continue to promote African music in Dubai and in extension to the Arab world and appreciate the organizers for recognizing the

contribution of his music as a tool of bridging cultural gaps between UAE and Africa. This year’s event further promotes the progress of Africa and UAE by awarding eminent individuals, establishments, and leaders that have outstandingly raised the standards of proficiency and success and showed extraordinary management skills and authority. Among the awardees are His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Ahmed Bin Hamadan Al Nahyan, Her Excellency, Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow, The First Lady of the Republic of The Gambia, His Excellency Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, Former Vice President of Kenya, Her Excellency Shaikha Dr. Fatimah Tagwai Aj, FCMA, GOOA, H.I.M Empress Shebah Kasambu ‘Ra, Queen Sheba III, Her Highness Deli Matsebula, (Queen of Ejura, Ghana - Obaahemaa Boahwenie), Her Excellency Noura Bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Mohamed Dekkak, His Excellency Awad Mohammad Sheikh Mogrin, Hon. Dr. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay, His Excellency Dr. H.c. Raphael Nagel and His Excellency Ahmed Elmetwally. Other awardees including the following: His Excellency Sheikh Fahim bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Mr. Abubakary Jawara, Honorable Dr. Fatoumata Jahumpa Ceesay, Her Excellency Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, Dr. Quudus Adegboyega Yusuff, Mr. Yasser Ali AlGergawi, Dr. Maxwel Otieno Okoth, Mubarak Bin Fahad & Natasha Sideris (Tashas Group), His Excellency Professor Prince Waheed Musah, Dr. Marwan Al Zarouni, Dr. Adewunmi Rufus Alayaki, Nadia Abdul Aziz, His Excellency Dr. Bonface Obare, PhD, Mohammed Abdullah Alhaj Al Zaroni, His Excellency Honorable Dr. Fahed Merehbi, Dr. Abayomi Oluseye Olajide, Ms. Patience Nyange , Lord Rami Ranger, Omar Tom and Kim Winter (Oasis Africa) Other VIP guests, public figures, and diplomats were also present at the award ceremony. Also entertained on the night is the Dubai music band, Dibba Al Harbyah, they put up a fantastic performance. Signed Ambassador Elvis Iruh (President - Chief Host) Ambassador Laila Rahhal (Vice-President, Co-Host) More information on the event can be obtained via: Website: https://thevoiceachieversaward.com/

First Lady of Sierra Leone to become the new face champion of the United Nation’s Educational Plus Program

His Excellency Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio and the First Lady, Madam Fatima Maada Bio held a closed-door meeting on the invitation of the Executive Director of UNAIDS last month during their attendance of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York City, U.S.A. The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Madam Winnie Byanyima expressed her delight in meeting with the President and First Lady of Sierra Leone, whose work she has been following individually and humbled to be discussing the way forward for girls and education in the African continent, First Lady she has been following and how amplified and authentic her voice has been in the protection and empowerment of girls in Sierra Leone, as she continues to impact and influence other nations to replicate what she does in her countries. According to the Executive Director, she was overwhelmed with the speech delivered by President Julius Maada Bio at the United Nations general assembly, specifically how passionately he spoke about girls’ right to education and inclusivity in his human capital development agenda and how he spoke with clear first hand evidence of the progress his government continue to make in that

as that’s one of the key priorities of the United Nations. Underscoring the importance of her proposal to have the First Lady Fatima Maada Bio become the new face of the United Nation’s Education Plus Initiative, she noted that the initiative is geared towards allowing girls go through formal education and further teach them about sex education and orientation which she believes will ultimately reduce the risk of them contacting HIV/Aids. Madam Winnie gave a highlight of the activities of the direction. In her concluding statement, she confirmed how impressed she was left, after First Lady spoke passionately, with great knowledge on sexual violence and issues affecting adolescents in the African continent, adding that her voice is authentic and the UNAIDS team would love to work with her as a fearless First Lady using her voice and platform to address issues of inequalities affecting girls. Responding to the Executive Director, His Excellency

Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada expressed his sentiment on behalf of himself and the First Lady, while ascertaining the invitation and offer proposed to the First Lady is timely and quite prudent, giving the clear evidence of the work the she does in Sierra Leone and how she has succeeded in breaking the societal taboo of not talking to girls about sex education and reporting their abusers in cases of rape and sexual penetration. H.E disclosed that the First Lady deals with the advocacy

aspect of narrowing the inequality gaps through the Hands Off Our Girls campaign, while his government works on

the right policies and implementation to give girls an equal chance to be educated and empowered. Highlighting some of the key achievements of his government, President Bio mentioned the One Stop Shop centers for rape victims, the special sexual offences court for rape cases, the exceptional advocacy work of the HOOG campaign by the First Lady and the overturned of the ban on pregnant girls accessing school after giving birth, stating that statistics have shown an exponential progress on the results from girls returnees in schools and a much higher retention of girls due to the intervention of the First Lady’s Free Sanitary Pad initiative, as she established herself with the girls so much that they feel confident to open up and share their everyday realities with her. President Bio pledged his government’s commitment to work with the UNAIDS agenda, while noting that Madam First Lady’s involvement will be pivotal in achieving great success of the initiative, due to her resounding, authentic and captivating voice that speaks to the hearts of many. First Lady warmly appreciated the reception of Madam Winnie, while noting that her advocacy to ensure every girl has equal right and access to education is stem from her personal ordeal, and her passionate campaign has garner lots of attention from the country’s capital city to the last village and town in Sierra Leone. She mentioned the commitment of Paramount Chief, religious leaders, community leaders, parents, girls’ right movements and civil society activists, whom she continues to work with to create more impact. Madam Fatima pledged her commitment to work with UNAIDS, as their concerns are genuine and should allow radical inclusion like what president Bio is doing in Sierra Leone, adding that her office works mainly to prevent girls from not getting pregnant and have an equal and fair opportunity to stay in school like their male colleagues. In her concluding statement, First Lady stated that, with the way the world is transiting, girls most times prefer to seek answers concerning their sexualities or its related components from outside the home, due to lack of adequate parental communication on sex education and personal hygiene, hence the need to work aggressively in eradicating such myth from society, when it has to do with sex education for girls. Strategic Communication Division Office of The First Lady Info@officeofthefirstlady.gov.sl

On September 19th, 2021, the President of UN General Assembly allowed Dr. Barryl Biekman as Keynote Speaker to address the Assembly in New York during the UN World Conference Against Racism which marked the 20- year anniversary. Dr. Barryl Biekman spoke during the opening session of United Nation’s High-level meeting per its resolution 75/237, the General Assembly held this one-day high-level meeting to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), at the level of Heads of State and Government, on the theme “Reparations, racial justice and equality for people of African descent”. Dr. Biekman, an African-Surinamese from the Netherlands, is highly recognized in the NGO and intergovernmental communities for her advocacy and bringing worldwide attention to the DDPA. Exemplary to this, she also addressed the formal launching of the International Decade for People of African Descent at the UN General Assembly in 2014. Dr. Barryl Biekman is the Human Rights Commissioner of Tiye International, Council Member of ENGOCCAR (European-Wide NGO Consultative Council on Afrikan Reparations / Europe, UK), a Member of the Global Pan African Coalition for the DDPA, and former Member of the Technical Working Groups for the development of the African Union African Diaspora Sixth Region Declaration of 2012. She also Chairs the National Monument Dutch Slavery Past, and led amongst hundreds of Pan-Africanists and activists, the preparation processes of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action as an NGO liaison in the Dutch government delegation in South Africa, 2001. Among her many achievements and expert knowledge, which bridge understandings between the empowerment of women and girls, gender equity, human rights and civilization dialogue, Dr. Biekman is this year’s recipient of the prestigious Global African Women’s Day Award for her outstanding contributions on increasing the visibility of the DDPA. Among the speakers at the historic opening session are; President of the General Assembly, United Nations Secretary-General, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Head of State of South Africa and invited members from civil society. Excerpts from her statement to the National Assembly at the UN.

Dr. Biekman addresses a High level meeting to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and programme of Action. ‘Reparations, racial justice and equality for people of African descent “

Mr. President, Excellences, Distinguished guests Greetings, I feel much honored to have been selected to deliver the keynote address on behalf of civil society when the United Nations and all people committed to the elimination of racism are proudly commemorating the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the landmark Durban Declaration and Programme of Action. For me personally it was one of the greatest events in my life to be part of the adoption 20 years ago of the DDPA in Durban in a spirit of solidarity and which gave voice to and protected the rights of all victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms. People of African descent no doubt treasure the DDPA most as our ordeal was recognized as the first victims group and the transatlantic slave trade and slavery was recognized as a crime against humanity. The DDPA is a peoples document based on a thorough preparatory process and broad participation in the preparatory committee meetings. The 20th anniversary of its adoption indeed deserves to be commemorated. I wish to take this opportunity to thank the civil society friends from international NGOs in particular those members of the Global Pan African Coalition on Durban plus 20 including the December 12th movement who campaigned for the decision to be taken to hold the 3rd World Conference Against racism. Mr President, My heart cries And I would like to demonstrate this by using the expression “Truth has the

inherent power to produce the promised effect”. This is to emphasize that we can only be successful in the fight

against all forms of multiple racism if we do what we have promised. To defend and promote the fully implementation of the DDPA which is the strongest universal document of the United Nations’ programs to realize the rights of all victims of racism in intersectional perspective including Afrophobia, racial discrimination, and reparatory, restorative and climate justice. Because of the structurally persistent negative campaign to defame and undermine the DDPA and its implementation as the DDPA in no way shows that it proclaims racism in particular anti-Semitism. This structural undermining of the DDPA is a blow in the face of all those who campaigned for the holding of the 3rd World Conference against Racism (WCAR) by ensuring the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action through a broad-based democratic process. Without the DDPA we would not have been as close as we are today in having a global platform positioned to recognize the unfulfilled rights of Africans and People of African Descent at the United Nations and global society. But our position is crystal clear, we will not accept any denial of the DDPA in the name of People of African Descent neither shall we settle for anything less than our birth right and our human rights. Mr. President While we are assembling to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of a great UN Programme we cannot be silent on the undermining and defamation of the DDPA that has taken place during the past 20 years and now escalated to the extreme. We wonder why no senior official of the United Nations has stood up and spoken

out against the disinformation and false propaganda against the DDPA that has preceded the anniversary and now caused the absence of different countries, including mine, from the commemoration. We wonder how many lives could have been saved if the UN General Assembly resolutions on DDPA information and outreach programme had been implemented and the DDPA been known in its content to people everywhere. Mr. President, I close by saying that my heart is crying but my heart is smiling too because of the importance of paragraph 1. of the Political Declaration whereby the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action and the outcome document of the Durban Review Conference, adopted in 2009, as well as the Political Declaration of the tenth years anniversary of its adoption, has been reaffirmed. We do think however that a special paragraph should be devoted to ‘Reparations’ as it is already mentioned in the DDPA. The very heart, soul, spirit and the essence of the WCAR and the DDPA is the demand for Reparations. Reparations is a very simply payment for a debt that is owed for crimes against humanity which were committed and, in various degrees and forms, have continued into the 21st century. The DDPA embodies the demand of the masses of African people past and present. 20 years after Durban we will continue to fight. The DDPA will not be disappeared. Reparations will be received. As we said in 2001: THEY STOLE US! THEY SOLD US! THEY OWE US! REPARATIONS NOW! I thank you for your attention

An economy calamity: Africa faces years of post Covid instability

By Bram Posthumus

Damage from pandemic could quash ambitions, exacerbate

tensions and deepen repression in part of the continent.

“In the Sahel, the economic impact of the pandemic has further weakened administrations that were already struggling to find resources for security forces, and has aggravated tensions between communities that have helped Islamic extremists make inroads in recent years. Across the region, as elsewhere on the continent, trade routes have been blocked, investments abandoned, and the flow of the remittances from overseas workers and the diaspora on which millions depend for everything from school fees to food has been significantly reduced. Overseas aid is also likely to be reduced. Local and national elections have been postponed due to the virus, raising tensions and causing instability.” Oh dear, this is looking grim. It is almost universally… er, how do I put this politely…massively exaggerated? Not as close to the truth as it hopes to be? Distorted? Yup. All of the above. Let’s have a look, then. One: the violence. The impact of the pandemic in the areas where the fighting is happening is…nil. Sure, there has been more police repression in the cities as a result of Covid measures being introduced but villages do not get attacked because there is a pandemic but because the State is absent. To the best of my knowledge, none of the major cities have seen terorist attacks since 2016, I’d say, with the last major one on the coast. And these tensions predate the pandemic by half a decade or longer. Besides, it is becoming clearer that a lot of what the villagers suffer is the result of ordinary banditry, nothing to do with Islamic extremism. Jihadists are absolutely a factor and a presence and they have an uncanny aptitude to home in, laser-like, onto existing tensions and exploiting them. Of that, there is no doubt but the impact and influence of ‘the fools of god’, as they are known here, must not be exaggerated. And it must certainly not be reduced to the only story to be told about the Sahel, as far too many media do. Two: trade. Sure, the trade routes may have been hampered because the borders have been closed but they were never blocked. The coastal countries that closed their borders to the landlocked Sahel made it clear that this would not affect vital supplies like food and medicine. This is why there was never an empty shelve in any shop or supermarket. To see that you must go to Brexit Britain. Trade may have been reduced in some areas as it was made difficult for traders to transport their wares in person. But they took to using tried and tested smuggling routes to get their stuff from one place to another. Three: have elections been postponed? Not to my knowledge… Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea (not in the Sahel, I agree) held highly controversial elections last year. Niger

elected a new president and in Bukina Faso we wil not have elections because none have been scheduled. The two exeptions are Chad and Mali. This is because there were two coups (Mali) and a (mind you: just re-elected!!!) president was killed in battle and then replaced by his son (Chad), another well-established tradition although sometimes the son is so deeply detested that the people put a stop to it, as they did in Senegal in 2012 and arguably in Mali last year. Investments, remittances and aid have indeed been significantly reduced. But this is the effect of measures taken in countries that have been much worse affected by the pandemic than has the continent of Africa, exceptions duly noted. And here also we must be precise. The issue of remittances will have had the largest impact by a country mile. Family members sending money back home keep entire towns alive and thriving, from Louga in Senegal to Kayes in Mali and the many villages across this vast region. As for investments, one should be told where these were supposed to go, so we can assess the impact. For employment it creates is negligible. And regarding aid… Suffice here to repeat, once again, that were it to stop today hardly anyone here would notice, with the exception of the well-heeled but tiny middle class this industry has spawned. You would see a few fewer FourWheelDrives out on the

instance, a lot of investment in Mali and Burkina Faso goes into mining, which tends to have a detrimental effect on the environment and the surrounding communities, while the streets and the roads but I am sure people will quickly find better things to do with their time than sit in endless workshops that cost the earth and achieve nothing. In a famous TED talk, the author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – and The Guardian worships the ground she walks on – warned against what she termed “the single story”, gross simplifications of complex places and peoples. Perhaps the Guardian could heed her advice and stop pontificating about an entire continent in pieces like these, just like we are currently being spared the dreadful spectre of writers poducing 300 to 700 page bricks about this continent. And to the best of my knowledge this is only done to “Africa”. Why is that? Someone produce a 700-word paper on that, please.