SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS - The African Mirror

May

2024

TikTok in Kenya: the government wants to restrict it, but my study shows it can be useful and empowering

EVERY day, 750 million people around the world engage with TikTok – the short-video sharing app. Kenyans are among its top users. According to a Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2023, 54% of Kenyans sampled used TikTok for general purposes, the highest proportion among the countries in the survey. They also use TikTok to express themselves and connect with others. The app, launched in 2018, has become an integral part of social media culture, offering a space for creativity, entertainment and community interaction. It’s particularly known for its memetic videos, which often feature lip-syncing, dance routines and comedic skits. But…

May

2024

By DION FORSTER

Christianity is changing in South Africa as Pentecostal and indigenous churches grow – what’s behind the trend

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

STUDIES show that South Africa is one of only three countries in the world where religious participation has increased in recent years. The other two countries are Italy and the US. The 2022 Census data show that South Africa’s Christian adherence has once again increased. However, the kinds of Christianity that are growing, and those that are declining, tell us some interesting things about the religious, cultural, social and political sentiments of South Africans. Only 2.9% of the population claimed to have no religious views at all – this means that 96.1% of South Africans profess or practise some form…

May

2024

By FRANS VILJOEN

Zimbabwe’s likely to abolish the death penalty: how it got here and what it means for the continent

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ZIMBABWE is likely to abolish capital punishment, following a cabinet decision on 7 February 2024. However, its parliament still has to endorse the move and pass the necessary law enabling the change. The question is when this will happen, especially since it appears that it would require a constitutional amendment. When this happens, Zimbabwe will not only draw a line under a long-standing colonial legal import but also bolster continental and regional trends towards abolition. It will also provide certainty to – and spare the lives of – the 62 prisoners currently on death row. The change was initiated by…

May

2024

By SOPHIE DOUCE

In post-coup Niger, migration becomes legal again

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, EDITORS CHOICE

SINCE deposing the elected government last July, Niger’s ruling military government has shaken up the country’s relationship with its one-time Western partners. In rapid succession, the new government expelled French soldiers from the country repealed a 2015 law that had been a cornerstone of EU efforts to curb migration and then cancelled two EU missions working with Nigerien security forces on a number of issues, including fighting jihadist militants and stopping the movement of people from West Africa toward Europe. Now, Niger’s ruling junta has revoked a military cooperation agreement with the United States, potentially forcing around 1,000 US troops to leave the country. The move further entrenches…

May

2024

By BEDASSA TADESSE

US-Africa trade deal turns 25 next year: Agoa’s winners, losers and what should come next

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) is a landmark piece of trade legislation enacted by the United States in 2000. Its goal is to promote economic growth, development and poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa by providing qualifying countries with duty-free access to the US market for over 6,500 products. By eliminating import tariffs and quotas, Agoa aims to stimulate trade, attract foreign investment and foster economic integration between the US and African nations. Agoa has made strides in boosting exports from eligible African countries to the US. Between 2001 and 2021, the annual value of US imports from Agoa-eligible…

May

2024

By DANNY BRADLOW

South Africa will be president of the G20 in 2025: two much-needed reforms it should drive

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa will play an important international role in 2025 as president of the G20. The G20 is a group of 19 countries as well as the African Union and the European Union. Between them they represent 85% of the global economy, 75% of world trade and 67% of the global population. The G20 defines itself as the premier multilateral forum for international economic cooperation. During its G20 presidential year, South Africa will host a summit of heads of state and government. It will also be responsible for organising and chairing about 200 meetings of ministers and officials. These will…

May

2024

By KOFFI AMÉSSOU ADABA

Togo has adopted major constitutional changes to give parliament more power: how it will work

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ON 25 March 2024, Togo adopted a new constitution that transforms its presidential system into a parliamentary one. Under this new system, parliament has the authority to elect the president of the republic. This major change will likely enable President Faure Gnassingbé, who has been in power since 2005, to extend his 19-year tenure by another term. This reform, adopted on first reading by MPs, sparked protests among opposition leaders who have denounced it as a constitutional coup. The law passed its second reading on 19 April. Koffi Amessou Adaba is a lecturer and researcher who has worked on the…

May

2024

By Hajooj Kuka

A mutual aid volunteer reflects on a year of war in Sudan

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ONE year into a devastating war that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly nine million, there is one thing flourishing in Sudan: mutual aid. Since 15 April 2023 – when the Rapid Support Forces and the regular army began fighting each other – we have seen our dreams of a democratic, prosperous nation destroyed, and we have lived through a year of unrelenting atrocities and loss. Yet at the same time, millions of Sudanese have remained in war-torn areas outside the reach of international aid agencies, finding ways to support each other using local resources and diaspora…

May

2024

By NOAH TAMARKIN

South Africa’s Lemba people: how they view their Jewishness challenges Zionist ideas that identity is linked to one homeland

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

A man wearing a yarmulke stands on the edge of a hill, quietly taking in the landscape below as he considers his ancestors and their histories in this place. This isn’t Israel. It is Mapungubwe Hill, a Unesco World Heritage Site in the north of South Africa’s Limpopo province. The man in the yarmulke is one of around 100,000 Lemba people, Black Jews who live in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Lemba people have long held that they are Jews by descent. In the 1990s and early 2000s, scientists set out to determine whether this could be genetically substantiated. Those studies…

May

2024

By MAYA MISIKIR

Weighed down by war and drought, Tigray struggles to get back on its feet

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SEVENTEEN months since the fighting stopped in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, people are still trying to rebuild what was deliberately destroyed – a mammoth task for a population and local government left destitute by the two-year conflict. Every facet of life in the region – from jobs to social services to security – has been impacted by the scorched-earth war, in which as many as 600,000 people may have been killed. It ended with an African Union-brokered peace agreement in November 2022, but the bill for reconstruction has been calculated at $20 billion. The climate has also taken its toll in Tigray. A drought…