Africa 4 Dummies

In this episode we discuss the complexities of Africa's relationship with African Americans and the wider African ancestral diaspora. 

Our special guest is a young African American entrepreneur who at age 19 decided to pack up and move to Tanzania. Mark Victorian whose YouTube channel is ''Mark Meets Africa' has set up various business ventures in and around Dar Es Salaam. He is currently establishing a community centre for arriving diaspora Africans.

In this episode you'll find out why African Americans choose to move to Africa, the pros and cons to moving to Africa as a person of African decent as well as an unfiltered understanding of Pan-African challenges. 

Music: I AM AN AFRICAN - Ethan Tomas

(282) Mark Meets Africa - YouTube

Five years ago, this month the world's oldest president at age 94 was overthrown by his own military in a stage-managed coup after 37 years at the helm of power. This 2-part episode revisits the perceptions and realities of life during the controversial Zimbabwean president Robert Gabriel Mugabe's rule and what has happened since?

Was he a liberation hero or an intellectual tyrant? Was he an anglophile or a black nationalist?  We ask questions about the Gukurahundi massacre/genocide and the land reform programme.  Finally, we ask...is Zimbabwe better now 5 years since Mugabe?

This is all answered by our guest Dr Chipo Dendere. A Zimbabwean academic from Wellesley College in the US who has testified before US Congress on Zimbabwean Sanctions.

Also in the episode are ordinary Zimbabweans from diverse backgrounds sharing their perspective on Mugabe's Zimbabwe and the aftermath.

Music:

Gomba - Hope Masike

Cheuka - Victor Kunonga, Wilfred Mafrika Nyamasvisva

Zimababwe - Kintar Remix - SANDHAUS, KOBAIEN, Sound of Bam, Kintar

Five years ago, this month the world's oldest president at age 94 was overthrown by his own military in a stage-managed coup after 37 years at the helm of power. This 2-part episode revisits the perceptions and realities of life during the controversial Zimbabwean president Robert Gabriel Mugabe's rule and what has happened since?  

Was he a liberation hero or an intellectual tyrant? Was he an anglophile or a black nationalist?  We ask questions about the Gukurahundi massacre/genocide and the land reform programme.  Finally, we ask...is Zimbabwe better now 5 years since Mugabe? 

This is all answered by our guest Dr Chipo Dendere. A Zimbabwean academic from Wellesley College in the US who has testified before US Congress on Zimbabwean Sanctions. 

Also in the episode are ordinary Zimbabweans from diverse backgrounds sharing their perspective on Mugabe's Zimbabwe and the aftermath.

Music: 

Gomba - Hope Masike 

Cheuka - Victor Kunonga, Wilfred Mafrika Nyamasvisva

Zimababwe - Kintar Remix - SANDHAUS, KOBAIEN, Sound of Bam, Kintar  

Doing Business in Africa Special Season Ep 3

Meet Yebo Ngulube! A young upstart who along with a group of friends started his own construction firm at 23. Soon after finishing his degree in civil engineering, he went on to have several apprenticeships and eventually went on his own starting Urban Space Construction. With ambitions to be a industry disrupter by bringing tech to construction, his firm has featured on national TV in Zambia.   

In this episode we also talk about the pros and cons of building a house vs buying a house. Additionally, with homeownership rates in Africa being very low; South Africa- 35%, Kenya - 15% and Nigeria - 25% we also ask whether all Africans should really aspire to be homeowners.

Doing Business in Africa Special Season  Ep 2

In the second instalment of our African Aviation episode we take stock of aviation sector developments that could bring the cost of flying in Africa down. Here we explore Ethiopian airlines growing hubs across the continent and how it could reduce ticket prices and whether or not more airlines means cheaper tickets. We also ask why Africa lacks low cost carriers (LCC's)  and why flying is still a privilege. 

For those intrested in becoming a pilot, an air attendant or an aeronautical engineer listen up as we count the costs on what it will take to achieve this.

Join the A4D team as we answer these questions with an expert African aviation Puthego Mojapele, a familiar face on South African media on anything aviation, he also runs his own charter company from South Africa and beyond.

Doing Business in Africa Special Season  Ep 2

In the last 10 years African cities have seen a huge facelift in aviation infrustructure, with COVID 19 adversely impacting the sector is this all in vain? 

In this first instalment of our two part aviation episode we also ask : Why are new  terminals and new airports springing up across African cities and towns? Why are countries like Rwanda, Tanzania, Senegal and Uganda investing huge amounts in reviving their national airlines? 

Join the A4D team as we answer these questions with an expert African aviation Puthego Mojapele, a familiar face on South African media on anything aviation, he also runs his own charter company from South Africa and beyond. 

As people got news of Queen Elizabeth II's death on 9th of September 2022 a debate on how we should think about Africa's relationship with the British monarchy reignited. From cherishing the Queen's relationship with African leaders like Kwame Nkrumah  to holding her responsible for the British Empire atrocities this episode features diverse opinions on how Africans relate to the longest reigning British monarch ubiquitously referred to as 'the Queen'. 

Join the A4D team as we take a trip through identity, post-colonial complexities and how we must understand the British monarchy today with Dr Weston K Shilaho, Kenyan author of 'Political Power and Tribalism in Kenya'  who is a Senior Research Fellow at Institute for PanAfrican Thought and Conversation (IPATC) at the University of Johannesburg. 

Music: Jamestown Joint by Ethan Tomas

What does it mean to be an African today? Is race a qualifier, birth, culture, history etc?

How do Gen Z Africans define themselves and how do they relate to Africa's contrasting depictions in popular movies like Black Panther to negative media stereotypes of famine and war.

Join the A4D team with our special guest Yunia from Wanderings & Musing as we answer and discuss these cultural topics with a touch of history and statistics.

The poem in this episode is an excerpt from a speech by former South African President Thabo Mbeki to the South African parliament on the passing of South Africa's new constitution on 8th May 1996. The first comprehensive post-Apartheid constitution.

Feel free to leave a comment to let us know what you want to see more of!

What does it mean to be an African today? Is race a qualifier, birth, culture, history etc? 

How do Gen Z Africans define themselves and how do they relate to Africa's contrasting depictions in popular movies like Black Panther to negative media stereotypes of famine and war. 

Join the A4D team with our special guest Yunia from Wanderings & Musing as we answer and discuss these cultural topics with a touch of history and statistics. 

The poem in this episode is an excerpt from a speech by former South African President Thabo Mbeki to the South African parliament on the passing of South Africa's new constitution on 8th May 1996. The first comprehensive post-Apartheid constitution.  

Feel free to leave a comment to let us know what you want to see more of!

In this episode the A4D team explain the recent events in the eastern  provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and ask why it always seems to fall back into conflict and whats being done to fix it. 

In the recent months there has been a resurgence of armed conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). At least 90 people died due to armed conflict in May according to the Kivu Security Tracker. Additionally, 3 UN peacekeepers were among dozens killed in late July amid protests against the UN peacekeeping force in the region. 

There are hundreds of armed groups in this region but the M23 armed group has seen the biggest gains in a decade and has caused a huge diplomatic spat between the  DRC and neighbouring Rwanda. 

Each side is accusing each other of supporting an ethnic based rebel group and so far two African peace processes are in operation but will there actually be peace ? 

Kivu Security Tracker | Crisis Mapping in Eastern Congo

Music: Migrant des rêves - Fally Ipupa ft. Youssou N'Dour