Africa Daily

In Lagos, some tenants are starting the year with a harsh ultimatum; pay double your rent or move out.

With inflation at 34.8% and housing already consuming up to 60% of household income, many are struggling to keep up.

Meanwhile, landlords report 80% of their tenants are defaulting and investors are abandoning the buy-to-let market due to poor returns.

What’s driving this rental crisis and how is it impacting everyday Nigerians?

It has become a worrying trend in Kenya. Out of nowhere, hooded men appear in unmarked vehicles wielding guns with the aim of kidnapping someone.

Victims are then blindfolded and taken to places that are not officially recognised police stations to be interrogated.

Foreign nationals have not been spared.

Tanzanian human rights activist Maria Sarungi Tsehai says she was abducted by armed men in Nairobi last Sunday afternoon but released hours later. She’d fled to Kenya in 2020 seeking asylum after facing increasing threats.

And last year, Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was reportedly kidnapped and taken to Uganda where he is currently facing a military court.

In today’s episode, Alan Kasujja hears from a father whose son was abducted, and speaks to an investigative journalist about what’s behind this spate of kidnappings.

"I have seen presidents come and go, one after the other, but there’s no change. Poverty continues. So, I hope and pray that things change” - Armdando Sthole, Mozambican economic migrant in South Africa

Presenter: Mpho Lakaje

Guests: Mozambican journalist Fernando Goncalves, Hilda Katema from Malawi’s Department for Refugees and Mozambican expat Armdando Sthole

The latest offensive happened last week when the M23 rebels took Masisi, the administrative centre of the Masisi territory, in North Kivu. Days before, they’d captured another town Katale. Thousands of people have fled and been displaced by the fighting.

The Congolese army fought back and reclaimed Masisi but the rebels have since regained control of the town.

The M23 has held control over large parts of territory in the east since starting a renewed offensive late last year following the breakdown of peace talks between the presidents of DRCongo and Rwanda, who have been accused of supporting and arming the rebel group.

In today’s Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja looks at M23’s advance, the response from the army and the humanitarian situation for those displaced by the fighting.

Snakes… they send a shiver down the spines of a lot of people… especially in Africa where their bites kill tens of thousands every year – mostly In rural areas – with farmworkers and children particularly affected. Many more are left permanently disabled.

And yet these numbers may not actually represent the scale of the problem. It’s estimated that 70% of incidents go unreported, because people don’t always know the cause of death, many can’t get to health centres, and even when they can, health workers often don’t have access to anti-venom.

In today's episode, Alan Kasujja speaks to Dr Blessing Kasenge, who’s campaigning for better access to antivenoms, and Rudo Nalondwa, a Zambian student who has first-hand experience of surviving a snakebite late last year.

On Wednesday, opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane returned to Mozambique after a two month self-imposed exile.

He was greeted by thousands of his supporters at the main airport in the capital Maputo. Video shared on social media shows him kneeling with a hand on a bible declaring himself president-elect of Mozambique.

This latest twist in the country’s post-election drama comes amidst heightened tensions and tight security.

Deadly protests kicked off soon after the October 2024 elections which the country’s opposition have described as rigged in favour of Frelimo, a party which has governed since independence in 1975.

Hundreds of people have been killed, property damaged and shops looted.

In today’s Africa Daily Victoria Uwonkunda looks at the protests and what Venâncio Mondlane’s return means for Mozambique.

This week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said genocide had been committed in Darfur by the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

“The African National Congress right now is at a crossroads and that crossroads is as a result of one, the electoral performance in 2024 and two, some of the challenges that the country is facing” – Jamie Mighti, South African political commentator

Over the past five years Ghana has seen a wave of Africans from the diaspora returning to their ancestral land. That’s because of initiatives like ‘The Year of Return’ which the government launched in 2019.

Former president Nana Akufo Addo said “we believe we have a responsibility to extend a hand of welcome” and that ‘The Year of Return’ had been a “great success”.

But this movement isn’t without controversy. While diasporans celebrate newfound opportunities and belonging, many local communities feel excluded from the economic benefits.

BBC Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja spoke to Ghanaian Culture Journalist Emmanuel Olele as well as Annabelle McKenzie, the Director of the Beyond the Return Secretariat, an initiative of the Ghana Tourism Authority.

2024 was a phenomenal year for women’s sport in Kenya. Amongst other achievements, women athletes won three of Kenya’s four gold medals at the Paris Olympics; in November, Kenyan women were first, second and third in the New York City Marathon; and on the very last day of 2024, double Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet smashed the women’s 5000 metre record with an incredible time of 13 minutes and 24 seconds.

And yet the biggest news story about a sportswoman in Kenya last year was when Ugandan Olympian Rebecca Cheptegei was set on fire by her former boyfriend, dying days later.

The brutal tragedy shone a light on the gender-based violence some female athletes face – and the risks they face. Success and talent can make them targets for predatory men, while low levels of education and exposure to male coaches at a young age can leave them isolated and vulnerable.

Today on Africa Daily Peter Musembi speaks to Elizabeth Keitany, appointed as the executive in charge of safeguarding for Athletics Kenya this year, as well as former Olympic champion Nancy Chebet, one of the very few women who’ve made the transition from athlete to coach.