Tsitsi Dangarembga is a critically acclaimed Zimbabwean writer.

In today's Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja speaks to Franca Ma-ih Sulem Yong Akinboboye.

She campaigns for a better understanding of mental health in Cameroon.

She founded two NGOs, Positive Youths Africa which is based on encouraging positive mental health for young people and Afrogiveness which uses art therapy, amongst other methods, to help survivors of conflict and discrimination.

Her work has reached an estimated 100,000 people.

These include victims of the Boko Haram insurgency which has spilled over from Nigeria into Cameroon and the Anglophone crisis in Cameroon between English and French-speaking parts of the country.

Yesterday Alan and his BBC colleagues from South, East and West Africa gathered for a reminder of the big stories of 2024 – and to discuss how they’d shaped the continent.

NOTE: Since the recording of this discussion the estimate for the number of dead in Mozambique has risen to 278 (source: local NGOs via Integrity Magazine).

Which news stories have stuck with you over the last year?

"The power of live entertainment is unmatched."

In today’s podcast, we explore the vibrant culture of African festivals and their growing impact on the continent's economy and global influence. Events like Flytime Fest in Lagos and Sauti Za Busara in Zanzibar draw thousands of visitors annually, fuelling tourism, hospitality, and cultural exchange.

But what does it take to organise a music festival?

Alan Kasujja speaks to Keke Hammond, Chief Operating Officer of Flytime Fest, and Journey Ramadhan, Managing Director of Sauti Za Busara.

What and who made you the person you are today? It’s a big question and the answer is different for us all.

In 2018 Meaza Ashenafi made history when she became Ethiopia’s first female Chief Justice, transforming the country’s judicial system while breaking barriers for women.

But her remarkable path began far from the courtroom, in a small town in Benishangul-Gumuz, in north west Ethiopia.

In today's Africa Daily, she speaks to Alan Kasujja about her journey- her childhood, her law school days as the only woman in her class, defending human rights, being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and what shaped her vision of justice.

‘‘I was a very ambitious young girl, I looked at Margaret Thatcher and Israeli Prime Minister, Golda Meir, and I said well, if they can do it at that level, why not me?’’

What and who made you the person you are today? It’s a big question and the answer is different for us all.

As she pursued her education in France and the USA, Aminata was clear in her mind what she wanted to do: champion human and women’s rights.

Her work on reproductive health in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and later with the United Nations would help her prepare a set of priorities for when her opportunity would come to serve in the government.

But it wasn’t all work and she loved football and judo - interests her mother worried would stop her from finding a husband.

“My age was the most talked-about thing, but I turned it into my strength.”

“For people to be seeing me like this today, I feel embarrassed. I won’t lie to you. There are times when I want to go home and talk to them, but I’m thinking I might get rejected” - Brian Singh, a homeless man in Durban, South Africa