Africa Daily

The funeral of former president of Confederation of African Football Dr Issa Hayatou is taking place today in Garoua, northern Cameroon.

Hayatou died aged 77 last week in Paris, where he’d been receiving dialysis for kidney problems.

His name was synonymous with African football for nearly three decades.

He served as president of Caf from 1988 to 2017.

He is credited with expanding Africa’s participation at the World Cup and secured the financial security of African football.

But he is also criticised by others for hanging onto power- and during his tenure he faced a number of controversial allegations.

Presenter: Alan Kasujja

Guests: Steve Vickers, Harare-based sports journalist and Amaju Pinnick, former president of Nigeria football Federation (NFF).

“These MPs were never advocates of violence. They were speaking inside the chambers of parliament. They have never joined any mass action on the streets” – Thantaza Silolo, Swaziland Liberation Movement

Guests: Alpheous Nxumalo, Eswatini government spokesperson and Thantaza Silolo of the Swaziland Liberation Movement

“It’s a clarion call to action. It’s a recognition that we can no longer afford to be reactive. We must be proactive and aggressive in our effort to eliminate this threat.”

Guests: Dr Jean Claude Udahemuka of the University of Rwanda, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, and Ampeire Christiana, Jadrine Komukyeya, and Herbert Ssekatawa.

Less than 50% of the world’s population have access to diagnostics, according to statistics from the medical journal, The Lancet.

That drops to 20% when it comes to Africa, where the diagnostic gap is most severe at the level of primary health care.

In this episode of the Africa Daily Podcast, Peter Musembi explores what needs to be done to address that acute gap in diagnostics in Africa.

Guests: Zambian health worker Constance Mudenda and Dr Allan Pamba, Executive Vice President in charge of Africa for Roche Diagnostics.

The number of women using modern contraception in sub-Saharan Africa has nearly doubled to 66 million, thanks to methods like hormonal implants and injections reaching even remote areas.

Community health workers play a crucial role, often delivering contraceptive injections and birth control pills door-to-door.

Global health agencies have expanded family planning services to reduce child mortality and improve the education of girls. Recently, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) called on low-income countries to increase funding for reproductive health, and 44 governments have committed to raising their contributions annually.

Presenter: Mpho Lakaje. Guests: Felicia Issah and Dr. Claudette A. Diogo.

Not long ago, huge demonstrations took place in Kenya against President William Ruto’s plan to increase taxes- he eventually overturned his decision.

“If South Africa was that hostile towards African immigrants, I would expect that people would stop coming. If South Africa was such a deadly place to be an African national, then why would you still be seeing South Africa top the charts on the lists of immigrants flocking here?” - Makone Maja, Institute of Race Relations

UPDATE: On Thursday afternoon Chidimma Adetshina withdrew from the Miss South Africa contest. Her decision follows accusations from the Ministry of Home Affairs that her mother may have committed fraud and identity theft to obtain South African citizenship.

Not too long ago we spoke with Benin’s former Minister for Environment and Urban Planning, Luc Gnacadja, about the challenges and strategies for planning African cities. He told us that he considers Africa’s biggest city, Lagos, to be the least climate resilient city on the continent.

James George, a Nigerian architect, and founder of HTL of Africa. He spoke to Alan Kasujja about his vision for the design and building of more climate-resilient cities, starting with Lagos.

South Sudanese citizens will finally get to vote in an election at the end of this year.

This will be the first time a democratic process will have been carried out since Independence in 2011. But the basic preparations for such an event do not seem to have got off the ground yet.

So will the politicians of a country that has suffered years of civil war, and is still affected by inter-communal violence, have the ability to pull together and get the process started? And will the difficulties of weak state institutions, a lack of census data and logistical problems be overcome? These are some of the questions to explore as South Sudan looks forward to the 22nd of December, the date set for its first election.

Guests: BBC reporter Nichol Mandil in Juba, and Professor Abednego Akok Kacuol, the chair of the National Elections Commission.

Surfing looks amazing fun – seeing a surfer crouched on a board riding a big wave at speed must be an incredible feeling.

But it’s not a well-known sport in Africa, despite nearly 40 countries on the continent having coastlines, with waves breaking along hundreds of miles of beaches.

Four African surfers did make it to the current Olympic games, from South Africa and Morocco. But their ratio of three men to one woman is a good illustration of the fact that it’s a male dominated sport in Africa.

So today we’re going to talk to two pioneering female surfers about why they surf, and what challenges they’ve overcome to become women who surf.

Guests: Maryam el Gardoum, a champion surfer who runs Dihya Surf School, the first female-led surf school in Morocco, and Dihya Nasri, who is known as the only female surfer in Algeria.