Africa Daily

By BBC World ServiceNews

Africa Daily episodes

May 23, 2025 Sudan’s displaced footballers’ winning streak in Mauritania
“My responsibilities as a captain became more… A player would receive a call telling him he’d lost a brother or a relative or a dear one.”
After war broke out in Sudan, the football team Al Hilal Omdurman had to flee from Khartoum like many of those around them. They spent months looking for a new home, but eventually were welcomed to Mauritania where they have played competitively in the league there. They've now finished top of the league with two games to play.
In this final episode of Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja looks at how footballers and athletes have continued to compete at the highest levels – despite facing tragedy and loss.
GUESTS:
Al Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman
Al Hilal Executive secretary Yasir Hassan,
Sudan’s National Olympics Committee President Ahmed Hashim.
From next week, you can hear stories from Africa on the Focus on Africa Podcast.
21 min
May 22, 2025 Why do so many children go missing in South Africa?
Today, Africa Daily’s Mpho Lakaje sits down with Johannesburg mother Mankepe Matsoakeletse.
Her daughter, seven-year-old Agnes, went missing in August 1989.
She hasn’t stopped searching for her.
“I do not know if she is alive or struggling or if she is eating. That's why I cannot give up. I cannot forget because I do not know what kind of life she is living where she is, if she is still alive”, she says.
This conversation comes as South Africa will be commemorating Child Protection Week, between the 29th of May and June the 5th.
According to the police, almost 700 youngsters were reported missing between 2023 and 2024.
More than 470 of them were found and reunited with their families, the rest were either found dead or never accounted for at all.
Tragically, the trend continued the following year, with more than 200 youngsters losing their lives or vanishing without a trace.
Mpho will also be hearing from Bianca van Aswegeng and Brigadier Attie Lamprecht of the South African Police Service.
21 min
May 21, 2025 Can chess help children displaced by conflict to rebuild their lives?
12 year old Mary has spent most of her life in an Internally Displaced People’s camp in north-east Nigeria.
Her family were driven out of their village by militants Boko Haram- a group whose exploits have left millions in the region displaced.
Over 3 million people have been displaced in Nigeria and more than half of that number are children. This have also contributed to the north’s reputation for having the highest number of children out of school.
But over the last year a very different world has opened up for Mary, and it’s all because of chess. She’s won medals and competed in tournaments in the United States. She was taught to play by chess coach Vivian Ibrahim, a woman who believes chess could help children in these camps to get back into education.
In today’s episode Alan Kasujja speaks to Mary and her mother Hanatu about their journey. He also speaks to Vivian about the power of chess.
21 min
May 20, 2025 What’s the future of nursing in Africa?
Anyone who has spent time in hospital will know just how vital nurses are. They’re often the people we have the most contact with as they look after our comfort as well as our medical care.
But the role of nurses is expanding. They are taking on more medical responsibilities and are becoming leaders in healthcare.
Alan Kasujja speaks to Khadija Mohamed Juma, a Kenyan nurse who has been revolutionizing blood donation in the country. And also to Naomi Oyoe Ohene Oti, a nurse from Ghana who has been leading the development of oncology nursing in Ghana.
16 min
May 19, 2025 What do the deaths of three young girls reveal about gender based violence in Namibia?
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains references to violence against children, which some listeners may find distressing.
Three young girls - Ingrid Maasdorp, Rosvind Fabian and Beyoncé Kharuxas - were found dead in the Namibian town of Okahandja within weeks of each other.
Their deaths, though separate, shared chilling similarities and sparked a wave of grief, protests and urgent calls for justice.
What do these tragedies reveal about gender-based violence in Namibia? How are families and communities confronting their grief and demanding change?
BBC Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja spoke to grieving grandmother Dollie Maasdorp, Windhoek-based journalist Frauke Jensen and former teacher and activist Jané Lowesi, who helped lead one of the first protests.
22 min
May 16, 2025 Is Joseph Kabila about to lose his immunity from prosecution?
It’s more than six years since Joseph Kabila stepped down as President of the Democratic Republic of Congo…handing over power to Felix Tshisekedi.
And yet Mr Kabila’s presence still looms large over politics in the country.
On Thursday the Senate in the DRC began to examine an indictment request against Mr Kabila.
On today’s episode, a senior member of Mr Kabila’s party responds to the prospect of him losing immunity. And helps us get to the bottom of reports that he has returned to the country.
Francine Muyumba is a member of Mr Kabila’s People’s Party for the Reconstruction and Democracy, a lawyer and former Senator herself.
18 min
May 15, 2025 Are white Afrikaner minorities really being targeted in South Africa?
This week the first group of Afrikaners arrived in the United States, as part of President Donald Trump’s initiative to resettle them in his country.
President Trump alleges that this ethnic group is being targeted.
“It’s a genocide that’s taking place that you people don’t want to write about. But it’s a terrible thing that’s taking place, and white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa. And the newspapers and the media, television media doesn’t even talk about it”, he recently told reporters.
But his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa hit back.
“We are the only country on the continent where the colonizers came to stay and we have never driven them out of our country”.
The latest developments come as the two heads of state are preparing to meet in the coming days, to discuss their political fallout.
In this episode, Africa Daily’s Alan Kasujja attempts to find out if Afrikaners are really being persecuted in South Africa.
Guests: AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel, AgriSA CEO Johann Kotze and political commentator Advocate Dwight Snyman
24 min
May 14, 2025 Why are hospitals under attack in South Sudan?
“Even the patients, their relatives had to carry them on make-shift stretchers trying to escape. We had 38 cholera patients and they all fled. Which means they spread the disease in other areas, and some of them might have died in the bush.”
Tensions have escalated in South Sudan in recent weeks after the Vice President was put under house arrest and his key allies were detained.
In Upper Nile and Jonglei states, violence between a militia allied to the VP and forces loyal to the President forced patients to flee from hospitals that came under attack.
So, how did hospitals become a target? And is there any hope in sight?
Alan Kasujja speaks to Zakaria Mwatia - MSF’s Head of Mission in South Sudan - and Dr Abraham Kuol Nyoun, professor of Political Science at the University of Juba.
21 min
May 13, 2025 Why are so many countries saying yes to Starlink?
The number of African countries now allowing Elon Musk’s company Starlink to provide internet services has been growing rapidly - six have granted permission in 2025 alone. And there are reports that Uganda might be next.
Starlink can be cheaper than some traditional internet providers and has been seen as a way to provide internet access to communities that are hard to reach.
But does it come at a cost to governments who might have less control over internet access? And what does it mean for local economies if a big, international company has access to the market?
Alan Kasujja speaks to Temidayo Oniosun; a Nigerian space scientist, and Juliet Nanfuka, a digital rights activist and member of the African Digital Rights Network.
19 min
May 12, 2025 Can you make a living as an artist in Somalia?
“90% of Somali people don’t know the value of art. That is the problem.”
Maslah Abdi Dahir has been threatened by the Islamist insurgent group Al Shabaab who believe portraiture is ‘haram’ or forbidden under Islam. Other Somalis have told him art is a waste of time with so many people out of work.
But the Prime Minister spotted and praised his work and he has 250K followers on TikTok.
So what drives the 28 year old founder of Mogadishu’s art centre and school?
For today’s Africa Daily, Peter Musembi speaks with Maslah Abdi Dahir – and one of his students Anisa Abdulahi Farah.
Produced by Mohamed Gabobe in Mogadishu.
14 min

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Africa Daily has now come to an end. But do listen to Focus on Africa for all the big stories and for the African perspective on major global news. Hosted by Audrey Brown and ready by late…