Africa Daily

By BBC World ServiceNews

Africa Daily episodes

October 17, 2023 What’s Morocco trying to achieve with its football investment?
In recent years, Morocco has been spending millions of dollars in developing its football.
It now boasts six FIFA approved stadiums, a competitive local league and has world class transport infrastructure.
Some of its investment paid off in 2022 when it reached the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
But what exactly is Morocco trying to achieve with its multimillion dollar investment in football?
Can hosting the 2030 World Cup boost its economy?
Presenter: Mpho Lakaje
Guests: Jalal Bounouar and Brian Wesaala
20 min
October 16, 2023 What happened to Kenya’s baby stealers?
It’s nearly three years since a BBC Africa Eye investigation uncovered multiple cases of children being stolen and sold for cash in Kenya.
The film saw Njeri Mwangi speaking to mothers who were still looking for their children years after they went missing.
Many people were shocked to see a former nurse, a hospital worker and a homeless woman caught on camera trying to sell children.
In recent weeks, one of them was sentenced to 25 years in prison. But not all of them have faced justice.
So, what impact did the investigation have? And what has happened to Kenya’s baby stealers in the years since?
23 min
October 13, 2023 Are the IMF and World Bank good or bad for Africa?
Since the second world war, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have attempted to help countries in financial difficulties by providing low interest loans.
This week the two Bretton Woods institutions have been holding their annual meetings in the Moroccan town of Marrakech - the first time they’ve been on African soil in 50 years.
The two institutions divide opinion. Some people believe they have had a positive impact.
But others say the organisations are dominated by the west and need reform to make them fairer to developing countries.
So, what do we really know about the World Bank and IMF?
19 min
October 12, 2023 What’s life like when you live under the constant fear of Boko Haram attacks?
Over the past 14 years Boko Haram has wreaked havoc in Nigeria and neighbouring countries.
The group gained international notoriety with the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria in 2014 which sparked the ‘Bring Back Our Girls campaign’.
Their attacks also spread to Cameroon, Chad and Niger leaving thousands dead and three million people displaced according to the United Nations. Le Spectre de Boko Haram, an award winning documentary, recently screened in at the London Film Festival.
It tells the story of three children living in a village in northern Cameroon, a region regularly attacked by Boko Haram in cross border raids. The film’s director Cyrielle Raingou spoke to Africa Daily’s Sharon Hemans about why she decided to tell this story and the challenges she faced as a woman film director.
19 min
October 11, 2023 Why has violence spiked in Timbuktu and northern Mali?
Known as the ‘pearl of the desert’, Timbuktu was a spiritual and intellectual capital in the 15th and 16th centuries - the home of mosques and libraries and commerce.
For years its treasures drew tens of thousands of tourists each year.
But now it’s a city under siege.
Attacks on civilians have spiked. An Al Qaeda affiliated group announced a blockade of the city - and in September, a rocket attack on a passenger boat led to dozens of deaths and hundreds injured. This led to the cancellation of the boat service - previously seen as the only ‘safe’ form of travel in and out of Timbuktu.
So what has caused this change? For Africa Daily Alan Kasujja speaks an analyst who monitors the levels of violence – and to a man who grew up in the city – but didn’t want to be named for fear of repercussions from the military government.
22 min
October 10, 2023 Are Africa’s tourist destinations accessible to disabled visitors?
“I can’t look at things, but I can see them.” The words of Winston Fani, a blind tour guide from South Africa.
He shares his journey with Alan Kasujja and explains he found himself working in an industry where very few professionals are living with disability.
Winston is part of about 7.5% of South Africa’s population living with some form of disability, according to government data.
Alan also chats with Ugandan tour operator Amos Wekesa about how accessible tourism destinations are on the African continent.
The World Bank says Uganda’s tourism sector holds the key to creating jobs and increased foreign exchange earnings.
16 min
October 09, 2023 Why are people protesting in Ghana?
Last week, hundreds of protesters marched in Ghana’s capital, Accra. They called for the resignation of the governor of the Bank of Ghana over billions of Ghanaian cedis lost in the 2022 financial year.
The country is facing its worst economic hardship in over a generation with the high cost of living being driven by inflation of more than 40%.
It has stoked tensions which have led to protests in recent months. Last month, more than 50 protesters have been arrested in Ghana for defying a police order not to demonstrate.
So, what hope are protesters in Ghana hoping to provoke?
#AfricaDaily
22 min
October 06, 2023 How is the Horn of Africa preparing for El Nino?
Can East Africa cope with heavier than average rainfall – predicted to possibly arrive between October and December, linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon?
Forecasts show there’s an 85% higher chance of wetter-than-usual conditions across most parts of the horn of Africa this year. Scientists say areas expected to face floods will include southern Ethiopia, eastern Kenya and southern Somalia, but that parts of Uganda and South Sudan may also face drier conditions.
El Nino is a climate pattern that describes the unusual warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. It can lead to heavy rains thousands of miles away – but also drought and lack of rains elsewhere.
Eunice Koech, a meteorologist with the horn of Africa’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development- IGAD has been speaking to Africa Daily about what El Nino is – and how it might affect East Africa.
16 min
October 05, 2023 What might you learn if you discovered a hidden language?
For his whole life, Fallou Ngom believed his father was illiterate.
It was only after he died that Professor Ngom returned to Senegal and found unusual writing samples among his belongings.
Through his research, he found that the notes were written in Ajami, a modified form of Arabic used to write many African languages.
But Fallou had no idea that many people of his father’s generation were using it to communicate, record debts, and write poems, prayers and stories.
He says that for decades people were recorded as being illiterate if they didn’t write in French.
And many people of Ngom’s generation had no idea their parents were using Ajami all along.
So, what has he found out about his father and his country in the years since he started studying Ajami?
Host: Alan Kasujja
Guest: Fallou Ngom, Professor of Anthropology, Boston University
22 min
October 04, 2023 How is the war in Sudan affecting neighbouring Chad?
“The hardest thing is not being able to help someone beyond what you are able to do with the little medication you have. You examine your patients but don’t have what you need to solve their medical needs. And that has a psychological effect on me”
In today’s podcast, Africa Daily’s Mpho Lakaje hears from healthcare workers trying to assist Sudanese refugees at camps in Chad.
There are more than 20 such shelters in eastern Chad, housing at least 400, 000 people.
This humanitarian crisis has been triggered by a conflict led by Sudanese army head Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Rapid Support Forces leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, otherwise known as Hemedti.
In 2021, the two generals staged a coup, but in recent months they have taken up arms against each other in a power struggle.
The civil war has claimed thousands of lives.
With the number of Sudanese refugees crossing into Chad expected to reach 600, 000 by the end of 2023, how will the country deal with the influx?
15 min

About Africa Daily

From the publisher's feed

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…