AfricaPundit's Regional Briefing: 2004-10-29

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. This Regional Briefing focuses on Africa, courtesy of AfricaPundit.

TOP TOPICS

• Kenyan ecologist Wangari Maathai has become the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Coverage and commentary on this award winner (and others) inside.

• Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been aquitted of treason in Zimbabwe.

• Abiola reports progress in the search for a malaria vaccine.

• Two more stoning sentences have been handed down against women in Nigeria.

Other Topics Today Include: Africa's Nobel Peace Prize winner; the Anti-Slavery Award; Sudan news roundup; A small step for Somaliland; Cameroonian "elections"; anti-Semitism in SA; Ghanaian talk radio; A $3 African refrigerator; African solar; Internet boosting African agriculture; Teaching entrepreneurship; Digital bookmobiles.

Africa's Prize Winners

• Abiola points out idiocy from Africa's newest Nobel laureate. Meanwhile, Joe Katzman finds this year's laureate to be consistent with the Nobel Peace Prize's moonbat tradition (and Rajan agrees).

• For a dissenting view, Kenyan Pundit seems to like her.

• In other award news, a group of Nigeriens (not moonbats) have won this year's Anti-Slavery Award..

Sudan

• Based on the death toll in Darfur refugee camps, the situation still looks grim.

• Black Star Journal has further comments on the ongoing genocide in the Sudan here and here.

• Meanwhile, yet another story alleges Sudan is cooperating with Syria to test chemical weapons in Darfur. (Via Andrew Sullivan.)

• And if you're wondering why the US isn't doing more to stop the killing, part of the problem may be that we're following a Kerryesque multilateral strategy.

• Despite the ongoing war in Darfur, at least one person thinks that southern Sudan is now peaceful enough to be a good investment opportunity.

Around the Continent

• The nascent state of Somaliland has taken one small step toward international recognition. Ethiopia has extradited a prisoner to Somaliland, implicitly acknowledging the legitimacy of the Somaliland government.

• "President" Paul Biya of Cameroon has been reelected in a questionably free and fair poll.

• Antisemitism in South Africa is not as big a problem as in many Western countries. Abiola shares his thoughts here.

• Ethan Zuckerman discusses the importance of political talk radio... in Ghana.

Economic Glimmerings

• A $3 African refigerator? Yup. It's called a zeer, it keeps 12 kg of vegetables for 5-10x longer than normal, and it's even being used to excellent effect these days in Darfur.

• John Atkinson's latest New Energy Currents briefing mentions the use of low-cost photovoltaics in rural Africa, as well as the usefulness of do it yourself solar projects for disater relief.

• Worldchanging.com has more re: issues in integrating photovoltaics into rural African villages.

• Timbuktu Chronicles covers the use of computers and the Internet to improve the ways that African farming communities plant (like the Farmwise Project in Malawi) and trade their goods via mini commodity exchanges in Mali, East Africa, and Senegal.

• Timbuktu Chronicles also notes that "... All across South Africa - in every elementary and middle school - kids are crafting business plans, doing market research, balancing budgets, and hawking everything from hot dogs at 50 cents a pop to car washes for $7 each.In a dramatic bid to tackle this country's persistent unemployment rate of at least 35 percent, entrepreneurship has become a key part of the evolving post-apartheid curriculum."

• If they're looking for an entrepreneurial opportunity to hook into their curriculum, Anywhere Books digital bookmobiles in Uganda might be an interesting (and very complimentary) model.