Africa Here and NOW

Africa can’t win the AI race as 55 statesProfessor Arthur Mutambara argues that AI is a revolution on the scale of fire, electricity, and the steam engine, and says Africa must respond as one bloc rather than 55 fragmented states. He explains the five layers of the AI industry, the risks of superintelligence and autonomous weapons, and why Africa needs energy, data centers, talent, and continental-scale coordination to have any real leverage.In this episode: Arthur Mutambara lays out why AI is not just another digital trend, but a civilization-level shift with implications for industry, geopolitics, and human development.He says AI has five layers - energy, chips, infrastructure, models, and applications - and Africa must participate in all of them, not just consume the final products.Prof Mutambara argues that without energy and digital infrastructure, there can be no meaningful AI development anywhere on the continent.He warns that AI systems inherit the values and biases of the data and people who build them, which is why Africans must harvest, curate, store, and train on their own data.He makes the case for African unity at scale, saying South Africa, Nigeria, and other individual states are too small to compete alone in an AI economy dominated by China and the US.He links AI to industrialization by pointing to productivity gains, efficiency, innovation, and cost savings across agriculture, mining, education, healthcare, and manufacturing.He says Africa needs data centers on the continent for data sovereignty and AI sovereignty, while acknowledging the land, energy, and water costs they bring.He distinguishes between digital AI and physical AI, saying humanoids, drones, and driverless cars are the next frontier and that China is moving quickly there.He warns that jobs will be modified more than destroyed, but only if African countries develop skills, urgency, and participation across the AI stack.He says recursive self-improvement could arrive around 2028 and artificial superintelligence by 2036, making governance and global regulation increasingly difficult.00:00 - AI as a revolution on the scale of fire and electricity00:30 - Arthur Mutambara’s background and why his perspective matters01:30 - Superintelligence, recursive self-improvement, and weaponized AI02:34 - AI as a general-purpose technology for development02:55 - Why AI depends on digital transformation and infrastructure03:22 - The five layers of the AI industry04:14 - Africa must build, not just consume, AI05:18 - Energy, data centers, and critical minerals as Africa’s leverage05:52 - What a GPU is and why hardware matters06:55 - Bias in AI systems and the need for diverse creators08:31 - Why Africa needs scale to compete in AI09:17 - The talent, funding, and energy needed for AI factories10:08 - Negotiating with China and the US as a continental bloc11:07 - How AI supports industrialization and productivity12:27 - AU awareness, urgency, and linking AI to human development14:21 - Why Africa-first leadership and integration matter16:25 - Partnering to manufacture chips using African minerals17:49 - Geopolitical competition and the governance problem19:45 - Why Africa should negotiate as one block on minerals20:33 - Learning from China while protecting African interests21:39 - AI, climate pressure, and the case for green AI23:00 - Why Africa needs data centers on the continent24:55 - Digital AI versus physical AI26:04 - Job displacement, job modification, and new skills27:43 - Recursive self-improvement and the 2028 timeline28:57 - Artificial superintelligence and the 2036 projection29:44 - What happens if Africa misses the AI revolutionHe says:*“We must be like China. We must be like India.”*“AI is a game of numbers. It requires scale.” *“We must be creators, not consumers.”

My Burkina Faso, Four Years After TraoréThis episode examines Burkina Faso four years into Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s rule, using a conversation with Dr. Lamourdia Thombiano, a soil scientist and writer from eastern Burkina Faso. It explores security, sovereignty, indigenous values, and the political mood in the country, with a strong focus on how many Burkinabe people see the changes firsthand.Dr. Thombiano argues that the country has more hope, cohesion, and national purpose than it did before Traoré took power, especially outside the cities. He also explains why many citizens view the current period less through the lens of elections and individual rights, and more through development, social unity, and cultural grounding.Key topicsDr. Thombiano says Burkina Faso feels more vibrant and politically engaged than it did four or five years ago.He links today’s patriotism to the legacy of Thomas Sankara, saying Traoré’s appeal partly comes from continuing Sankara’s unfinished project.Security remains a major challenge, but he frames it as part of a broader package that includes peace, social cohesion, development, and public confidence.He says the army’s morale has improved because soldiers are better equipped and supported by civilians who share information, food, and water.He argues that many Burkinabe people would prefer development spending on health, agriculture, and education over the costs of elections.He describes a shift toward indigenous governance, including traditional leaders handling disputes that are then recognized by the Ministry of Justice.He says Burkina Faso is moving toward a model where democracy is not only about elections, but about good governance and communal responsibility.He highlights concrete agricultural changes, including subsidized fertilizer, government ploughing support, and new crops such as coffee, cacao, plantain, banana plantain, and wheat.He says youth are being trained through “immersion patriotique,” with 65,000 young people reportedly trained this year in values like solidarity, hospitality, fairness, and service.On freedoms and repression, he argues that in Burkinabe culture the collective takes priority over the individual, so public speech is judged by whether it helps or harms the community.Chapters00:00 — Dr. Thombiano introduces himself and Burkina Faso’s new political reference points 00:56 — Traoré’s rise, his sovereignty message, and the promise to restore security 01:26 — Why many Burkinabe people feel renewed enthusiasm and national momentum 03:50 — Sankara’s influence and Traoré’s revolutionary legacy 04:20 — Security as part of a wider package of peace, cohesion, and development 05:19 — Why Sahel insecurity is viewed as a regional and global problem 06:20 — Improved army morale and stronger public support 07:18 — Dissolving political parties and delaying elections 07:47 — Indigenous values and traditional dispute resolution 09:16 — Democracy through a Burkinabe lens 10:41 — Why many people reportedly prefer development spending over election costs 11:09 — Mobile hospitals, rural healthcare, and agricultural support 12:07 — How Burkina Faso’s agricultural possibilities are changing 13:34 — Innovation, agricultural dynamism, and optimism 14:04 — Why optimism is stronger in rural areas 16:06 — Traoré’s hero status among young people 18:04 — French influence, Russian cooperation, and international alliances 19:59 — Burkina Faso as a country of hope and sovereignty 20:30 — “Immersion patriotique” and training a new generation 21:56 — Personal freedoms, collective responsibility, and cultural perspectivesNotable quotes“It’s a country of hope.”“The individual is at the service of the community, not the other way round.”“People realize the amount of money which is being used to organize election, they can use it for health, for agriculture, for education.”

Days after Zambia went to the polls on 13 August, opposition leader Brian Mundubile sits down with me to describe a night he says he barely survived — soldiers at his gate, gunfire inside his home, and members of his camp shot or missing. What follows is a hard conversation about whether this election can be trusted at all, and what he'll do if the result doesn't go his way. And indeed, if it does.Mundubile's central charge is simple: the vote can't be called credible until someone explains, independently, what happened to the Gen 20 forms and the rest of the election material — and who had their hands on it. He describes what he says is a country on edge, an electoral commission he no longer trusts, a campaign he says was throttled, and a claim of victory he insists he never made.He describes the mood in Zambia as close to breaking point — soldiers on the streets, soldiers at the polling stations, soldiers at the tallying centres. Not a reassuring presence, in his telling, but an intimidating one.Then the attack. He says 70 to 80 army officers came to his home and opened fire inside the house. A former transport minister was hit, he says; so was his bodyguard. Others simply vanished — among them Bishop Trevor Mwamba. The government denied any of it had happened, he says, right up until observers and cameras turned up and documented the scene.His problem with the count comes down to custody. He says the Electoral Commission suspended announcing results and started calling in Gen 20 forms in a way that broke from normal procedure — and that military and intelligence officers should never have been anywhere near election material in the first place. So he won't accept a presidential result just because it's been read out. If the core questions aren't answered, he says, an announcement means nothing. He's firm that he never declared himself the winner — he was pointing to his own side's parallel count, not crowning himself — but he's equally clear he believes that count puts him ahead.He's scathing about the conditions his campaign ran under: police blocking meetings, days lost off the trail, violence flaring in several provinces, a final stronghold he never got to visit. There are also claims here of foreign mercenaries and attackers coming across the border, and an account of his own detention and release, with the police and intelligence services in the frame.On his own past, he doesn't dodge it. He accepts the Patriotic Front fell short in government, but insists his formation has changed .And if he wins? He says he'd protect the office of the outgoing president, follow due process on any corruption allegations rather than settle scores, and build a government that reaches across regions and reconciles rather than punishes.Chapters00:00 — Zambia after the vote: a country holding its breath00:49 — Soldiers everywhere, and the first doubts about the count01:32 — The night they came: gunfire at the house04:32 — Why he says this election can't be trusted05:28 — The Gen 20 forms, and what happened to them06:40 — Chain of custody: why who holds the paper matters08:02 — What he'll accept — and what he won't08:56 — His case against the Electoral Commission's independence09:46 — A campaign run on the back foot10:37 — Violence in the provinces, and the stronghold he never reached11:30 — Soldiers guarding ballots: how did we get here?12:58 — "I never declared myself winner" — setting the record straight13:41 — Why he believes his own count leads14:18 — Mercenaries and attackers across the border15:24 — Detained and released: the role of police and intelligence17:09 — Owning the PF's failures, and drawing a line under violence19:21 — What he'd do with a defeated president20:10 — Rule of law, not payback21:38 — Reconciliation and a government for every regionNote: The claims and allegations in this interview are Brian Mundubile's own account. Africa Here & Now puts them on the record and reports them as his testimony.

A new documentary asks those INVOLVED for ANSWERS to Nigeria's June 12th 1993 Election Question that Won't Go Away.In 1993, Nigeria held what many still call the freest election in its history. MOSHOOD KASHIMAWO OLAWALE ABIOLA — MKO — won it. Everyone accepted the result. Then the military annulled it, locked him up, and five years later he died in detention, collapsing during a meeting with a US delegation on the very day his release was expected. The cause of his death has never been settled.Filmmaker OSE OYAMENDAN spent years and more than a hundred hours of footage tracking down nearly everyone still alive who was in the room or near it — including GENERAL IBRAHIM BABANGIDA, who annulled the election, and GENERAL ABDULSALAMI ABUBAKAR, who was head of state when ABIOLA died. His documentary MKO had its world premiere at Sheffield DocFest 2026. He sits down with me to trace how a national election became a global mystery — and why, thirty years on, it still shapes Nigeria.In this conversation: what the record actually establishes about June 12 and the annulment; the family's final visit to a man who looked grey and unwell; BABANGIDA'S own account of why he cancelled the result; the rivalry between ABIOLA and OBASANJO; the testimony of ABIOLA's guard, THEODORE ZADOK, pulled away for forty minutes before the collapse; the tea, the cup, and why OSE is careful not to call it poison; the death of SANI ABACHA a month earlier and the connection some see between them; and what the annulment did to Nigerian democracy — including why OSE's own mother stopped voting.OSE is clear throughout that he draws no verdict on how Abiola died; the film lays out the accounts and leaves the conclusion to the viewer. Africa Here and Now follows the same line — the contested claims here belong to the film and its participants.MKO (2026) — a film by Ose Oyamendan. World Premiere, International Competition, Sheffield DocFest 2026.00:00 "we'll say it's in the tea"00:18 Getting Pickering to talk: lawyers, access, and the making of MKO01:35 Who killed Abiola? Why Ose leaves the verdict to the viewer01:57 June 12, 1993: the win everyone accepted, then detention02:22 The last days — the family's final visit, and a man gone grey03:31 The morning of the meeting: awake, singing, "excited"04:00 Building the chronology: reporting a story with various claims05:15 Babangida: the charm, the corner he boxed himself into06:34 Why he annulled it — "I don't want to die"07:03 The Abacha problem Babangida never dealt with08:41 Was Abiola too trusting? Naïve, or facing something new?10:46 The Renaissance man: the richest man who declared himself president11:13 Ose's first encounter with Abiola13:00 Obasanjo, rivalry, and "Abiola is not the Messiah"16:34 Abubakar takes over — why release everyone but him?18:22 Theodore Zadok: the guard pulled away for 40 minutes19:00 Inside the 28-minute tape: the cup, the discomfort, the collapse20:41 Was it the tea? Why the poisoning theory doesn't hold21:34 In defence of Susan Rice21:55 Abacha's death a month earlier — the apple, the connection22:55 Who benefits? Oil, the army, and the political class23:52 The mandate he would not renounce — and the Kofi Annan letter25:07 The stolen democracy: why Ose's mother stopped voting26:23 June 12 as symbol: the one man who won every part of Nigeria27:18 Has Nigeria recovered? Weak centre, strong regions, a military system29:19 Mandela's warning: no strong Nigeria, no strong continentKey figuresMKO Abiola — businessman and publisher, winner of the annulled 1993 election, died in detention 1998. Ibrahim Babangida — military president who annulled the result. Sani Abacha — seized power in late 1993, died June 1998. Abdulsalami Abubakar — head of state at the time of Abiola's death. Thomas Pickering — US Under Secretary of State, led the delegation at the final meeting. Susan Rice — then Assistant Secretary of State for Africa. Theodore Zadok — Abiola's security guard

Ten African teams. The most ever at a World Cup. So why aren't the people who actually know the game convinced?Former Premier League striker and Nigerian Super Eagle, EFAN EKOKU and ex-DRC international ,GABRIEL ZAKUAN join me to break down Africa's prospects at the 2026 World Cup — from DRC's first appearance in 52 years, to why Nigeria keeps missing out, to the tiny island nation that recruited their squad on LinkedIn.This is an Africa Here & Now Special. We examine the prospects of South Africa, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, DRC, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cape Verde and Senegal in the tournament. And we nod in the direction of the diaspora: Haiti, Brazil and Curacao.🎧 Subscribe for more: https://youtube.com/@AfricaHereAndNOWPodcastCHAPTERS 00:00 Africa's best-ever chance? 03:36 Who goes far? — Efan & Gabriel's picks 04:34 Cape Verde, recruited on LinkedIn 05:06 The hurdles: visas, Ebola, and DRC's quarantine 08:26 DRC's historic return after 52 years 10:35 What's wrong with Nigeria's Super Eagles? 12:20 1974 and the ghost of Zaire 14:58 Group-by-group breakdown 33:27 Is the French team really African? 53:46 Ones to watch 56:25 Final predictions Find out about the 1993 Tragedy in which ZAMBIA'S ENTIRE National Football Squad died. They were considered the country's best ever team; many say Zambian football has never recovered. https://youtu.be/1N70VyekfTo?si=p1O6H2zGHfTF-O8l

Sculptor SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP focuses on the 1786 TIGNON LAW in Spanish-colonial Louisiana, that effectively tried to OUTLAW BLACK WOMEN'S HAIR. THE TIGNON LAW ordered women of colour — including the roughly one thousand free black women of New Orleans — to cover their heads. It was designed to DEMEAN and to STRIP these increasingly powerful women of their STATUS. It BACKFIRED spectacularly. The women turned the MANDATED HEADWRAP into something dazzling: towering, brocade-like turbans that would have made onlookers do a double take even in the twenty-first century. So GLAMOROUS were they that they swept the ATLANTIC WORLD as the most fashionable item of the age — with even WHITE WOMEN imitating them.I go to London's October Gallery to see SOKARI DOUGLAS CAMP's new collection inspired by this history. The acclaimed British-Nigerian sculptor — who describes herself as a welder first and foremost — works in steel, rendering the creases and folds of calico, the lace of a headwrap and the tartan of a shawl in metal, studded with coins to speak to the transatlantic trade and how black bodies were "claimed" by money. Drawing on an Italian print that first captivated her, Sokari reflects on her KALABARI roots, four decades of life in England, and the layered strands of blackness — African, Caribbean, English — that now run through her work. With more than forty solo shows behind her, she explains why insisting on visibility, and educating "our colonizers," still matters. I get a quick reaction from veteran MP, DIANE ABBOTT, about the show.Exhibition: Sokari Douglas Camp's new collection FASHION and FORTUNE at the October Gallery, London🎧 Available on all major audio platforms🌍 Website: www.africahereandnow.com𝕏 Host: @MartineDennis👉 Please like, subscribe and share, and let us know what you think.Original music by Enrick Adam. Camera and edit by Ali Rafi.00:00 Cold open: taming the black woman backfired00:37 1786 — the law that tried to police black hair01:15 Why force women of colour to cover their hair?02:44 The Tignon Law and the power of free black women03:51 How the women aggrandized the headscarf04:11 Coins, feathers and the language of the work04:58 The print that started it all05:41 Flipping the script: white women imitating them06:03 Rendering fabric in steel07:21 Kalabari roots in the studio08:40 A landmark show at the October Gallery: DIANE ABBOTT, MP08:40 Forty solo shows and what this collection signifies09:41 Facing the diaspora: the strands of blackness09:57 "Our colonizers need education"10:46 Welder first and foremost

I sit down with Wale Babalakin, the entrepreneur behind Nigeria's first privately operated airport terminal — MMA2, the domestic terminal at Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos. Eighteen years after opening, MMA2 remains one of Africa's most significant examples of successful private airport concession — and the story of how it was built is as remarkable as the terminal itself.Wale tells me how his company entered the bid as a reserve bidder, was eventually invited back after the original winner failed to satisfy government, and then took on the extraordinary challenge of redesigning and rebuilding the terminal from scratch — all within the original three-year schedule. Inspired by a visit to South Africa's newly completed domestic terminal, he rejected the government's original design, won ministerial approval for a bolder vision, and delivered on time.Now, with Nigeria's aviation sector growing rapidly and a more investor-friendly policy environment in place, Wale Babalakin reflects on what it takes to build private infrastructure in Africa, why airports require long-term capital, and what role pension funds could play in unlocking the next wave of investment. Key Quotes:"The best description we could get from the public was: these guys are crazy. Why are they putting their own money into public infrastructure?""You must design an airport so that traffic flows and congestion is avoided — because you are expecting heavy traffic.""You can't build an airport with three-year money or four-year money. It's not possible.""We don't need money from government. We don't need support from government other than policy-free implementation.""I believe this is the only way for any economy."Tags / KeywordsNigeria airport MMA2 Lagos Murtala Muhammed Airport private airport Africa Nigeria aviation airport concession Nigeria West Africa aviation Lagos airport terminal Nigeria infrastructure investment public private partnership Africa PPP Nigeria airport privatisation Africa Nigeria economic development Wale Babalakin Africa Here and Now Africa Nigeria business African aviation boom airport design Africa Nigeria aviation sector build operate transfer Africa airport investment Nigeria domestic terminal Nigeria Africa infrastructure Nigerian economy Kema Chikwe aviation series Africa airport capacity Nigeria long-term investment Africa pension fund infrastructure AfricaChapters00:00 — Introduction00:24 — How the MMA2 concession was won01:44 — Was it built from scratch?02:38 — Scrapping the original design — the South Africa visit03:02 — What kind of terminal did you want to build?03:39 — Is this model replicable across Nigeria?04:31 — Is the investment environment improving?05:29 — What makes a successful airport terminal?06:25 — Passenger and cargo volumes at MMA207:15 — The passenger experience — retail, catering, dwell time09:03 — When did MMA2 become a valuable asset?10:25 — The case for long-term capital and pension funds10:48 — Is private airport development the way forward for Nigeria?11:16 — Election risk — can these gains be protected?12:19 — What does the future look like? Subscribe to Africa Here and Now for the latest from across the continent — politics, business, culture, and the stories shaping Africa's future.#NigeriaAviation #AfricaHereAndNow #MMA2Lagos #PrivateAirportAfrica #NigeriaInfrastructure #WestAfricaAviation #AfricaBusiness #NigeriaEconomy