Africa Here and NOW

We speak to Nigerian author NNAMDI CHIEKWU, a millenial who explains why he's angry and what he plans to do about it. Basically, Nnamdi says he is hugely disappointed with the generations who came before him who have left the African continent in such bad shape that he and his cohort need to lead 'a technocratic revolution' in order to revive its fortunes. He's scathing of earlier generations: 'Why didn't they take up the fight? They didn't have the courage. They wanted to ...ingratiate themselves into a western-led world. They had no confidence...in what...an African-led world looked like.'There's so much to do in a very short time. NNAMDI believes that Africa has a mere 5 years in which to turn itself around or face dire and irreversible consequences. 'We've reached our last chance as Africans, as civilisations. And that last chance is 2030' he says.NNAMDI feels so strongly that he's written a book ' AFRICA ON THE PRECIPICE' in which he lays out his theory of Afro-hegemony - a time when Africa and its peoples will dominate global affairs. But in order to reach that state of greatness, Africa's sub-Saharan nations have to come together as one in a kind of loose federation, Nnamdi says. 'The first thing that needs to happen...is that what we call African countries and governments are really colonial constructions....they were never intended for African innovation, liberation let alone dominance....they have to be collapsed.'NNAMDI puts the case for his generation: '..When we millennials look at the Africa we've inherited, we're saying, why are we listening to you? You people are lost. You don't have a direction. You don't have a plan for us. So we're going to take the power.'In NNAMDI's plan of action, out goes the Africa Union (AU) and in would come the African Defence and Advancement Federation - 'a technocratic entity that is dedicated to the defence and advancement of Africans'.NNAMDI acknowledges that the vast majority of Africans are more concerned with their daily struggles with poverty to buy into his plan, but, he believes, there's a 5% critical mass that is ready. His book, AFRICA ON THE PRECIPICE, is Nnamdi's blueprint. 'History is replete with civilisations that have disappeared...Native Americans, Aborigines, Afro Argentines...none of them know when their end was beginning.'AFRICA ON THE PRECIPICE, by Nnamdi Chiekwu is available on Amazon. It's in audiobook form on Spotify.Find out more about Nnamdi on his website: https://nnamdichiekwu.com

A tiny slice of South Africa's semi-arid Karoo region was painstakingly recreated at this year's Chelsea Flower Show in London. It was the first time such an ambitious project had been undertaken to display the world-famous Karoo succulents at Chelsea's annual Festival of Flowers and Plants. I caught up with ERNST VAN JARSVELDT a master botanist who spent a lifetime nurturing these hardy plants and trees. ERNST's passion for succulents is infectious; his knowledge is second to none. When he's not in London, ERNST is at the Babylonstoren Estate in South Africa's Franschhoek wine vally with its world-renowned botanical diversity.

PETER OBI believes he would have been Nigeria’s president now, were it not for widespread vote rigging at the last election in 2023. It’s a view shared by many of his fellow countrymen and women. In a wide-ranging interview with Africa Here And Now MR OBI confirms that he plans to run again in 2027 and believes that this time the outcome will be different. He says he’s optimistic that people will vote for the best candidate and not cast their ballot on the basis of tribe or religion – accusing the current political elite of deliberately fuelling divisions. “Nigerians will see that we voted religion, we voted tribe, now let's vote competence, capacity,” he says. He feels people would rise up if there were further attempts to manipulate the vote, knowing that failure to do so would lead to more years of hunger, darkness and disappointment. PETER OBI outlines what he would do differently if he were in charge, making education a priority to unleash Nigeria’s potential. He wants to see the country move from consumption to production, bemoaning the fact that 60% of Nigeria’s arable land is currently uncultivated. “We can make more money from agriculture than we can from oil,” he tells us. The former governor of Anambra State – a devout Christian - says despite his personal wealth he has always believed in helping the less privileged in society: “I don’t look down on people unless I am going to pull them up.” Looking east for inspiration, PETER OBI believe Nigeria could learn from the economic boom of recent decades in Asian countries including China, India and Vietnam. He expresses admiration for the former president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, as someone who made his country better. It’s an ambition he holds for his own country and one he hopes to have a chance to fulfil after the next presidential election in Nigeria. We also find out a little about the man behind the politics. Donu asks him who his heroes are and what he is currently reading. We discover that PETER OBI is not given to taking holidays. ‘Can you take a holiday when your house is burning?’ he asks. He likens the situation to the Titanic sinking while people on the upper decks were dancing! Asking the questions with me was DONU KOGBARA, Abuja-based journalist and commentator. We chatted with PETER OBI in Abuja on June 11th 2025.#PeterObi #NigeriaPolitics #2027Elections #GoodGovernance #NigerianGovernment #LeadershipInAfrica #NaijaPolitics #ObidientMovement #AfricanLeadership #ElectionTalks #NigeriaDevelopment

Has the shine come off the idea of democracy in parts of Africa? The continent's latest crop of military leaders seem to be enjoying immense popularity, like Burkina Faso's Captain Ibrahim Traore. So are Africans prepared to live under the rule of soldiers. Or is there another way?I speak to GILLES YABI, CEO and founder of the West Africa Citizen Think Tank in Dakar. And in Johannesburg, independent political analyst, MARISA LOURENCO. We explore what could be behind the recent spate of m ilitary takeovers in Guinea, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso and Gabon and ask whether democratic forms of government have had their day on the continent.Both GILLES and MARISA are keen to point out that Africa is not a monolith - each country has had its own distinct circumstances that have led to military coups.Asked why these young coup leaders appear to be so popular, MARISA explains its because they represent a break with the status quo which had failed to deliver prosperity and security. GILLES makes the point that several of the countries that have experienced military coups are experiencing severe insurgencies often by violent Islamist groups. We also consider whether the ruling parties that have come to power after waging an armed struggle for independence, particularly in southern Africa, have managed to transition into parties that uphold democratic values of rule of law, strong institutions and individual freedoms.We are reminded that Afrobarometer polls regularly reveal that a majority of those surveyed are in favour

Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool discusses the recent efforts to reset relations between South Africa and the United States. President Ramaphosa's recent visit to the White House was a success, the ambassador says. He reflects on the challenges faced during his tenure as ambassador, including the backlash from the Trump administration and the influence of powerful South African figures in the US. He does not regret the candid remarks he made about the state of US politics - remarks that got him expelled from the country.We touch on the legacy of apartheid that continues to affect South African society today. Ambassador Rasool reveals his own experience of living under apartheid. He first tasted teargas as a youngster in 1976 - politics is not a career choice in South Africa he says. He was imprisoned which was when he met Nelson Mandela for the first time, was placed under house arrest and suffered like all non-white South Africans under apartheid. His experiences shaped his views on supremacy and justice.We also discuss the group of wealthy white South Africans who've come to be known as the Paypal Mafia and the influence they are having on U.S policy towards South Africa. How central is Elon Musk's Starlink satellite company to Pretoria's relationship with Washington? Abassador Rasool says that accepting Starlink is integral to Washington's dealing with African countries.

Why has Burkina Faso's military leader, IBRAHIM TRAORE, garnered such adulation? That's a question for the renowned investigative journalist, DAVID HUNDEYIN who replies that the young captain, he's just 37, symbolises s break from the status quo and offers hop to a youthful continent whose people yearn for a hero.Who, or what, is behind the social media tsunami that surrounds CAPTAIN TRAORE? We consider whether the multitude of social media posts extolling his often other-worldly virtues are true or fake. Many of them clearly use images and sound fabricated by AI - like a Beyonce look-alike who weeps as she prays for the protection of her 'king'.We wonder whether such fantastical excesses could actually undermine TRAORE. We also question why we hear so few Burkinabe voices on the matter.DAVID Suggests the Burkinabe authorities would do well to take a firmer grip of their own narrative. Impressive claims are made about the rule of CAPTAIN TRAORE, like ending all taxation and undertaking extensive road building. But what about the security situation? Reports suggest that government control extends to just a third of the country. The rest, they say, is under the control of various Islamist groups with many people displaced from their villages.What is needed, says PATRICK, is robust reporting by independent journalists from inside Burkina Faso to establish the facts. DAVID says objectivity in journalism does not exist - everyone has an interest, a bias.And DONU raises the inherent dangers of a cult of personality.DAVID suggests that there are limited benefits from democratic systems of government in Africa - economic freedom is what counts most.MARTINE DENNIS is Founder and Host of Africa Here and NowPATRICK SMITH is Editor of Africa ConfidentialDONU KOGBARA is a journalist and commentator based in NigeriaWe were talking with DAVID HUNDEYIN, Editor of West Africa Weekly

TITLE: Gaza, Should Africans Care? Pro- Palestine Cornell Student Who Fled US Talks to Africa Here & NowTags:Africa, Palestine, Israel, activism, geopolitics, youth, solidarity, African Union, Arab League, liberation We explore Africa's historical support for the Palestinian cause with MOMODOU TAAL, the 31-year-old British Gambian graduate student who fled the US before he was deported for his pro-Gaza activism. We recall Nelson Mandela’s 1997 statement that South African freedom would be incomplete without that of the Palestinians and how the near universal solidarity on the continent for their cause has ebbed somewhat.Why should a bright, young African jeopardise a first-class education at an elite university because of the suffering of Gazans? MOMODOU is clear: everybody should care about the deaths of tens of thousands of innocent civilians, including thousands of children.MOMODOU tells us about the protests on campus calling for the university to divest from companies that are involved in the destruction of Palestine and the lives of its people. His name is noted by the authorities, and he realises that he will become a target for deportation by the incoming Trump administration.He is however, helped and supported by his lecturers and members of the faculty including many Jewish students. It is important MOMODOU says, not to conflate Zionism with the Jewish people against whom he has no grudge.When his name appears on a list for deportation, MOMODOU he challenges the legality of executive orders – the tool of choice used by the White House. His legal action fails and MOMODOU decides to ‘self-deport’, to flee the United States before he is chucked out.“I’ve not been accused of any violence, I’ve not been arrested. The government doesn’t say anything about me, my activity. It says that you created an uncomfortable environment for Jewish students….I find that quite strange because I never go to university thinking I have to be comfortable” he says.We ask MOMODOU the fundamental question: why does he think black liberation is inextricably linked to the Palestinian cause? He refers back to Malcolm X and others and their opposition to colonialism. He says: I believe in a world that’s free for everybody. And given what we’ve seen in Palestine and Israel, I don’t think we can ignore what has taken place. I want to create a better world, a world built on justice and I can’t ignore what’s happening in Palestine given what I know has happened to my own ancestor and history.’Momodou Taal hosts a podcast, The Malcolm Effect.

I meet Bobi Wine as he visits London. He’s seeking support for his campaign to rid Uganda of what he calls the ‘ brutal rulership’ of President Yoweri Museveni who will have led the country for 40 years in 2026. That’s when Uganda is scheduled to hold its next presidential election. Will Bobi run again? ‘Here I am,’ he says, ‘Not that I’m the Alpha and Omega, not that I’m the ultimate. But I’ve said I’m available if I’m required to lead …’ We look back at what happened at the last general election in 2021 which Bobi and his supporters say they won. ‘We defeated them, but the entire world watched as many of our campaign team was massacred….’ I ask him how does he keep going after all the beatings, the torture, the house arrest? He replies: ‘I’m in a better state than so many of my comrades in the struggle. They get locked up, they get beaten and nobody knows. When I get arrested the whole world knows….So I keep going by looking behind me. I get the least of the oppression and the most of the attention. But my friends that suffer in the dark are not complaining. They keep going” What about your wife and 4 kids? Bobi says the whole family has agreed that although their activism is dangerous, it would be even more dangerous to give up. What did the recent by-election in Kawempe North, which Bobi’s NUP won, tell him about how the general election is likely to be fought? There was well-publicised violence and claims of rigging.2026 will be a protest vote, Bobi says: ‘We know that we will win the vote. But I’m not sure if we will win the count.’ Bobi reveals that he’s in talks with Dr Kizza Besigye’s Forum for Democratic Change about the possibility of collaborating as well as with other political parties. Dr Besigye’s continued imprisonment, Bobi says, ‘is meant to intimidate all of us’. I suggest to Bobi that his popular support could be limited to his own tribe, the Baganda. The majority, if not all, of the Buganda constituencies vote for Bobi. He disagrees ‘ we won in the far west and in parts of the north…my wife comes from Museveni’s tribe…my colleagues come from tribes scattered all over Uganda.’ Looking ahead to next year’s election, I ask Bobi what’s in his manifesto? What are the issues he’s running on? ‘Corruption is the cancer that’s eating us’ he replies. We touch on one of the most controversial issues in Uganda today: human rights particularly as experienced by the LGBQT+ community. A much younger Bobi Wine as a musician had been associated with homophobic lyrics. Today, he has a more nuanced approach to the matter: ‘The west should stop looking at the LGBT rights as the only human rights, otherwise they will provoke Africans and people of the world to start imagining that there’s a hidden agenda. People get killed every day in Uganda and they should all have rights.” We end our chat on a rather optimistic note. “The future doesn’t have to hold anything for me as an individual. I look at this as all of us. The future is robust. The future is hopeful.’ #uganda#HEBobiWine#democracy#corruption#humanrights#africa

We look at recent events in Zimbabwe and the formation of the March 31 movement and ask how significant a threat it presents to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.Dr BLESSING-MILES TENDI, a politics professor at Oxford University, is the author of The Overthrow of Robert Mugabe - Gender, Coups, and Diplomats. He takes us through the complex political landscape of Zimbabwe today as well as the historical context of the 2017 coup against Robert Mugabe.Dr Tendi highlights the rifts between the elites within the ruling party, the role of the military, and the influence of the 'struggle generation' on current politics.He is an expert on coups and Dr Tendi highlights the misconceptions surrounding coups and the challenges of succession planning in Zimbabwe.We consider the international responses to the coup, and how Zimbabweans felt about the aftermath.Dr Tendi emphasises the importance of understanding the past when considering the future dynamic of civilian and military authorities.*We ask when is a coup not a coup? Find out why the international community was reluctant to classify the events of 2017 as a coup.*How far did Mugabe's iconic status as a liberating figure influence the way he was handled by the generals?Has President Mnangagwa coup-proofed his administration?Have the tensions within the military been resolved?Just some of the questions we grapple with in this episode of Africa Here and NowThe Overthrow of Robert Mugabe - Gender, Coups and Diplomats by Blessing-Miles Tendi