Another interesting African blog, and other African news
A South African peacekeeper in Darfur is blogging (both photos and writing) at Soldier of Africa. Via Sudan Watch.
And, on a related note, We Blog for Darfur points out an Amnesty International online effort to encourage discussion among Arabic communities about Darfur.
Oh, and a couple of interesting posts at Africa Unchained on technology and empowerment and women as Africa’s political hope. Clicking through to the first article referenced, I see a nice picture of the effect new technology is having on Africa today
I’m finishing this report in Bamako, Mali in my mobile office. Today it’s an open-air café called Relax, where they sell good chocolate cake. I have my Ikatel mobile – it’s the best way to contact people because everyone I know in Bamako has at least one mobile and Ikatel covers all urban areas up to Kidal in the far northeast.
The radio is blaring: it’s one of the numerous private FM radio stations with a lecture from the imam (it’s Friday) on the evils of female genital mutilation. I’m reading one of Bamako’s many weekly newspapers while I wait for Harmani Kargne from United Nations Volunteers, to come and tell me about his information and communications technology (ICT) work with decentralised government.
Next door is the Ikatel internet centre, where I can surf for around £1 an hour. That’s how I learned that Jamana – Mali’s first multimedia cultural cooperative – produces “newspapers for the illiterate” on audio-cassette (Jamana was set up in 1983, as the mouthpiece of Alpha Konaré’s opposition party). And I was able to contact several African NGOs from Senegal to South Africa by email.
On the flip side of the Africa and technology story, look at Who’s Bogarting the IPs?, which reports that the US has 4.5 IP addresses per person, while a number of African countries have thousands of people per IP address.
And here’s the Head Heeb with Shortening the Road, on the need to improve roads that link different countries in Africa.