Regular attacks by men on motorbikes wielding AK-47 rifles have become a common occurrence in Plateau State in central Nigeria. People in the state are still reeling from the trauma of Christmas Eve attacks just over four months ago, when gunmen attacked 25 villages killing over 150 people. Over the years, the clashes have mostly been between Muslim Fulani herders from the north and Christian farmers in the state. The conflict however seems to have morphed into a complicated situation, with the authorities claiming there are some ‘political forces’ fuelling it. The region is fertile and regard ..read more

Federalism in Africa is the topic of today’s episode. Depending on how you define the term, there are only around six countries in Africa that use the federal model, with Nigeria and Ethiopia among them. But what is federalism and what does it look like in practice? How does it function and differ from a system where power is centralised under one authority? Mpho Lakaje has been looking into all of this and examining whether this is a form of government that suits Africa. He is in conversation with Dr Bizuneh Yimenu, a teaching fellow at Birmingham University in the UK. He has also been talkin ..read more

“We should also harvest the water, store it in the soil. Grow our crops and grow our trees. Because the storage in the soil is much, much bigger than any store we can ever put on the surface. God has already given us a huge reservoir where we can put our water.” Kenya has been ravaged by flooding this month: dozens have died – specifically after a dam burst and a passenger ferry capsized – and thousands more have been made homeless. Schools were closed and farmers have seen their crops destroyed. But in a few months, many of the areas now under water will be struggling with drought. So what ca ..read more

“Before pronouncing sentence on Bobrisky, the judge asked, ‘are you male or female?’. For me this was a red flag. Bobrisky’s gender has nothing to do with whether he (or she) abused the Naira.” Money spraying is part of Nigerian culture: throwing bank notes or putting them on a person’s forehead to congratulate them at weddings, birthdays or other big social events. But since 2007, it’s technically been illegal – as those bank notes can fall to the ground and be trodden on - and the maximum punishment is six months in jail. But until recently, prosecutions were rare. So there was much constern ..read more

“If I have my money, I have my assets, I have my farms, my houses, my cars, I have everything I need, I don’t need to be friendly with any white person” – Sandile Swana, former freedom fighter. In 1948, the National Party came into power in South Africa and introduced apartheid, a system that segregated society along racial lines. Black people were not allowed to share toilets, beaches, theatres and other public facilities with their white counterparts. In the decades that followed, the black majority rose up against the system and engaged in various political campaigns. Many activists - inclu ..read more

“It feels like a black man deserves the worst. The poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer. I don’t know how things will change” – Alexandra resident, Vusi Mbeye. On the 27th of April 1994, millions of South Africans voted in their country’s very first democratic election. During white minority rule, black people were not allowed to vote. Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress won that election and then introduced policies like Affirmative Action and Black Economic Empowerment. In addition, many black students received financial aid from the government and private compani ..read more

Togo's President Faure Gnassingbé's proposal to change the constitution has ignited a fierce debate in the country. Some say it's a power grab disguised as reform, while others insist it's a step towards a more democratic future. The reforms aim to switch Togo from a presidential to a parliamentary system, but critics worry it will only prolong the Gnassingbé family's rule. Helping to keep him in power until 2031 and potentially beyond. President Gnassingbé came to power in 2005 after the death of his father, who had been president since 1967. Protests have been banned and elections postponed ..read more

Earlier this month we marked the 10th anniversary of the kidnapping of the Chibok girls. It was one of the first mass kidnappings of children witnessed in Nigeria. In 2014, 276 girls were abducted from their school by militants from Chibok, a town in the country’s north east. Over the past 10 years, mass abductions and kidnappings have become a common occurrence in Nigeria. So what is the government doing to get a handle on security? In today’s Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja speaks to Mohammed Idris, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation ..read more

“Development is all about leadership. You can get all the resources in the world, you can get all the best human capital… but if the leadership is not there you can’t make the best of the resources you have and eventually move your country forward.” Ibrahima Cheikh Diong is UN-Assistant Secretary General and Director General of the African Union specialized agency “the African Risk Capacity Group” or ARC, which works with governments to help them deal with climate related disasters. But in a varied career, he’s also been a member of the Senegalese government and worked for the World Bank, as a ..read more

You’ve gone to the grocery store and bought your week’s supplies… so can you imagine receiving your change in sweets, chocolates and other small items? That’s the situation in Zimbabwe where a shortage of US dollars – and a plummeting Zimbabwean dollar – has now led the government to introduce a new currency pegged to gold. The Zimbabwean dollar has already lost three quarters of its value this year. But will this latest move work any better than other attempts by the government to stabilise the economy in the past ..read more