Africa Information Centre

Hi there and welcome to another issue of the AIC newsletter! This month's hot issue is the continuing poor reporting of Africa in the world's press. Of course, this is nothing new; indeed it has been an ongoing problem since colonial times. Recently, however, the problem seems to have reached new heights. It has always been the case that most reporting of Africa in the north has been on the themes of conflict, poverty, disease and natural disaster, usually with a rejoinder on what the north is or is not doing about the continent's woes.

This month we see that paragon of reporting on world economic affairs, The Economist, featured Africa (a rare event indeed) on 13-05-00 with the headline ''The Hopeless Continent” emblazoned on its front cover. Inside, the journal asks, ‘What is it about Africa? The continent is plagued with floods and famine, poverty, disease and state-sponsored thuggery. The West cannot solve these problems”. Later we read, “…brutality, despotism and corruption exist everywhere – but African societies, for reasons buried in their cultures, seem especially susceptible to them”. And so the articles go on in the same tone. What the Economist and most of the popular press in the north succeeds in doing is to generalise about the continent by viewing it though lens trained on certain specific trouble spots. How must it feel to be a Senegalese, having just experienced a successful, democratically held election where the incumbent in power (Abdou Diouf) stood down gracefully on losing or a Botswanan experiencing some of the highest economic growth rates anywhere in the world, only to be thrown into the same basket as countries experiencing massive disruption caused by politico-social upheaval or conflict?

A CNN reporter on interviewing a South African economist on its morning news programme (22-05-00) asked ''…yet the continent seems to have fallen into complete anarchy”. The economist replied that South Africa needs to ‘annex’ itself from the African ‘renaissance’ in order not to get dragged in to a cycle of decline. The inference throughout the interview was that South Africa, as the only developed economy on the continent, must find ways of divorcing itself from the woes of the rest of Africa if it is to regain a stable currency, renew economic growth and obtain much needed foreign direct investment. The interviewer casts an interesting aside during the interview when she speaks of the South African President and the Finance Minister, who she thinks “is really doing a grand job for the country”. Am I missing something here or isn't this the most crass piece of patronage. Would the interviewer have got felt it appropriate, for instance, to say that she Alan Greenspan, the head of the Federal Reserve or Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer were doing ‘grand jobs’? Of course, the Finance Minister of South Africa is black and was appointed amidst considerable misgivings in the international economic press and predictions of gloom and misfortune for the South African economy, partly as a result of who was being appointed and partly as an apparent expectation that the unfortunate recipient of this attention would fail in his duties.

What this means is that Africa and Africans start off having by having to prove their credibility before being taken seriously. It is all part of the 'basket case' mentality applied by the North in its conception of Africa. When a black African succeeds at something considered to be the preserve of the north and by implication of whites (for example, international diplomacy or economics), there is a perceivable sense of shock and surprise. Individuals such as Kofi Annan and Nelson Mandela are then feted but as people who are exceptions to the accepted norm. Whether those in the north would like to think so or not, this is out and out racism and contributes to the continuing underdevelopment of Africa by the north and, in particular, Europe and North America.

Clearly, the continuing conflicts in Sierra Leone, the Great Lakes and the Horn of Africa do not present a particularly edifying image to the outside observer. Yet these conflicts are taking place in the same era as Kosovo, East Timor, South Lebanon, Chechnya, Sri Lanka and many other equally gruesome confrontations elsewhere in the world. Nobody associates the troubles of East Timor, Irian Jaya and Sri Lanka with the whole of Asia and nor should they. Similarly, Africa is the second largest landmass on earth, how is it that peaceful countries with flourishing civil societies such as Botswana, Ghana and Tunisia find themselves castigated simply for being located on the African continent? This kind of journalism is something that might have been expected during the colonial era when black Africans generally were viewed as incapable of looking after themselves and inferior. It has to stop.

If you have comments about this or any other issue raised in the newsletter or on the AIC site, send them in to letters@africainformation.co.uk

ABANTU

We start by taking a look at ABANTU. The AIC recently interviewed Rose Mensah-Kutin, the Programme Manager for West Africa. ABANTU was established in 1991 by certain African women based in Europe who were there as a result of repressive conditions in their own countries. It started as a collective forum for the discussion of African issues and is these days a formalised non-governmental organisation (NGO).

Rose explains that ABANTU means people and the organisation works on the principle that development initiatives should involve the people they are intended to assist. ABANTU’s mission is to promote development for people in Africa from a gender perspective. It takes as its starting point the notion that development to date has been skewed in favour of and has benefited disproportionately, men. This is seen as a continuation of the male dominated colonial oppression of a previous era. In post-independence Africa, ABANTU sees that women have been largely excluded from decision-making processes and the placement of women in senior governmental and civil service posts has been a largely token practice. Yet these same decision-making processes affect men and women differently, which is to say that there are different social implications and outcomes

ABANTU is based in Nairobi (where it was founded) for eastern and southern Africa, Kaduna for Nigeria, Accra for the rest of western Africa and London. The decision to maintain a base in the north is a deliberate one; the argument being that in order to affect and influence policy makers, for instance, in the European Union (EU), one needs to be located in that constituency. ABANTU differentiates itself from so many other gender-based NGOs in that the emphasis on ABANTU’s activities is on the four key components of advocacy, institutional strengthening, training and research. The accent on these components may be seen in the light of the perceived gap between the many NGOs involved in credit delivery and other women’s programmes and the policy-making environment.

Advocacy is concerned with influencing decision-makers in Africa and the north. ABANTU links up with numerous other NGO’s in order to strengthen them and make them more gender-oriented. Training is concerned with personnel in NGOs, bringing gender issues to the fore and capacity building. Research takes place on NGOs and on issues affecting women’s daily lives. Current research issues include poverty, governance, conflict and information and communications technology (ICT). ABANTU will be featured permanently on the soon to be formulated AIC gender page.

Meanwhile, if you would like to know more about ABANTU, you might like to visit their website at http://www.abantu.org

Recipe section

Kosai (also called akara, or blackeyed pea fritters)

These golden fritters, studded with spicy red peppers, are a staple of West African cuisine. They are accessible in nearly every town, village and market place, cooked on the spot in a heavy kettle of bubbling oil

Start this recipe at least two days ahead of time. You will need to soak the peas overnight. Skinning the black-eyed peas takes a while, and it is nice to do it without rushing. You will need to let the batter sit for a few hours or overnight before frying the kosai.

1 ½ cups (300 grams) dried black-eyed peas
2 onions, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon ground red pepper (more or less to taste)
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh red peppers
½ teaspoon salt
4 cups (1 litre) peanut or palm oil, or a mixture of both

1. Soak black-eyed peas overnight. Drain.
2. Remove skins from black-eyed peas. Begin by crushing peas slightly with rolling pin or a potato masher. You can also give them a quick whirl in your food processor-not enough to puree them, just to begin breaking them up a bit. Rub the peas firmly between your hands to slip off skins. Rinse in a large pot, swirling water around in a circular motion and letting skins rise to the top, then floating them off when you drain the water. Continue rubbing peas between hands and rinsing until all the skins are removed.
3. Combine peas, onion, ground and fresh red pepper and salt in a food processor or blender. Process until very smooth. Add 4-6 tablespoons of water if necessary. You should not feel any small lumps when you rub the mixture between your fingers.
4. Let the batter sit for at least 8 hours, and refrigerate overnight if possible. It will become frothy.
5. Heat oil in a large, heavy pot to 360 ° F (180 ° C). Stir batter vigorously to remove air bubbles. Drop batter into oil in large spoonfuls, a few at a time, and fry until golden, about 4 minutes per side. Continue frying in batches. Drain on paper towels. These fritters are equally good served hot or at room temperature.
Yield: 10 to 15 fritters

Announcements and Messages

The daily news briefings that appear in the inline frame on the Africa News page will be suspended between 25^th May and 15^th June 2000 whilst the compiler is in West Africa.

From June, the AIC newsletter will appear one week after the date of publication on the main website accessible from the homepage.

In June, a new and improved clickable map will appear on the AIC site which will give access to new country files on Cape Verde, the Comores, Mayotte and Reunion, and Ascension/St Helena/Tristan da Cunha.

The next issue of the AIC newsletter will appear on Friday June 30^th and henceforward on the last Friday of every month.

Bonnie Gray from Canada is busy researching AIDS and its effects in Tanzania. If anyone has info or knowledge of academic articles on this topic, please send them in the first instance to letters@africainformation.co.uk from where they will be forwarded onto Bonnie.

Lawrence Flint is researching political formation in Western Zambia (Barotseland) and is anxious to hear from anyone who has done research in the region recently. He is also looking to make contacts in the region. Please send any info to flint@africainformation.co.uk

We would like to extend a warm welcome to the following new members of the AIC community who joined us during May. Greetings!!

Hundreds of others from around the world arrive on the AIC site from day to day but go unrecognised. This is a shame as we would like to welcome you to the AIC’s fast-growing community of dedicated Africanists. Send your details in by clicking on the monthly newsletter or community links on the homepage.

Representations of Africa by Lawrence Flint

ABANTU

Recipe section

Kosai (also called akara, or blackeyed pea fritters)

Announcements and Messages