🔅 Beyoncé's Shoutout to South African Cinema
Plus, From Desperation to Inspiration: 'Io Capitano', Somalia's Controversial Constitutional Revamp & Africa's Tourism Surge
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Market Mondays
🔴 Johannesburg SE: 74,774.72 (-2.76%)
🟢 Ghana SE: 3,451.96 (+10.28%)
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Kenya's annual inflation rate has decided to take a breather, dropping to a two-year low of 5.7% in March. The real MVP? The Kenyan shilling, which has been flexing its muscles against the dollar like a world-class weightlifter. With a new eurobond and two back-to-back interest-rate hikes, the shilling has gained a 19% against the greenback this year. Take that, import costs!
Zambia's GDP grew at a rate of 5.8%, leaving the 5.2% growth from 2022 in the dust. The information and communications industries were the teacher's pets, contributing a solid 2.6% to GDP growth.
Ethiopia's international creditors have decided to push the deadline to secure an IMF loan to the end of June, after the previous March 31 deadline came and went. Ethiopia defaulted on its $1 billion Eurobond in December
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Spotlight Stories
From Ivory Coast to Italy: The Incredible Journey That Inspired an Oscar-Nominated Film
We featured this story a few weeks ago, but Mamadou Kouassi's life story is so wild, we had to highlight it again.
His story is inspiration behind the Oscar-nominated film "Io Capitano." The movie follows two teenage cousins who leave their homes in Senegal, chasing dreams of stardom and a better life in Europe. For Kouassi, who left Ivory Coast with his cousin Emmanuel, the dream was to become a footballer.
But the journey was no walk in the park. Kouassi spent three brutal years travelling through Africa and across the Mediterranean, facing everything from fake passports and people smugglers to being abandoned in the Sahara desert and sold into forced labour in Libya. And that's just the PG-13 version.
Watching the film for the first time was a rollercoaster of emotions for Kouassi:
He wanted to smash the screen, but he also felt a sense of peace after spending countless hours working with the director to bring his story to life.
Today, Kouassi is living the dream in Italy with his partner and two kids. He's even been to the Oscars and Golden Globes. But he's still haunted by his experience and the thousands of people who continue to risk their lives on similar journeys.
Through the film and his own advocacy, Kouassi hopes to be a voice for the voiceless and persuade politicians to create safe, legal immigration routes. He wants the world to understand the realities of what migrants go through before they even set foot on European soil. Because, as he puts it, "A lot of people just see the boats arriving. They don't see the journey they have had before that."
Beyoncé Gives South African Western a Shoutout, Director Feels Like Royalty
South African filmmaker Michael Matthews is riding high after Queen Bey herself, Beyoncé, named his 2017 contemporary Western, "Five Fingers For Marseilles," as one of the inspirations for her new country album, "Cowboy Carter."
In a recent interview, Beyoncé revealed that each track on her album was inspired by a different Western film, and that she often had them playing in the background while recording.
Matthews said he was honoured, and couldn't resist name-dropping some of the other filmmaking giants Beyoncé mentioned, casually referring to "filmmaking royalty like Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese." No big deal, just rubbing elbows with the greats.
But Matthews isn't just basking in the glow of Beyoncé's praise:
He also noted the significance of the singer acknowledging a South African movie, saying, "The hope is that it leads to more eyes on the film around the world and on our incredible local films and filmmakers across the board."
So, if you're looking for a new Western to add to your watchlist, why not give "Five Fingers For Marseilles" a shot? After all, if it's good enough for Beyoncé, it's probably worth a watch.
Africa's Hotel Bonanza: Big Names Double Down
Africa's gearing up to roll out the red carpet for a tourism boom, with heavy hitters like Marriott and Hilton looking to double down on their investment in the continent's expanding travel sector.
Marriott sets the bar sky-high, having opened the JW Marriott Masai Mara Lodge in Kenya, where a night's stay costs over $3,000. They've got 138 hotels in the blueprint stage, ready to dot the African landscape.
Not to be outdone, Hilton is drafting plans for 72 new properties, while Hyatt is adding 11 more spots across the continent.
So what's the bigger picture?
A jaw-dropping 75% spike in room numbers, rocketing up to 175,346, with a luxury tag on most of them. It seems like Africa's becoming the new it-spot for upscale getaways, post-pandemic style.
Despite this hotel spree, Africa's still playing catch-up in the global hotel hustle. For a bit of perspective, out of Hilton’s nearly 400 new openings last year, only two were in Africa. Marriott wasn't much different, with just four of its 560 new 2023 locations calling Africa home. Yet, with Google searches for African safaris doubling up early this year, it's clear there's a growing appetite for African adventures.
Somalia's Constitutional Shake-Up: A Recipe for Disaster or a Path to Progress?
Somalia's president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has decided to give the country's constitution a major facelift, and not everyone is thrilled about it. The amendments have the semi-autonomous state of Puntland crying foul.
Mohamud Aidid Dirir, Puntland's information minister, is accusing the president of using parliament as his personal power grab, saying he's now "the foreign minister, the prime minister, the president, he is all the ministers."
The changes scrap the country's power-sharing system, which ensures equal representation for Somalia's four main clans, and instead hand more control to the president.
Dirir warns that this could destabilize the already fragile country, and says Puntland will "stand alone" until it's properly consulted, but insists they're not declaring independence. Yet.
Meanwhile, Somalia has also expelled Ethiopia's ambassador and closed two Ethiopian consulates over a dispute involving Ethiopia's plan to build a naval base in the breakaway region of Somaliland.
Food for Thought
“Better little than too little."
— Cameroonian Proverb