🔅 A Working-Class Photography Revolution
The IKEA of Electric Trucks, Africa’s Most Popular Podcasts of 2024, and Dakar's Art Scene
Good Morning from Senegal!
Dear readers,
We're taking a break from today until January 6th to recharge and spend time with loved ones.
To end the year, we thought we’d share with you some of the most heartwarming news coming out of the continent.
Enjoy, and see you soon! ✨
Abidjan's Working-Class Photography Revolution
Ever heard of Abobo? It's the kind of neighborhood that usually makes headlines for all the wrong reasons. But thanks to one determined photographer with a vision, this working-class area of Abidjan is becoming an unlikely hotspot for Africa's next generation of visual storytellers.
Meet Aïda Muluneh, the continent-hopping photographer who's turned a former bus station into a creative hub that's got the art world doing a double take.
After globe-trotting from Ethiopia to Yemen, Cyprus, and Canada, she's landed in Ivory Coast with a mission: making world-class photography accessible to kids who probably wouldn’t be able to afford a fancy DSLR camera.
"There's always this perception in Africa that art is only for the elite," Muluneh says with a hint of eye-roll. When she announced she was hosting the Africa Foto Fair (AFF) in Abobo, the pearl-clutching was real. "Oh, it's too far," they said. "The area has a reputation," they warned. Her response? "I really don't care, the space is too beautiful to pass it by."
Turns out, Abobo's got talent: The neighborhood is now churning out photographers like Mohamed Aly Diabaté, who went from Muluneh's student to exhibiting at the Africa Cup of Nations.
As a result, the AFF this year drew nearly 12,000 visitors – mostly kids still in their school uniforms, taking selfies with the artwork. It's not your typical stuffy gallery scene: alongside the photo exhibits, there were workshops on everything from philosophy to financial literacy, plus free medical screenings. Because who says you can't check your blood pressure while checking out some amazing photography?
A New Narrative, Through African Lenses: "You don't need to fly in somebody from outside to tell us about our own realities," Muluneh says, throwing shade at international media's habit of parachuting in foreign photographers to document African stories.
And for exhibitors like Zimbabwe's Tatenda Chidora, it's about time: "These visual stories are being written and produced by humans that experience life as Africans on a daily basis, and not foreign to the continent."
From school kids taking selfies to aspiring photographers finding their focus, Abobo's former bus station is now driving a different kind of journey – and you REALLY should take a closer look.
Africa’s Most Popular Podcasts of 2024
Spotify released Africa’s most popular podcasts of 2024. Check them out... What do the list says about each country?
The IKEA of Electric Trucks Takes East Africa By Storm
There's a new EV player in town, and they're not interested in your Tesla’s fancy autopilot features or its rocket-fast acceleration times. OX Delivers just scored a $163 million deal to bring their no-nonsense electric trucks to East Africa, and they're doing it with a twist that would make even Swedish furniture giants jealous: these trucks come in flat-pack form.
That's right - while the rest of the world is obsessing over touchscreens and self-driving capabilities, OX Delivers is playing a completely different game. Their trucks ship on pallets, ready to be assembled at their final destination, like a giant, eco-friendly LEGO set. But don't let the DIY approach fool you - these workhorses pack a serious punch.
The Numbers Game: Each truck comes with a 74 kWh battery that'll keep it running for 90 miles (150 km), and they can haul a massive 4,400 lb (2000 kg) payload. That's not just a truck - that's a mobile powerhouse.
The company's new venture, aptly named OX East Africa, is set to roll out these electric beasts across Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. They've already been crushing it in Rwanda, racking up $920,000 in revenue through October. Not bad for a startup that's basically selling the flat-pack equivalent of electric trucks.
While the West is still scratching its head about Africa's tech capabilities, African nations are embracing e-mobility faster than you can say "infrastructure revolution." It's like when they leapfrogged landlines and went straight to mobile phones - who needs old-school gas stations when you can start fresh with EV charging?
As Simon Davis, Co-Founder and CEO of OX Delivers, puts it (in slightly more corporate terms), they're on a mission to "supercharge trade across the Global South." Translation: they're bringing the electric revolution to places that don't have to unlearn a century of gas-guzzling habits first.
So while the rest of the world is busy arguing about charging station locations and range anxiety, OX Delivers is trying to revolutionize transport in East Africa, and we’re here for it.
Dakar's Art Scene Gets a Gen Z Makeover
Art snobs, there’s a new crowd taking over Dakar's Biennale, and they're armed with selfie sticks and Instagram filters.
While the biennial art show typically draws wealthy collectors who never met a pair of designer shades they didn't love, this year's hottest ticket holders are... Senegalese teenagers?
That's right – the Old Courthouse, the biennale's main venue, has become the coolest hangout spot for young locals.
"It's fun, it's free, it's beautiful and it's so Instagrammable," says 17-year-old Sokna Mbene Thiam, speaking for all of Gen Z.
And so now students in flip-flops are seen posing next to 22-foot-high abstract paintings. Teens are seen improvising catwalks in a colonial-era courthouse lobby. Even the curator, Salimata Diop, is here for it: "Why do we take selfies? To make art one's own," she says.
But it's not all about the 'gram: The artwork tackles heavy topics like climate change, unemployment, and colonial legacy. It's just that now, these conversations are happening amongst the youth and on social media, and we’re here for it!
As President Bassirou Diomaye Faye (Africa's youngest elected leader, by the way) put it: "Art distracts, makes us dream and think; it teaches and educates." And if that education comes with a side of social media clout? Well, that's just how Gen Z rolls.
More on this in The New York Times.
Food for Thought
“What goes into the stomach is not lasting.”
— Lesotho Proverb