🔅 Errol Musk: "Blacks will go back to the trees” & Why Coups Are Coming Back
Plus, Congo Opposition Candidate Gets Prison Time & Kizomba Unites Brazil and African Diasporas
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Conakry, Guinea
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*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Brief & Bright: Africa's Top Five
A New Book About Elon Musk Sparks Outrage
If you thought you knew everything about Elon Musk, think again. A new book about the tech titan has just been released, and it’s full of juicy revelations about his childhood in South Africa and his parents—including a particularly nasty one about his dad. Errol Musk is quoted as making racist remarks about black South African leaders as recently as 2022. The 71-year-old is quoted as saying, “With no Whites here, the Blacks will go back to the trees”. The book also delves into the emotional trauma Errol inflicted on his eldest son and the impact it continues to have on the 52-year-old: Elon is described by the author as “a tough yet vulnerable man-child with an exceedingly high tolerance for risk, a craving for drama, an epic sense of mission and a maniacal intensity that was callous and at times destructive.”
The Coup Contagion: Why Coups are Making a Comeback in Africa
In the last three years, eight African countries have experienced military takeovers, including Gabon and Niger, just recently. This is a surprise, considering coups were relatively rare in the decades following the end of the Cold War. What’s the deal? First, it is not so much that coups are 'contagious', in as much as they are becoming less risky for those who plot them, thanks to shifts in the international community’s responses. For instance, the all-powerful US, with its big handouts, might just be more interested in defending national security and hegemony than democracy compared to the sanctions it used to impose in previous times. And even when it does impose sanctions, Russia and China are always there, ready to cushion the blow. But that’s not all—coup leaders are also learning from each other, figuring out how to launder their power by running it through elections. It’s a loophole in international condemnation: as long as the coup-installed regime wins an election, they’re no longer considered coup-installed. Who knew coups could be so crafty?
The Reason This DRC Opposition Candidate Got Prison Time
It looks like someone in the Democratic Republic of Congo didn’t like what an opposition candidate had to say. Jean-Marc Kabund was recently sentenced to seven years in prison on 12 charges, including “spreading false rumours” and “contempt for head of state and parliament”—after he called President Felix Tshisekedi a “danger” and lambasted his government in a speech. The high court in DR Congo didn’t take kindly to Kabund’s criticism and gave him four months for the first nine charges and 16 months for the last three. There’s no appeal, so Kabund is off to prison. And just like that, Kabund won't be able to run in the December elections, which President Tshisekedi is expected to contest.
"Visit Rwanda" Kicks it Up a Notch With Bayern Munich
Rwanda just signed a five-year partnership with German football club Bayern Munich to promote tourism and set up a football academy. The partnership, which will see the “Visit Rwanda” logo displayed on the illuminated panels around the pitch at the Allianz Arena in Munich, will help to extend the country’s visibility to a new European football league. The financials are under wraps, but this isn’t Rwanda’s first foray into sports partnerships—it already has agreements with Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain. These partnerships have reportedly generated more than $160 million and attracted a million visitors, bringing in an additional $445 million. Who knows what more Rwanda’s partnership with Bayern Munich will bring?
How Kizomba is Bringing Brazil and African Diasporas Closer
Kizomba is here to unite us. The Kizomba Design Museum (KDM) is popping up this September to explore the transcultural relationship between Brazil and Portuguese-speaking African countries through the lens of music and dance. Kizomba is a genre of dance and music that originated in Angola in the early 1980s and spread worldwide as Angolans fled the civil war in the 1980s and 90s. It's now popular among African diasporas who speak Portuguese, particularly in Brazil, which received two-thirds of enslaved Africans from the Angola-Congo region. So, with the KDM, artist Nástio Mosquito and music producer Kalaf Epalanga are celebrating the culture and resilience of Angolan culture. It’s happening at the same time as the Brazilian cultural sector is experiencing a renaissance under the new president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Food for Thought
“A child is like an axe; even if it hurts you, you still carry it on your shoulder.”
— Bemba Proverb.
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