🔅 Wagner's Yevgeny Prigozhin Makes a Comeback & Africa and the Caribbean Demanding Reparations
Plus, Diversity in Medical Illustrations, Record-Breaking Tree Planting & Five African Photographers to Know
Photo of the day: Sao Tome & Principe
Markets: Year-To-Date
🟢 Nigerian SE: 65,056.39 (+26.94%)
🟢 Johannesburg SE: 78,506.90 (+7.47%)
🟢 Ghana SE: 2,969.69 (+21.51%)
🔴 Nairobi SE: 105.29 (-17.40%)
🟢 US S&P 500: 4,582.23 (+19.82%)
🟢 Shanghai Composite: 3,275.93 (+5.12%)
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Brief & Bright: Africa's Top Five Highlights
✍🏽 Diversity in Medical Illustrations: Making Healthcare Representation a Reality
Chidiebere Ibe, a Nigerian medical student and self-taught illustrator, noticed something was off with the medical illustrations he was seeing—they didn’t represent the diversity of the people that surrounded him. He decided to do something about it, and his illustration of a pregnant Black woman and her fetus went viral, leading to the launch of Illustrate Change, a new initiative aiming to diversify medical images. Researchers had already noted the lack of diversity in medical illustrations, finding that 77% of images showed a light skin tone, 21% showed a medium skin tone, and only 4.5% showed a dark skin tone. The initiative is now providing 25 diverse medical illustrations, featuring darker complexion models and conditions such as atopic dermatitis, prostate cancer, preeclampsia, psoriasis, and peripheral artery disease. Chidiebere is the chief medical illustrator, and anyone interested in contributing can apply for a fellowship. This is a step in the right direction for healthcare, which should represent the images of people it serves.
📸 Five African Photographers to Know: The CAP Prize Winners of 2023
Meet the CAP Prize winners of 2021—the crème de la crème of African photography. We’ve got Nadia Ettwein, Yassmin Forte, Maheder Haileselassie, Carlos Idun-Tawiah, and two-time winner Léonard Pongo. All of their projects capture the African continent and the African diaspora in a powerful and unique way. The Guardian asked them to introduce themselves and give a glimpse of what inspires their work—here’s what they had to say.
🇪🇹 Ethiopia's Record 566 Million Trees in 12 Hours
Ethiopia just broke the world record for most trees planted in 12 hours! Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed gave a televised message of congratulations to all the people who took part in the campaign. 25 million people from all walks of life—including diplomats—took part in the challenge to plant 500 million seedlings. But they blew the target out of the water, with 566 million trees planted. That’s more than 200 million more than the previous record. Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative is aiming to combat climate change and deforestation, and the average survival rate of planted seedlings is a whopping 84%.
🌍 Wagner's Prigozhin Makes a Comeback
After a brief disappearance, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the infamous mercenary group Wagner that marched onto Moscow in June, is back in the public eye. He was spotted shaking hands with a Central African Republic official at the Trezzini Palace hotel in St Petersburg, where the Africa-Russia Summit was held. The timing of Prigozhin's return is particularly interesting, as it coincides with Putin's announcement that Russia will provide African countries with 25-50,000 tonnes of free grain in the next few months. This is likely a move to replace Ukrainian grain exports, which were going through the Black Sea to reach global markets.
🌊 Africa and the Caribbean Team Up to Demand Reparations
The Caribbean and African entities joined forces in Bridgetown, Barbados, this week to demand reparations for the legacy of slavery. The Caribbean Pan African Network, the Economic, Social and Cultural Council of the African Union, the University of the West Indies, Barbados’ government, and the Open Society Foundations all showed up to make their case. The event was pretty historic—the participants discussed strategies and even proposed a roadmap for cooperation between the AU and CARICOM. It’s estimated that 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported by European ships and merchants between the 15th and 19th centuries, only to be sold into slavery. Now, Barbados is calling on former colonial powers like the UK, France, and Portugal to make amends. In 2021, the Caribbean island ditched the Queen of England as head of state and resumed its campaign for reparations. And it looks like it’s working—recently the EU seemed to acknowledge the need to make amends for slavery.
Food for Thought
“Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.”
— Kenyan Proverb.
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