Good morning from… can you guess where? (Answer at the bottom!)
Kenya’s DIY Obituaries: Gen Z Prepped for Protest With Dark Humor
Kenya’s Gen Z headed into Wednesday’s “mother of all protests” armed with placards, playlists … and pre-written eulogies. TikTok and X were awash with glossy funeral cards, complete with birth dates, “sunset” dates (June 25, 2025), and those solemn floral borders just in case police crackdowns turned lethal.
One early adopter: DJ Eduhmaks, whose viral tribute instructs mourners to “tell my mom and dad I did my best,” while promising he’ll live on in every street chant and mixtape drop.
Another creator, @JNationist (David Wachira), filmed the behind-the-scenes of his own funeral photo shoot, racking up 26k likes.
Why the gallows humor? The demos began as a revolt against Kenya’s Finance Bill 2024 but have ballooned into a youth-led outcry over corruption, extrajudicial killings, and sky-high living costs.
As the day unfolded, at least a dozen people were killed, and over 400 injured. But Gen Z did not back down, letting the state know that they were ready to risk everything for change.
French Troops Tiptoe Out of West Africa, But Its Ex-Soldiers Keep Coming Back
France quietly closed most of its historic bases in West Africa, wishing the region a polite au revoir and hoping to fade into the background. One problem: the party didn’t end: private military companies (PMCs) crashed it, and they brought French veterans along for the ride.
Who’s Hiring Whom?
French résumé, English paycheck
Former legionnaires and paratroopers now field calls from American giants (Amentum, Bancroft), British stalwarts (G4S, Erinys), and even Chinese and Turkish firms – a crowded battlefield of corporate logos, all vying to secure oil fields, politicians, and anyone who can still pay in hard currency.Language is leverage
In Francophone Africa, an ex-French soldier beats an Anglo-Saxon who can’t conjugate bonjour, plus they understand the lay of the land.
French law still treats mercenary work the way a French waiter treats ketchup on steak: non, merci. Officially, any French citizen wielding a gun for hire is a big no-no. Moreover, army brass grumbles that moonlighting veterans damage the image of the forces. Unofficially, however, these mercenaries are everywhere from Benin to Somalia under foreign flags, doing logistics, mine-clearance, and VIP protection.
And African governments… they say they want service providers, not foreign armies. Translation: men in polo shirts, not uniforms, who bring drones, satellite phones, and deniability. PMCs deliver all three.
Big Picture
France hoped to reset relations and end the Françafrique stereotype. Instead, its alumni are back in the same theaters, this time paid by Washington, London, or Beijing. The geopolitical baton pass is messy, the legal gray zones are 50 shades deep, and the war for influence now comes with itemized invoices.
When Coffee Plantations and Reforestation Go Hand in Hand?
Ethiopia’s coffee farmers just brewed up a business model that pays the bills and plants the trees. Under Farm Africa’s Coffee for Conservation project, 4,000 growers learned climate-smart tricks (to include fast-growing fuel trees, bamboo drying mats, and cleaner stoves) that let coffee flourish without chainsawing the rainforest (which is happening in large swathes of coffee-growing regions).
So… What are the results? More than 5,000 acres reforested, 300,000 seedlings in the ground, and household incomes up 45%.
Cleaner processing means less wood smoke, fewer health woes, and far better beans: export-quality coffee jumped 73% and specialty-grade rose 20% in three years.
It’s a rare win-win: bigger paychecks for farmers, bigger forests for the planet, and richer espresso for the rest of us.
Food for Thought
“Nothing hurts like shame.”
— Ghana Proverb
And the Answer is…
The photo is from Yamoussoukro, Côte d’Ivoire. You can also send in your own photos, alongside the location, and we’ll do our best to feature them.