🔅 The Ubang Community: Two Languages, Two Genders
Plus: Edna Adan Ismail Wins the 2023 Templeton Prize, Congo's Got Oil Blocks: Come and Get Them, Zimbabwe's Carbon Credit Confusion, And much more...
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Photo of the day: São Tomé and Principe
Markets:
🔴 Nigerian SE: 52,821.60 (-0.20%)
🟢 Johannesburg SE: 75,621.90 (+0.91%)
🔴 Ghana SE: 2,524.14 (-0.13%)
🔴 Nairobi SE: 97.67 (-0.84%)
🟢 US S&P 500: 4,147.73 (+0.79%)
🔴 Shanghai Composite: 3,201.26 (-0.11%)
Suez Canal Reopens: “Successfully refloated!” The bulk carrier Xin Hai Tong 23, which had become stuck near the southern end of the canal, was refloated by tugboats yesterday after a few hours. It’s been two years since the infamous Ever Given container ship caused a backlog of hundreds of vessels, but that’s not the only time the canal has been blocked—an oil tanker and a container ship caused minor delays last year and this year, respectively. The Suez Canal is the world’s busiest waterway, and in 2022, annual revenue in transit fees stood at $8 billion.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
CULTURE
The Ubang Community: Two Languages, Two Genders
Tucked away in a small area of Nigeria lies the Ubang community, which has an interesting way of communicating that transcends gender.
The Ubang community has two languages that are each assigned to one gender.
Men have one language (Ofe) and women have another (Araseke) - and it's unlawful for either sex to speak the language not assigned to them.
What's the story here?
The story goes something like this: God set out to give each ethnic group two languages. However, upon realizing there weren't enough languages to go around, he stopped at the Ubang people — making it the only community with two languages based on gender.
The Ubang also share a general language called “mete” that they use for communicating in public.
Young Ubang males first learn the language of the women. At the age of ten, they are expected to discard the women’s language and speak Ofe.
The difference between the two languages is sometimes pronounced: for instance, men call water itong and women call it irui, and men call a cup nkoh and women call it ogbala.
Sadly, the language is endangered:
It's been sustained by oral tradition for several years and lacks documentation. If the language dies, the chief says, it means "that people of Ubang are no more existing."
It's clear that language is being used as an identity in the Ubang community to sustain the identity and tradition of the people.
The Ubang language uniqueness is a phenomenon that forms the core richness of the people.
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OTHER HEADLINES
Across the Continent
🩺 Edna Adan Ismail Wins the 2023 Templeton Prize | Edna Adan Ismail is the newest winner of the Templeton Prize, one of the world’s biggest awards. This 85-year-old nurse-midwife, hospital founder, and healthcare advocate from East Africa has been fighting for women’s rights and against female genital mutilation for decades. She was the first African woman to win the Templeton Prize, and she plans to donate some of the money to her U.S.-based hospital. Ismail’s long career has included being the first woman to drive a car in her country and the first appointed to a position of political authority as director of the Ministry of Health. She also served as a regional technical officer for maternal and child health for the World Health Organization, and she founded the Edna Adan Maternity Hospital in 2002. Ismail has worked tirelessly to educate people on the dangers of female genital mutilation and to advocate for the victims of the practice. She was subjected to it herself at the age of 8. Ismail is a powerful example of how one person can make a difference, and her efforts to empower women and improve their health care are an inspiration. You can read more about her extraordinary life here.
🇨🇩 Congo's Got Oil Blocks: Come and Get Them | If you’re looking for some oil investments, you may want to head to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The country’s oil ministry has just announced new due dates for bids on four oil blocks in the eastern region. What’s up for grabs? Two blocks on Lake Albert are adjacent to blocks owned by TotalEnergies and China National Offshore Oil Corp., and one block overlaps Virunga National Park. The ministry hosted a roadshow in London and is set to announce submission deadlines for twenty other blocks. And if you want to transport the oil? The oil minister is in talks with Uganda and Tanzania to join the planned East African Crude Oil Pipeline.
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe's Carbon Credit Confusion | Zimbabwe shook up the global carbon credits industry this week when it declared, with no warning, that current contracts for the production of the securities in the country were null and void. The government is now demanding 50% of the revenue from any future deals. Some are questioning if it’s safe to invest in carbon offset projects if governments can change the rules whenever they want. But the move is not totally unexpected from a country with a history of dramatic policy decisions. Zimbabwe’s former President, Robert Mugabe, seized White-owned farms in 2000, leading to hyperinflation. Nevertheless, many appear to agree with the government's decision, asking why foreign investors should be profiting from developing countries’ natural capital, rather than for the benefit of the country or communities that host the project. Gabon has been vocal in this respect, and Zimbabwe might have a point this time.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Proverb of the Day
“It is better to walk than curse the road.”
— Senegalese Proverb.
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