🔅 Drama: A French Ban on West African Artists & Trevor Noah's Epic Journey
Plus, South Africa's Election Catch-22 & How Do You Get Vaccines to Remote Villages?
Photo of the day
Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Markets — Year to date:
🟢 Nigerian SE: 67,395.74 (+31.50%)
🟢 Johannesburg SE: 74,589.81 (+2.11%)
🟢 Ghana SE: 3,158.79 (+29.25%)
🔴 Nairobi SE: 98.93 (-22.39%)
🟢 US S&P 500: 4,450.32 (+16.37%)
🟢 Shanghai Composite: 3,117.74 (+0.04%)
Nigeria's Inflation at an 18-Year High | Inflation has reached an 18-year high of 25.8%, and it’s all down to President Bola Tinubu’s reforms. He removed the popular (but costly) petrol subsidy and ended exchange controls, leading to a surge in prices and some serious union-led outrage. The last time Nigerians experienced this level of inflation was in August 2005. Analysts say the naira depreciation, higher fuel and food prices, logistics costs, and money supply growth are all contributing to the cost of living crisis. Tinubu’s reform may have sparked this inflation, but he’s sticking to them.
*Data accurate as of the close of markets across the continent
Brief & Bright: Africa's Top Five
The Vaccine Express: Drone Delivery is Helping Immunisation Rates Soar
In Ghana, getting vaccines to remote parts of the Western North region can be a challenge—it takes five hours to get to the closest city! But thanks to drone delivery, immunisation rates in this area have been soaring. At the Asawinso Health Centre, vaccination clinics are running at a comfortable pace, and on Sundays, health workers even bring cold boxes of vaccines to churches. How do they get the vaccines to these remote locations? With the Vaccine Express, of course! It's a Zipline medical delivery drone, and it drops packages right onto a school's football field. That's right, no waiting for hours—the vaccines arrive quickly, so mothers can quickly get back to their daily routines.
French Culture Minister in Hot Water Over Ban on West African Artists
France’s culture minister, Rima Abdul Malak, has some explaining to do. She recently sent a message to French cultural venues, demanding they suspend all cooperation with Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, three West African countries currently under military regimes hostile to France. This has left the artistic and cultural community stunned, as the union of artistic and cultural companies points out that the ban has never been applied to Russian artists over the invasion of Ukraine, for instance. In response, the minister backpedalled, saying that there was “no boycott” of the countries’ musicians and performers, though she did confirm that no visas would be issued to citizens of the countries. Oof. So what's really happening? With all of the confusion, the union has requested an emergency meeting with the government to get some clarity. This one’s gonna be hard to explain away.
South Africa's Election Catch-22
South Africa is running low on funds at the worst possible time—right before an election. It's the kind of news that the ruling party, the ANC, doesn't want to hear, but the government has some tough decisions to make. Do they cut back on spending, raise taxes, or add to the debt pile? It's not like the government can blame anyone else—they're the ones responsible for mismanaging the crucial electricity, port, and rail companies. Now, with blackouts shutting down the economy and miners having no trains to take minerals to ports, the tax take has taken a huge hit. It's a lose-lose situation for the government. Do they take away benefits from voters right before an election they're already nervous about? Or do they tell them that infrastructure and services are only going to get worse? What would you do?
Regional Leaders, Coups May Partly be Your Fault
Heads of state across sub-Saharan Africa have been up in arms about the recent string of coups happening (8 in 3 years), but guess what? Some think they may be partly to blame. It’s not just the military’s fault—leaders have been turning a blind eye to attempts by their peers to stay in office by manipulating term limits and rigging votes. Take Gabon’s recent coup. President Ali Bongo was trying to extend his family’s 56-year rule by changing the law, and yet there was no response from other African leaders. And when he shut down the internet, banned protests and imposed a night-time curfew during the vote count... none of them spoke out either. The resulting coup drew condemnation from the international community, notably from the regional grouping Gabon belongs to, whose current head is the Central African Republic's president who, only a few weeks ago, held a referendum to ensure an unconstitutional third term. However, inside Gabon, the military intervention has been celebrated by locals up and down its streets. As the European Union’s top diplomat put it: “There are military coup d’etats and there are institutional coup d’états, which don’t use weapons. If I rig elections to take power, it’s also an irregular way of getting power.”
Trevor Noah's Epic Journey... to the Radio Station
It was a Friday morning, and Trevor Noah was running late. Like, really late. As he navigated his way to a radio station in Johannesburg, he got caught in some bad traffic, a confused taxi driver, and even some angry locals—all of which was live on air. To make matters worse, the taxi driver didn’t know where he was going. So, in true Trevor Noah fashion, he jumped out of the car and ran, with people in the street shouting at him, “Trevor, it’s the other way! You’re going the wrong way, Trevor!” Eventually, a kind stranger stopped and offered him a ride—only to take him to the wrong building. After all that, Trevor finally made it to the studio—where he was greeted with cheers and applause. That’s it… that's the story...
Food for Thought
“When you follow in the path of your father, you learn to walk like him.”
— Ashanti Proverb.
Are we hitting the mark?
Enjoying Baobab's updates? Spread the joy and share us with friends and colleagues — we'd be thrilled to have them join!
Feedback or thoughts? Just hit reply. We're all ears!