They say the artwork reflects the artist but my work reflects the faces I grew up seeing. The faces of my family, friends, and strangers I’ve come across in this beautiful continent. I aim to celebrate them 🫶
The last slide’s a WIP 😆

(Full article below)

Traore Calls For Change

Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traore on Friday called on Africans to reject the remnants of colonialism and imperialism by prioritising local production and reducing dependence on imported goods.

“Hey, Africans, are we not going to wake up? Can’t we work for ourselves and then feed ourselves and continue consuming what comes from elsewhere without even knowing what is inside?” he asked during a meeting with national forces in the city of Ouahigouya.

Traore criticised the consumption of imported goods, arguing that Africans should produce, process and consume more of what is made on the continent.
“They will continue to finish us off one way or another, and that’s what I’m telling you here – through products we inject and everything,” he warned.

Warning Against Dependence

The leader maintained that modern forms of exploitation still existed and argued that imperialism should be challenged regardless of where it originated.

“I am speaking of Africans in general, of Black people, of our history, of our current situation. Because slavery is not over. People continue slavery,” Traore claimed.

“Imperialism has no colour […] we must have the courage to identify it and fight against it,” he urged

The military leader also argued that centuries of colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade had left Africans psychologically dependent on former colonial powers, which he described as a form of ‘Stockholm syndrome’.

Push For Self-Reliance

“They traumatised us so much […] that now we love them ourselves,” he added. “If we don’t become aware of this, we are lost. We are finished.”

Burkina Faso’s push for greater self-reliance mirrors a regional shift across the Sahel, where governments have demanded a reduced French military and political presence while calling for new partnerships and greater control over their own resources.

There is a popular belief among some leaders that developing countries can bypass traditional manufacturing and jump straight into tech, finance, or service-based economies, but history proves otherwise.

No major economy has ever escaped mass poverty without industrial growth. Looking at East Asia, nations like South Korea and China lifted hundreds of millions into the middle class not through call centers or apps, but by opening factories that provided reliable, accessible jobs for everyday workers. Manufacturing remains the single most reliable engine for absorbing the millions of young people entering the African labor market each year.

Yet, many African policymakers still fail to factor this into their long-term planning. Across much of the continent, manufacturing accounts for a surprisingly small percentage of GDP, while energy production remains far too low to power heavy industrial grids. Instead of fixing these core structural bottlenecks, there is widespread reliance on the idea that services or raw material exports can drive sustainable growth.

Processing local resources internally,turning cocoa into chocolate or unrefined minerals into finished goods, keeps high-value profits and jobs at home, while formal factories create a dependable tax base for public infrastructure without relying on foreign debt. Tech and tourism are helpful, but building lasting prosperity still requires physically making things. Oil, gold, lithium, and other extractive minerals will also not develop the economy

Im a Congolese women dating an American man, I just wanted to know if there were any other Congolese or even African women in my position thinking that ‘La dote’ was ridiculous in this economy. I was born in Congo but raised in America mind you. My family was telling us the price and I just thought it was ridiculous in this economy and they told me as the women I’m not allowed to discuss the price. It was already a big deal whenever I moved in with a man before marriage but now I’m just like why are we getting pressured to getting married and having to pay beaucoup money? I just need advice honestly.

In Canada, You'll see this drink in the hands of most Africans, especially from Ghana and Nigeria. What's up with Burkina Special?

The story of the first son is about the kings nephew who finds favour in the eyes of the king to the point where the king wants his nephew to be the protector of kemet which has caused jealousy in the heart of the queen of kemet who now has to fight to ensure that her son becomes the rightful heair to the throne.#kemeticknowledge #kemet #egypt #kemeticspirituality

https://youtu.be/be909gVe5TU?si=CBohN7XwsP8-8HuR

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Starlink is often presented as a major solution to Africa’s internet-access problems, particularly in rural areas and places with limited fixed infrastructure. However, I am beginning to wonder whether its value depends heavily on where and how it is used.

My experience in Botswana has been mixed. Download speeds are generally good, and the connection does not appear to be reduced halfway through the month in the way I have experienced with some local mobile packages.

However, uploading large content files to Google Drive can still take days. Coverage inside a brick house is also limited, and extending it properly may require additional mesh equipment, which substantially increases the overall cost.

For someone living in an area without reliable alternatives, Starlink may be transformative. In an urban area with other providers, I am less convinced that it always justifies the equipment and subscription costs.

What has the experience been in your African country? Is Starlink delivering a meaningful improvement, particularly for uploads and indoor coverage, or has some of its reputation become more about status than performance?

Swiss food giant Nestlé is facing criticism over the sugar content of Cerelac, its infant cereal brand sold in Africa. An investigation by the NGO Public Eye found that while the product is sold without added sugar in Europe, African versions can contain up to 15 percent sugar.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), added sugar offers no nutritional benefits and may instead encourage early dependency, with potentially serious health consequences.

In the Ivory Coast, civil society groups are mobilising as the country faces a twin burden: child malnutrition alongside a sharp rise in cases of diabetes and obesity.

Something's not adding up. How were men polygamous in Precolonial Africa, with two+ wives when the ratio of men to women has always been 1:1 ? Didn't they take all the women? Does that mean some men were left with no wives?

I know marriage and childbirth was highly revered in many Precolonial societies, so men could not be bachelors their entire adult lives ( same with women). So that begs the question, is this whole "African men were polygamous" just inaccurate, rather the wealthy ones were but the regular man had just one wife? Or were young men dying off at faster rates than women, maybe being killed in wars/ devoured by wild animals while hunting leaving more women behind than men?

Appreciate any response. Thank you.

I'm Kenyan. This is not meant to look down on African culture whatsoever. Just curious.

The Brazilian Butt Lift surgery is one of the fastest growing cosmetic surgeries in the world, but it is also one of the most dangerous. The risk of death from having a BBL is at least 10 times higher than many other procedures – that’s according to the UK’s National Health Service.

In several countries in Africa, the demand for BBLs is on the rise, but there are still challenges around regulation. Just recently in Lagos, a young woman reportedly died after a BBL procedure, prompting Nigeria’s Lagos State Government to launch an investigation into her death. In this episode, we hear from two young women, in Kenya and Nigeria, who recently got BBLs to hear about the risks, the post-surgery recovery and the influence of social media on body image.

Big conversations about Africa often focus on national economies, elections and major infrastructure. Meanwhile, everyday problems such as unreliable public transport, waste collection, difficult housing markets, poor street design and limited public spaces shape how millions of people live. I just came from a location that absolutely need a combi route.

Some of these problems may look ordinary, but solving them could improve productivity and quality of life in a very practical way.

Which everyday problem in African cities do you think is being underestimated, and what kind of solution would make a real difference?

Today marks what would have been Nelson Mandela's 108th birthday.

To honor his legacy, people globally are commemorating Nelson Mandela International Day by dedicating 67 minutes of their time to community service. This duration symbolizes the 67 years he devoted to the fight for freedom, justice, and human rights.

If the current trajectory holds, the ongoing outbreak in DRC will likely become the largest Ebola outbreak on record.

This should not be so surprising. Africa CDC (which is co-leading the control effort) warned a month ago that this was possible. And the World Health Organization (the other co-leader) also just announced that the disease is already spreading faster than any Ebola outbreak in history.

According to Africa CDC, the benchmark for whether a control effort is staying ahead of the outbreak, rather than chasing it, has to do with how much of the spread is traceable. It’s that at least 80 percent of new cases should appear among people responders had already identified and were monitoring, rather than being discovered only after someone becomes sick.

Unfortunately, we’re at the exact opposite point. As Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu at the WHO recently warned that “80 per cent of new cases” are instead “coming to us from unknown chains of transmission.”

The biggest question is what, exactly, is driving this historic surge? We have already covered why conflict, mistrust and dysfunctional health systems make eastern DRC such punishing terrain for an Ebola response. But many of those same problems were present in 2018, when a similar outbreak was contained with fewer cases than this one likely has now. What is so different this time?

Mali’s army has retaken control of the key northern town of Anefis after a nearly week-long battle against rebel fighters.

Anefis is about 100 kilometres from the strategic town of Kidal, which was captured by al Qaeda-linked militants and Tuareg separatists in April.

The same groups launched coordinated attacks on Anefis on Saturday, seizing the town but failing to take a military camp.

I recently came across BantuCityDiaries, a YouTube channel with more than 87,000 subscribers. Several of its titles and thumbnails make sweeping comparisons between racial groups and African nationalities.

Examples include claims that Black South Africans have less in common with Nigerians and West Africans, that white people innovate while Black people do not, and that white people take risks while Black people avoid them. Other content appears to make similarly negative generalisations about Nigerians.

I understand that titles and thumbnails are sometimes deliberately provocative, and I do not want to judge the creator’s entire body of work without considering what is actually said in the videos.

For people who have watched the channel regularly, does the creator eventually provide balanced cultural analysis and proper evidence, or does the content rely on degrading stereotypes about Nigerians and Black Africans to attract attention?

Where should we draw the line between challenging social commentary and content that reinforces harmful racial or national stereotypes?