Africa

The relative decrease in media representation for authors of science research papers with African and East Asian names compared with those who have Anglo names, according to a new study published in Quantitative Science Studies this month. While the disparities in representation existed across non-Anglo names, it was most extreme with African and East Asian names when papers were being covered in the news. The study’s lead author, Hao Peng, a researcher at Northwestern University, said the mentions matter “for career progression, for academic recognition, and also in some cases for career mobility for foreign scientists”.

Candy Crush was the most popular video game brand in a survey of users in four major African countries: Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, with about 10.4% market share. Next in line was Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) with 6%, according to the Geopoll/Pan Africa Gaming Group survey. But when various football games were combined they accounted for a slightly larger share than PUBG. Unsurprisingly, mobile dominates the African games market with more than 90% of respondents playing games on their phones and nearly half (45%) playing at least 1-2 hours a day.

BMW pays homage to South African artist Esther Mahlangu

German carmaker BMW is paying homage to legendary South African artist Esther Mahlangu with a one-off vehicle that fuses art and technology. The i5 Flow Nostokana was designed with Mahlangu’s signature colors and geometric patterns inspired by Ndebele culture. The 88-year old artist in 1991 became the first woman and the first African to design the BMW Art Car.

The BMW i5 Flow Nostokana, named after Mahlangu’s first son, was unveiled at the Frieze Los Angeles art fair in February. It uses a patented technology, developed by BMW, which allows the car to change color, and can be electronically animated. “Her art inspired me years ago, back when the concept of color change on a car was just an idea in my head,” said Stella Clarke, research engineer at BMW’s Open Innovations. “Being able to realize this idea, and work with Esther Mahlangu, is absolutely surreal.”

The original Mahlangu-designed BMW 525i from 1991 is on display in South Africa for the first time in over 30 years as part of an exhibition hosted by the Iziko Museums of South Africa and the BMW Group in Cape Town.

— Martin K. N. Siele

Global chains are driving a boom in Africa’s hotels

The world’s largest hotel chains are behind the rising number of newly planned hotel and resort projects in Africa.

At the end of 2023, international hospitality chains had 524 hotels with over 92,000 rooms in their pipelines across 41 African countries, due to a 9.2% increase in new deals from the previous year. It’s the largest annual increase since 2018, according to W Hospitality Group, a consultancy that has tracked hotel projects in Africa for over a decade.

U.S. multinationals Marriott, Hilton, Radisson, and French chain Accor have the most newly commissioned hotel projects in Africa, to date, along with British chain IHG Hotels. The five companies account for two in three hotel projects across the continent, W Hospitality’s latest tally shows. These hospitality groups and 42 others have active deals in 41 African countries to build hotels or resorts. Resorts have become of particular interest with new deals increasing 32%. Zanzibar typified the interest in new resorts with a doubling of new signed projects over the past year.

But, broadly, Africa’s most sought-after destinations for new hotel projects are Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Ethiopia, and Cape Verde.

Hotel chains are key players in the global travel and tourism sector. In Africa, the sector is projected to grow 6.5% annually over the next decade, adding $350 billion to the continent’s gross domestic product, predicts industry body, World Travel and Tourism Council.

Multinational hotel companies are drawn to large African economies, especially if they have an existing tourism industry and the underlying infrastructure required to drive it.

However, conflict, high construction costs, and difficulty accessing capital can be limitations. “Development has slowed down, in part due to the increased cost of construction but also due to a more cautious investment climate,” Craig Seaman, chief executive of South African hospitality consulting firm Index Hotels, said in W Hospitality’s report.

— Alexander Onukwue

The largest and most consequential gathering on the state of the global economy takes place in Washington, D.C. on April 17-18. Over 1,000+ senior, forward-thinking leaders have registered to join us at the 2024 World Economy Summit for on-the-record conversations covering Global Growth, AI & Policy, The Future of Mobility, Global Finance, Digital Infrastructure and Global Rising Middle Class.

Our world-class line-up of speakers include Julie Su, Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor; Sim Tshabalala, CEO Standard Bank; Lael Brainard, Director of the White House National Economic Council; Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and 50+ more global economic leaders.

See all speakers, sessions & RSVP here.

🇿🇦 South African singer-songwriter Tyla says her dream has always been to be the first African global pop star. In a profile for Billboard, Heran Mamo writes that Tyla, who won her first Grammy Award for best African music performance with her hit “Water,” has emerged with a unique blend of sounds dubbed “popiano” — a hybrid of pop, R&B, amapiano, and Afrobeats.

🌍 Imposing a greenhouse gas emissions tax on the international shipping industry could help decarbonize a sector that accounts for approximately 3% of total global GHG emissions, writes Amsalu W. Yalew in African Arguments. The climate researcher posits that African countries should actively engage in the process to push for a maritime climate tax, as they are among the most impacted by climate change.

🇦🇴 Angolan President João Lourenço’s official visit to China earlier this month is part of strategic moves by Angola’s government to explore the possibility of value-added processing and manufacturing as a new facet to Angola-China relations. Writing in The Diplomat, Ovigwe Eguegu observes that the oil-producing nation became the 16th African country to elevate its relationship to the level of a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership with China during the visit.

🇿🇦 A South African company is creating jobs and conserving water in the Northern Cape by using mesquite seed pods as a caffeine-free coffee substitute. Nick Dall writes in Al Jazeera that the Manna Brew factory is contributing to the eradication of the honey mesquite shrub a foreign species that’s infesting the arid Northern Cape. He notes that collecting the mesquite seeds before they are allowed to germinate saves billions of liters of groundwater every year.

🌍 Why are stories about Africa’s suffering still so persistent? That’s the question that Africa Is a Country founder Sean Jacobs and author Kathryn Mathers tackle in a piece which takes a tough look at the problems with everything from the 1980s “We Are The World” and Live Aid to more recent phenomena like voluntourism and “Barbie saviors.” They write: “Live Aid is still remembered as “the day that music brought the world together,” despite evidence that most of the proceeds pay for staff in the West.”

🌍 African governments with poorly equipped armies have been opting for drones in the fight against insurgents and terrorists, but civilians are bearing the brunt of a lack of adequate pilot training and intelligence failures, reports Bloomberg. Countries including Burkina Faso, Sudan, Nigeria, and Mali have driven an increase in civilian fatalities, where civilian deaths are common during military operations.

🗓️ A South African court will rule on allegations that National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula received millions of rands in cash as bribes when she was defense minister. (April 1)

🗓️ Senegal’s President-elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye is set to become the fifth President of Senegal on Tuesday when he will be sworn in, after winning the March 24 presidential election. (April 2)

🗓️ The Central Bank of Kenya will announce its latest lending rate decision. In February, the bank raised its benchmark lending rate to 13% from 12.5%, citing persistent inflation and pressure on the shilling. (April 3)

🗓️ Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, who is detained in Nigeria, will return to court. The court may rule on whether Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, will remain in custody or be freed. Nigerian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for his colleague, Nadeem Anjarwalla, who escaped custody. (April 5)

🗓️ The WomenLift Health Global Conference 2024 will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. It will address the challenges impeding women’s progress in global health’s leadership roles. (April 6-8)

• AU Digital and Innovation Fellowship. The 12-month program aims to deploy African tech innovators to units and organs within the African Union headquarters as ‘resident fellows’. Apply by April 28.
• A. G. Leventis African Biodiversity Fellowship. The program offers African conservation practitioners and academics working on biodiversity the opportunity to work with researchers at the University of Oxford. Apply by May 8.

• Global Election Hub: France. India. Togo.
• The brain-computer interface race is on.
• In defense of Sam Bankman-Fried. Kinda.

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— Yinka, Alexis Akwagyiram, Alexander Onukwue, Martin Siele, and Muchira Gachenge