Africa

1. French lessons
2. Bull pit
3. Funding swimwear
4. Capturing e-waste

Also, processing Ethiopian coffee beans on the blockchain.

Hello! Welcome to Semafor Africa Weekend, where we welcome any tax breaks we’re offered. Africa’s creative economies have mostly been homegrown affairs that started informally by the coming together of artists, producers, and financial risk takers trying to make something that wasn’t being served in their markets. There has often been very little policymaker involvement. But there have been some key successful policy-backed African case studies. One of the continent’s more successful creative hubs has been South Africa’s film production and post-production sector which has benefited from generous tax incentives. The same is true for Morocco and Mauritius.

Earlier this week, I listened to actor Idris Elba speak at the Africa Debate in London about the need for a proliferation of such tax programs in key markets, like Ghana and Nigeria. “The [Nigerian] government is definitely stepping towards finding tax incentives and I think if it does it correctly, it will definitely encourage international investment,” said Elba.

The key is to build what Elba calls an “investable framework” with progressive policy and business models to really drive some of the studio projects like the ones he’s working on in Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania. But ultimately he cautioned that this is a long-term gamble rather than a quick turnaround return on investment. “Like I said, the people that will benefit from these investments are 10 years old today — that’s the way we’ve got to think about it.”

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Taking French in Uganda

Or about 1 billion Ugandan shillings. The amount dedicated to enhancing the teaching of French in Uganda’s secondary schools by France through the Equip French Fund (EFF) launched this month. Ugandan education officials said the two-year program will support teachers by training them in the use of innovative approaches to teaching French. It will also afford learners across the country the opportunity to not only learn another language, but increase their prospects for securing jobs in the future.

Bullfighting demands a place on Kenya’s tourism circuit

KAKAMEGA, Kenya — A group of fans place their bets on the sidelines ahead of the big fight. The sunny Saturday morning offers the perfect weather for the main event at Mukumu Mwitanji, one of the hallowed bullfighting grounds in Kakamega, western Kenya. Hundreds more seek the best vantage points to watch the highly-anticipated clash between Dragon, the local champion, and his opponent named White.

The crowd goes wild as Dragon is escorted into the grounds by its handlers in a loud procession. Traditional Isukuti drummers help set the scene, beating on their drums with fervor. Finally, the two bulls lock horns, surrounded on all sides by handlers and excited fans.

The ancient tradition of bullfighting among the Abaluhya community in western Kenya has been kept alive in the modern era. The fights, which last until one bull runs away, have even started to gain prominence as a tourist attraction. Some travel agencies now include bullfighting in western Kenya tour packages while online platforms such as Bullfighting TV are building a community of fans.

But experts and locals say not enough has been done by policymakers so far, despite the potential benefits to the local economy and tourism.

The mainstreaming of the sport has also been partly slowed by animal welfare groups, who have on multiple occasions fought to stop major bullfighting events in the capital, Nairobi.

Brian Nzioka, whose travel agency offers bullfighting tours, told Semafor Africa that the western Kenya stretch offers several attractions including Lake Victoria in Kisumu that, if properly supported, would unlock a new market for Kenya’s tourism sector.

Traditionally, bullfighting was a significant part of commemorating life events such as weddings and burials among communities in western Kenya.

“It’s our culture so we have to keep it,” said Kennedy Mangotsi, one of Dragon’s handlers. “We found our grandfathers doing it, and the next generation will also do it.”

African-owned swimwear brand eyes further US growth

Liberty & Justice, a swimsuit brand co-founded by a former Miss Africa Georgie Badiel Liberty and her husband, plans to begin production in Liberia and create jobs in the West African nation.

The brand currently makes its swimwear in Morocco in factories belonging to partners, chief executive and co-founder Chid Liberty told Semafor Africa. “Our factory in Liberia is getting an injection from a potential acquisition that we hope to close which will source product from Liberia,” he said. The company received an undisclosed investment from TLG Capital, an Africa-focused private investor, to help drive the factory project.

L&J’s sales focus has so far been on the US market, where it says its swimsuits are stocked in more than 250 Target stores, one of the largest retailers in the country. It also ships throughout Europe, according to Liberty. Selling in Africa is a prospect the company intends to pursue “but we are a very new business so had to focus first on fulfilling Target, then growing into other distribution channels, then Africa,” the CEO said. But he made clear the company does have limited online delivery in a few African cities including Abidjan, Casablanca, and Lagos.

— Alexander Onukwue

E-waste chokes Ghana

Ghana’s electronic waste economy has grown rapidly over recent years and, with it, the burden of human and environmental impact, according to a transnational study conducted by three journalists. Muntaka Chasant, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and Bénédicte Kurzen traced the ramifications of e-waste trafficking from European ports — where Ghanaian exporters from the diaspora export their merchandise — to informal scrap yards around southern Ghana, and back to repair shops where e-waste is recycled.

The three recipients of the 13th edition of the Carmignac Photojournalism Award by the Fondation Carmignac documented the e-waste flows and communities that activate them. They also unmasked the strategies and corruption that enable people to circumvent the law, both in Europe and in Ghana, while highlighting the inefficiency of European e-waste bureaucracy.

The report also established that extensive quantities of e-waste from Europe and the United States continue to arrive in the ports of Ghana in violation of international treaties. Ghana faces the proliferation of informal open-air landfill sites even closer to homes, despite having an e-waste management policy in place.

— Muchira Gachenge

Weekend Reads

🇪🇹 Ethiopian coffee producers are betting on technology including blockchain, geospatial AI, and satellite imagery to comply with the EU’s new law banning the import of commodities linked to deforestation, Anthony Langat writes for Sprudge. He notes that farmers in the Oromia region hope to avoid losing market share by using blockchain-based technology to assess deforestation and ensure compliance.

🇨🇩 Trafficking of endangered monkey species in the DR Congo has persisted despite efforts by conservation agencies. Emmet Livingstone reports in African Arguments that one of the biggest ever illegal animal shipments in Africa from DRC allegedly involved senior conservation officials. It was intercepted last December at Togo’s Lomé airport, en route from Kinshasa to Thailand.

🌍 International film festivals should go beyond depictions of Africa framed by troubles and stagnancy, writes Oris Aigbokhaevbolo in The Guardian. Products of African cinema are gaining visibility at global film exhibitions but war, abuse and poverty continue to be the common thread across selected films seen at major film festivals.

🇸🇩 Sudan is at risk of becoming a failed state and its ongoing war could morph into a decades-long regional crisis without an urgent resolution, reports Robbie Gramer in Foreign Policy. Attention to Gaza and Ukraine has enabled Sudan’s worsening war to remain under the radar while the two warring sides escalate hostilities. “The prospects of controlling illegal flow of drugs, weapons, migrants, fighters across unstable regions in Africa, you can kiss all of that goodbye if Sudan collapses,” a security analyst told Gramer.

Week Ahead

June 12 — Kenya’s High Court will hear a case asking for the government to be held in contempt over the planned deployment of its police officers to Haiti.

June 12-14 — The African Export–Import Bank annual meetings and the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum will be held in Nassau, The Bahamas, under the theme ‘Owning Our Destiny: Economic Prosperity on the Platform of Global Africa.’

June 13 — Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda’s finance ministers will present 2024/25 budgets to their respective parliaments.

June 13-15 — African leaders from Kenya, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Tunisia will attend the G7 Summit to be held in Apulia, Italy.

June 15 — Nigeria’s statistics office will release the latest inflation data. Prices have continued to rise amid insecurity in food producing areas and exchange rate pressure.

June 15-16 — Kenya’s President William Ruto will address the Russian-Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland.

For Your Consideration

June 21 — Young founders across Africa are invited to apply to the UNDP’s Timbuktoo Africa Innovation Foundation Startup Accelerator program.

June 30 — Black and African women writers from across the world, focusing on critical ideas, are invited to submit their manuscripts for the inaugural Global Black Women’s Non-Fiction Manuscript Prize by Cassava Republic Press.

July 7 — African fintech startups are invited to apply for the 7th Ecobank Fintech Challenge for a chance to join its fellowship program. The winner will receive a prize of $50,000.

• US climate tech can’t thrive without confronting China.
• Western allies near deal to fund Ukraine with Russian assets.
• The strange tale of a $457 million deposit, 100 million masks, and one tiny bank.

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