Africa

Join us on Tuesday for our World At Work Summit, in partnership with Gallup, to explore issues of critical importance to leaders and employees. Business executives, policymakers and entrepreneurs will debate an array of topics including quiet quitting, AI in the workplace, remote work, employee burnout, changing demographics, and work-life balance. A conversation between W. Gyude Moore, senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, and Lydiah Bosire, founder of tech platform 8B Education Investments, about labor migration and Africa as an emerging labor market will be moderated by Semafor Africa’s managing editor, Alexis Akwagyiram. Other confirmed speakers include Jared Bernstein, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and Airbnb’s CFO Dave Stephenson.

Register here to attend the Washington event in person or watch remotely.

Tolu Eros is the executive chef and founder of ILÉ LA, a West African concept kitchen and experiential dining room in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and its casual offshoot ILÉ Bistro which opened in March 2023. Eros opened his first restaurant in Nigeria in 2009 at the age of 21 after studying in the UK. With the ILÉ restaurant brand, Eros, who grew up in Benin City and Lagos in Nigeria, is determined to play a part in putting West African food on the global map. He has even developed his own brand of “unity jollof rice”.

💡 How did jollof rice become jollof rice?

In the 1800s, the Wolof people of Senegal created this tomato based rice that has become a staple on every West African table. Every single African country makes their jollof differently. There are three main types of jollof that have been recognized worldwide. The Nigerians are known for their smoky jollof (in some regions it’s spicier than others). The Ghanaians are known for their perfumed jollof rice where they use a basmati or jasmine rice. And the Senegalese are known for their broken rice where a lot of vegetables are added and it’s served together on a platter that’s eaten family style.

💡 What’s the best type of rice to use to make jollof?

It’s difficult to determine the best rice as every single one offers a unique flavor revered by its people. Personally, I prefer to use basmati rice when making my jollof even though I process it like a Nigerian by making the base with more bell peppers than tomatoes; reducing that into what I call “mother sauce.”

💡Who else has an interesting take on jollof?

Every single country makes their jollof uniquely. I always say that if you want to learn about people, then taste their food. Thus, when you go to Liberia or Cameroon, you will find that the jollof rice is different and unique to the respective region. It’s hard for me to say any one in particular has an interesting take because as a people we are stronger together so I will not be contributing to the “jollof wars.”

💡 How do you go about combining the best of West Africa to create your “unity jollof”?

I approach it by combining the jollofs from Nigeria and Ghana — two countries which have been fiercely competitive over who makes the best jollof — to settle that friendly feud, but also crown it with the origin of jollof itself, Senegal. I use the process of making the Nigerian jollof; the ratio of bell peppers to tomatoes and smoking the rice. I use basmati rice to represent the preferred perfumed rice of the Ghanaians and then add fried plantains (in some cases carrots) and also use a vegetable stock. My jollof has been recognized as one of the world’s best and, while I recognize that everyone makes their own differently, my approach is to bring out the best of the three to create something special.

— Yinka

Read and share the extended interview here.

How Kiswahili songs gave voice to the independence movement — and romance

Millions of speakers from across East, Central, and southern Africa, the Middle East, and the diaspora marked World Kiswahili Language Day on Friday (July 7) following a 2021 declaration by UNESCO. Kiswahili connects over 200 million people who speak the Bantu language across borders and advancing their political and economic interests.

In the 1960s, when most East African countries were at the apotheosis of their struggle for independence or newly independent, Kiswahili songs played a significant role in marshaling the people and spreading optimism to people in the new postcolonial states. In Kenya, Daudi Kabaka — whose song’s title “Harambee Harambee,” was arguably borrowed from the slogan popularized by the first president Jomo Kenyatta — served as a clarion call for all Kenyans to build the nation. His other song, “African Twist,” was a sensation with young Kenyans in the newly independent country but it transcended borders.

And in the same Equator Sound studio where Kabaka recorded his songs in Nairobi, his contemporary Fadhili William was the first to record what would become arguably the most popular Kiswahili love song of all time: “Malaika,” which means “angel”. It was soon the most instantly recognizable African song especially after it was made globally famous by the late South African singer Miriam Makeba (pictured).

Over the decades, Kiswahili songs have become a unifying factor across the region, with YouTube viewing becoming the new yardstick. For example, contemporary Tanzanian artist Diamond Platinumz became the first sub-Saharan African singer to clock two billion views on a YouTube channel last year. Singing mainly in Kiswahili, some of his songs, “Yatapita” and “Mtasubiri,” became instant hits in East Africa and beyond, garnering millions of views. His song “Salome”, which was released six years ago and featured another East African star, Rayvanny, added to his many feathers in his musical hat after a resounding success across the East African music market and beyond.

— Muchira Gachenge in Nairobi

The Gatsby is one of Cape Town’s most popular, and most filling, lunch time meals. To some, it may just look like a fancy sandwich. To locals, however, it is a cost-effective way to feed a family when the fridge is looking a bit empty.

According to Capetonian history, the Gatsby was born in 1974 after fish-and-chip shop owner Rashaad Pandy put together a footlong bread roll with slap chips (french fries), polony (bologna) and atchar (a pickled condiment) for his staff when there wasn’t much else to choose from. Pandy says it was created by accident; a mishap that has become a permanent fixture in corner shops and takeaway diners across the city.

Gatsbys come in all varieties – from masala steak to calamari, customers have their choice of protein. But there are certain staples that you’ll always find crammed between the sides of the roll. Hot chips, spicy sauce and salad form the base of this highly shareable dish. The middle bit is usually the most coveted but no matter where you take a bite, you’re sure to be satisfied.

As for the name — no one really knows where Pandy got it from. Perhaps he needed a name as extravagant as the sandwich itself.

— Marché Arends in Cape Town

🇨🇩 Congolese superstar singer Fally Ipupa was allegedly the target of politically instigated attacks after a photo of him and French President Emmanuel Macron went viral on social media. The two were pictured in a living room at the presidential palace in Paris. The next day the artist’s car and one of his homes in Kinshasa were set on fire. Ipupa has in the past maintained an apolitical stance, at some point stating: “I prefer to leave politics to the politicians.” But the geniality on show between the singer and the head of state has upset some detractors “at a time when [Congo] is openly critical of French policy and its new proximity to Rwanda,” writes Nathalie Sala Gisa in Le Monde [French].

🇪🇹 Archeological evidence of ancient civilization in the Horn of Africa has shed light on the origins of Christianity in Ethiopia. While ancient civilizations of the Horn of Africa have remained on the edges of research compared to other similar powers, the region still “teems with archaeological sites,” writes Jason Urbanus in Archeology. One of the oldest churches in sub-Saharan Africa was inhabited for some 1,400 years before vanishing around 650 AD. It was found by researchers in Beta Samati, once part of the Kingdom of Aksum ― an ancient kingdom that once existed in present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia.

🇿🇦 NA new South African TV series Shaka iLembe aims to portray the king of the Zulu nation in a more authentic light. Numerous historical, fictional, and popular culture accounts have attempted to provide an identity for Shaka kaSenzangakhona ― colloquially known as Shaka Zulu. However, little remains known about him, despite probably being the best-known South African Black leader after Nelson Mandela. The Multichoice series portrays Shaka as “neither unrestrained mass-murderer nor superhuman conqueror, but a tough, competent leader who wielded alliances with his neighbors, absorbing people into new structures more than chasing them away,” argues Dan Wylie, a literature professor at Rhodes University in South Africa.

🇬🇭 Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye was the focus of a Financial Times investigation that accused him of subjecting three female former employees to different forms of coercive behavior, ranging from sexual assault to harassment. Adjaye denies the allegations. The architect — whose work includes designing the National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington D.C. — said he entered into “entirely consensual” relationships that “blurred the boundaries” between his professional and personal lives. Adjaye has stepped down from a number of high-profile roles and projects since the investigation was published last week.

🗓️ Semafor Africa will join leading African and US executives in Gaborone, Botswana for the 15th U.S-Africa Business Summit, organized by the Corporate Council for Africa. This year’s theme is “Enhancing Africa’s Value in Global Value Chains.” (July 11-14)

🗓️ Kenya will host the 54 African Trade Ministers Meeting under the auspices of the African Continental Free Trade Area. (July 13-15)

🗓️ The 5th Mid-Year Coordination meeting between the African Union, the Regional Economic Communities, and Regional Mechanisms will take place in Nairobi. (July 13-16)

• Western nations should invite African and Latin American countries to join an existing group of mineral-rich nations to head off the creation of new green energy cartels for critical resources.
• Twitter is threatening to sue Meta over Threads, Max Tani scooped.
• The U.S. Supreme Court could kill student debt relief again — right after next year’s election.
• Latvia’s new president is worried about Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner in neighboring Belarus — but he thinks the most immediate threat might be to Belarus itself.

If you’re enjoying the Semafor Africa newsletter and finding it useful, please share with your family, friends, jollof warriors, and Kiswahili language teachers. We’d love to have them aboard, too.

🇸🇸 Happy 12th independence day to South Sudan!

You can reply to this email and send us your news tips, gossip, street food recommendations and good vibes.

— Yinka, Alexis Akwagyiram, Marché Arends, Alexander Onukwue, and Muchira Gachenge.