NGOZI OSUZOKA
Meeting the expectations of young people must be a priority. Green growth could be one of the keys.
He is Prime Minister, but not President. Yet he is undeniably at the centre of the revolution currently underway, the echoes of which go far beyond the country's borders. At once a sovereignist and a pan-Africanist, conservative and pragmatic, impulsive and a good listener, he is above all the bearer of hope for change for a large part of the population... Here follows a five-point attempt at portraying the enigma that is Ousman Sonko.
He's the richest African in the world. Aliko Dangote has seen his fortune soar with the commissioning of his colossal refinery on the outskirts of Lagos. This mammoth project is designed to enable Nigeria, an exporter of black gold, to stop importing its fuel... despite opposition from certain all-powerful lobbies.
For over two years now, the Maasai, a pastoral people, have been driven from their ancestral lands. The reasons are political, essentially linked to tourism and an agreement between the government and OBC, a company from the United Arab Emirates. Confronted with this dispossession, the lawyer Joseph Oleshangay is determined to speak up for his people.
The quest for access to the sea via breakaway state Somaliland, energy sovereignty by means of a major dam on the Nile... Ethiopia's Prime Minister, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, wants to reassert his country's dominance and give his deeply divided people a common ideal. At the risk of losing investors, falling out with his neighbours and setting the whole region ablaze.
He has become one of the biggest names in Congolese rumba, an ultra-competitive and often brutal musical sphere. By combining tradition and modernity and inventing his own style, DiCap la Merveille has conquered not only his country and Africa, but also a large part of the world. Portrait of a world-class singer.
There it is, in the centre of Kinshasa, a city of nearly 15 million people, and just a stone's throw from the no less famous Palais du Peuple, both urban monuments and testaments to cooperation with China. The Martyrs de la Pentecôte stadium (its official name) is the fourth largest in Africa, with its 80,000-seat capacity.
Little Faustin Ipupa Nsimba has come a long way in forty-six years. Born on 14 December 1977 into a large family in Kinshasa, he grew up in the Bandalungwa neighbourhood home of legendary group Wenge Musica, kings of soukous. At the time, rumba and dance rhythms chanted in Lingala were all the rage in the capital.
Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Djibouti's Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2005, is a candidate for the chairmanship of the African Union Commission (AUC). His main opponent is Raila Odinga, the enduring Kenyan opponent. The verdict will be announced at the next AU summit in February 2025.
In Africa, 60% of the population are under 25. Born in the age of social media, they are connected to the world. They need training, jobs and a voice in the political process. Generation Z, frustrated by being all too often forced into unemployment or exile, is becoming aware of its power.