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Suez. Present Uncertainty and Future Strategy.

The Suez Canal has always been strategically important for Egypt and the whole area. Before the end of 2023 it is planned to widen the canal which will allow an increase in daily ship traffic, with important consequences for trade and profits.

The strategic importance of the Suez Canal has ancient roots. Works to join the Mediterranean to the Red Sea were undertaken by the Persians and the Egyptian Pharaohs, to connect the two great water basins of the Middle East, but were never completed. It was in 1859 that, under the direction of the Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps, the project of the Italian Luigi Negrelli was carried out, bringing Egypt to share ownership of the Canal with more than 20,000 French shareholders. The work certainly facilitated the European colonisation of Africa (the time necessary to reach the Horn of Africa by ship was more than halved) and increased the amount of merchandise from the Far East.

Building of Suez Canal Authority in Port Said, Egypt.

Following the indebtedness of Egypt towards Britain in connection with the storage of goods, a significant share in the Canal was sold to the British Crown which then took control of the Canal, reorganising and increasing Canal traffic. The situation remained unchanged until the nationalisation of the Canal by President Nasser and the subsequent conflict (Suez Crisis). The last conflict in the region (Six-day War) resulted in the arrival of UN forces and, later, of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) to guard the area around the Suez and allow the free transit of goods and the economic business of the region.

Resource for Egypt
From Suez on the Red Sea to Port Said on the Mediterranean, more than 10% of world commercial sea traffic flows, making the area a cardinal point for world transport and communications. In the first two months alone of 2018, 2,724 ships carried 150 million tons of goods: impressive statistics that show how important the control of the passage between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean is. Progress in naval technology led to larger cargoes and the need for enlargement both in terms of depth and of width for greater manoeuvrability in the Canal.

In this regard, in August 2015, the work of widening the Canal was hurriedly completed by al-Sisi, showing the need the Egyptian President had to regain popularity after a long period of government uncertainty due to the Arab Spring of 2011. However, this recent redoubling has not been lacking in harsh criticism since this recent project, and the construction of the new administrative capital (costing up to 300 billion dollars), are seen as Pharaonic works in a country where, according to the World Bank, ‘60% of the population live in poverty’.
The foreign debt is more than 90 billion dollars and economic growth is slow (inflation stands at 14,4%.).

The future of maritime commerce
About 7% of oil sold for sea transport and 13% of LNG (liquefied natural gas) passes each year through the Suez Canal. Canal authorities expect, before the end of 2023, a further increase in the average daily traffic of ships (from 49 cargo vessels to 97 daily) and of profits (increasing 10-12 billion dollars from the present 5 billion).

The area represents the only route for the passage of crude oil and LNG to Europe and the Atlantic. The alternative would be to circumnavigate Africa, with the consequent increase in transportation costs. The work of widening the Canal, which cost 14 billion Euro, has, in fact, cut the journey between Europe and India by 7,000 Km. Furthermore, with the deepening of the Canal (dredged to a depth of 24 metres), the latest container ships will be able to pass through. At present, they are forced to sail around the Cape of Good Hope.

This pharaonic project will lead to the overall growth of the region, creating a million jobs in the next ten years, due to the construction of new road and rail tunnels and new port areas. These most recent developments will change forever the world of international shipping. In the near future we shall see ever larger container ships in the Mediterranean. So, too, the Asian shipyards such as those of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong will develop ever larger ships, no longer fearing damage to the bed of the Canal which is now ready to increase its flow of traffic.

Alssandro Manda

China. The Great Game.

The logic used by super powers in space is not an exclusively competitive one. In fact, there is a very rich level of cooperation between them, due to the fact that, unlike the case of economic competition, scientific research requires synergies.

In this regard, the ESA (European Space Agency) is a good example of cooperation between various powers, given fruitful relations with Russia, the United States, Japan, India and China.
The scope of cooperation, however, does not exclude, as was said, tight competition in the business arena. The example of China and its struggle to sell rocket launchers is revealing. Has hard as it tries to penetrate that market, China encounters international resistance, because the Europeans and Americans, who have invested formidable sums in this sector, try to protect their markets, barring new entrants (offering lower cost products) from entry, using the argument of national security. In fact, there is a fear that the Chinese may invade the markets. There exists a veritable business dynamic such that the ability to collaborate and compete is part of the big game.

In the context of this competition, where the business element plays an important role-even as defense and security aspects are fundamental-development has been quick, stimulating changes in roes among the various countries. If you look at classic space exploration (the kind involving astronauts, space stations and large infrastructures), progress of new actors has come at a slower pace compared to the historic leaders of Russia, the United States along with Europe, Canada and Japan. And that kind of space exploration remains the standard of reference. However, China, over the course of 15 years, has put two different kinds of space stations into orbit – and is trying to build the third one – eroding the gap in a substantial way.
In 2018, China launched more satellites than any other country, clearly demonstrating that it is second to none when it comes to building space exploration services, functions and infrastructure. And, although the satellites are not equipped with the very highest technology, they are of sufficiently good quality and effectiveness to deliver the desired result.

China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei waves on Oct. 16, 2003 after landing on the Inner Mongolian grasslands of northern China.

China, which has surpassed Russia in the space exploration sector, now competes directly against the United States given the amount of investment, the number of launches, the infrastructure sent into orbit, the observation of the Earth and the collected data. Even as China does not have the sensors that can observe and measure the Earth at close distance, it can rely on sheer quantity, sending a number of satellites into orbit, which observe from a larger distance. By functioning in a coordinated manner, these satellites can achieve the same results as those operating from a closer distance.
China’s experience shows that when it comes to space, the important aspects are simply to be present, to be there, relying on basic but reliable technology, which does not have to be the best. It merely has to be good enough to ensure the production of launchers that work, deploying available technological and financial resources intelligently. Still, China has managed to deploy the first ever (as far as civilian ones are concerned) Quantum telecommunications satellite ever made, demonstrating with how far its own technology has reached.

The Long March-5 Y3 rocket, China’s largest carrier rocket, takes off from the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Wenchang, Hainan province, China December 27, 2019.

In 2019, Beijing, as part of an ambitious scientific exploration program, executed an unprecedented lunar orbit with the Queqiao satellite while the Chang’e-4 probe landed on the Dark Side of the Moon to measure its magnetic field. This mission has disruptive geopolitical implications. Beijing’s investments in the aerospace sector are part of “Made in China 2025” – a gigantic research and development, plan to boost research and industrial production in aerospace, robotics, digital information, agriculture, medicine and alternative energy – such as marine renewable energy based on waves. By 2030, the goal is to shift China away from the current model of low-cost mass production toward high value. This plan, along with the One Belt Road Infrastructure Development Project intend to allow the Chinese economy to take the final quality leap.
The current Chinese space effort has already reshaped the geopolitical framework in the region, prompting Japan to change its constitutional order, in order to be able to equip new space systems for military purposes. In a related move, Tokyo transferred jurisdiction over its JAXA Space Agency away from the control of the ministry of Education to that of the prime minister, placing it within a special office.
And then there is India, which has also invested heavily into advanced research and production centres for launchers and satellites – entirely built by its own technicians.
The Indian government space agency ISRO has made enormous strides in both military and civilian space exploration. In 2019, New Delhi carried out a test to shoot down a satellite in orbit, thus placing itself at the level of technological superpowers. Recently, India has also shown a growing interest in a project to study the possibility of deploying nuclear power plants in space. The aim is to experiment new orbiting energy production technologies to reduce India’s excessive dependence on imported energy sources.

China launched its first mission to Mars on July 16, 2020.

Meanwhile, China launched its first mission to Mars on July 16, 2020. Tianwen-1 was launched from Wenchang towards the red planet on a voyage that will last until next year. China’s mission aims to conduct a global survey of the planet, including studying its geological structures, surface characteristics and climate. The orbiter is packed with seven scientific instruments, and the rover has six more. These include several cameras, subsurface radar and a spectrometer. A magnetic-field detector on the rover could gain valuable insights into Mars’s past magnetic field, which would have shielded the planet from radiation, says Flannery. And its ground-penetrating radar will help discern some of the geological structures just below the surface of the planet. (F.R.)

Benin.”The Man with the Golden Hands”

On the edge of the on the border between Niger and Burkina Faso, the Fatebenefratelli friars have been providing medical services to the people of Atakora plateau. Brother Fiorenzo Priuli, director of the St. Jean de Dieu Hospital spoke to us about his experience as a both missionary and an orthopedic surgeon.

The city of Tanguieta, in northern Benin’s arid Atakora highlands – the most mountainous region of the country – has a population of 60,000. In the 1970’s, the Order of the Fatebenefratelli (Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God), opened the St. Jean de Dieu hospital. Brother Fiorenzo Priuli, the facility’s current director, recalls: “It took hard work and much patience to earn the people’s trust. Most locals sought the advice of sorcerer-healers, by virtue of their religious convictions. But, most of all, people were wary of the novelty that white people had introduced.” But, there was a turning point between 1979 and 1980, when a terrible measles epidemic killed thousands of children within a few months. “It was then that people noticed that those who came to the hospital were cured, and then they started to come regularly”.

Brother Fiorenzo, a surgeon, has been a missionary in Africa for the past 50 years, earning the esteem at both institutional and popular levels within and beyond the borders of Benin and Togo. At the young age of 23, Brother Fiorenzo obtained a professional nursing diploma and immediately left for Afagnan, a remote village in Togo, where the Fatebenefratelli founded a hospital in 1964.
From the beginning, Fra Fiorenzo proved to be tireless, always full of dedication while caring for malnourished children, or working in the lab, radiology and the operating room.
Such was the level of the dedication to his mission that he contracted a serious form of tuberculosis, which forced to return to home to Italy for treatment. But even such a serious illness was unable to break Brother Fiorenzo’s mission. During his convalescence at the Hospital of Sant’Orsola in Brescia, he took up medical studies at university in order to become even more useful to his patients in Africa, whom he has always kept in his heart.

After the hospital in Tanguiéta opened in 1970, Brother Fiorenzo split his service between the Togolese and the Beninese hospitals. He graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Milan in 1979, specializing in orthopedics, and he became one of the world’s first to perform surgery on patients suffering from polio related leg paralysis, allowing them to walk again. Such is his talent as an orthopedic surgeon that Brother Fiorenzo has earned the nickname: ‘The man with golden hands’, treating thousands of children suffering from polio, allowing them to walk and smile again. Nevertheless, Brother Fiorenzo also earned a strong scientific reputation. After studying traditional African medicine, becoming an expert, he discovered that a species of shrub native to West Africa, known as kinkéliba, can be extraordinarily effective in treating HIV-positive patients. He invented the “self-recovery cone”, patented by the World Health Organization (WHO), to recover blood during hemorrhages and re-inserting it to patients. Indeed, the WHO often invites him to lecture in Geneva on a special form of ulcer, considering him a world expert on the topic. Surgeon, hepatologist, internist and educator: despite his busy schedule, Brother Fiorenzo has also been tireless in transmitting his renowned surgical skills to his African colleagues at the University of Lomé (Togo) and Parakou (Benin). It’s no wonder, that among several international recognitions, Brother Fiorenzo was also awarded the French Legion of Honor. And still the missionary and surgeon has lost none of the humility and affability that drove him to become a missionary in Africa in the first place.

After 12 hours spent in an operating room, Brother Fiorenzo was finally free to talk to us: “Being a surgeon in Africa is an incredible experience. We live between the gratification for the lives we manage to save and the despair for situations where we can’t do anything – and which could have had a different outcome, had we managed to act sooner, or if we were operating in a Western facility.”
The Hospital’s beating heart is the pediatric ward. It’s a veritable refuge for suffering children.  The pediatrics department has room for 105 patients, but there are always 150 mothers: they place a mat on the corridor floor in order to stay close their sick children. In addition, we set up an intensive care unit with room for 23 cots for sick newborns or babies born prematurely. As we have a shortage of thermostatic cradles, Angela Sosa Gonzalez, a Colombian nurse who has lived in Tanguietà for seven years, introduced baby carriers, allowing mothers help their premature babies growing by holding them tightly against their chest. It was in fact in Bogota, Colombia that neonatologist Edgar Rey Sanabria invented the very technique of ‘marsupiotherapy’, or Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), in 1970. Now, this ‘skin to skin contact’ treatment for premature newborns is better known as natural incubation. Studies have shown that marsupiotherapy helps premature newborns develop well both physically and psychologically.

Closely linked to the Pediatrics department, is the Nutritional Centre, where children, saved from the disease, convalesce and gain back their strength. Meanwhile, the Centre offers the mothers instruction into how to make the most nutritious baby food possible. The mothers are given food supplies when they are discharged, allowing them to more easily resume their lives in the villages. Overall, the San Jean de Dieu hospital now boasts over 220 beds. The patients admitted, surgeries performed and outpatient services offered on an annual basis number in the thousands. The WHO has identified it as a model to help train healthcare teams in Benin and Burkina Faso. The Centre also functions as a graduate school for students, as a reference center for 17 dispensaries in the surrounding areas, periodically carrying out vaccination campaigns for tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles and meningitis.

The Fatebenefratelli Order has worked for centuries in treating the sick. Its very founder, San Giovanni di Dio, built the first hospital in Granada in 1539, after becoming appalled at the reality of how the marginalized poor were left to themselves. Since then, the Fatebenefratelli’s activities have only grown. Today, the order has a presence in 13 countries in Africa, 11 in Central and South America, eight in Asia and 16 in Europe and North America. The Order can count on a total of 387 facilities with different services, including 84 are hospital centers, 59 basic health, 64 for mental disorders, 68 for the physical disabilities, 39 for the elderly and 73 for social care. In 2017, the Fatebenefratelli had a total of 38,994 beds, allowing for 1,003,210 hospitalizations.
Meanwhile, Brother Fiorenzo has just finished another operation. It is his fifth today. Still, his smile and calm impress all those who approach him, knowing that he has spent hours in the operating room in pursuit of the hope for life. (G.M.)

 

Father Charles Nyamiti. “An ancestor in African Theology.”

The Tanzanian-born priest, Fr. Charles Nyamiti, will be remember as eminent pioneer of African Theology “brewed in an African pot.”

In the strict sense of the concept, “African Theology” as a theological genre within the Christian churches (and, in the specific case of this article, within the Catholic Church), is barely 60 years old. The notion began to be boldly proposed and openly claimed only in the decades of the 1940s and 1950s. It was understood to denote a distinctive way of thinking about and articulating the Christian faith tradition by taking seriously into account African spirituality, culture and religion. By this was meant the comprehensive way of understanding the world and their place in it by the black peoples of the African continent.

Father Charles Nyamiti.

Two texts published during these decades were seminal in the rise and development of African Theology in the evident scientific sense. One was the book named La philosophie bantoue or “Bantu Philosophy” by the Belgian Franciscan missionary in the Congo, Placide Frans Tempels. It was first published in 1945. The other was called Des prêtres noirs s’interrogent or “Black Priests Wonder.” This was a compilation of articles from a consultation of a group of African priests studying in France at the time. It published in 1956. Each in its own way, these books raised consciousness within the church and beyond about the necessity and urgent need of thinking about and living religion “in an African way.”
To the question, who is the most outstanding symbol of such academic African Theology today, the answer is very easy.  Any serious student of theology in Africa will come up with two names in a blink of an eye, especially where the English speaking region of Africa is concerned. Besides the Kenyan Anglican Canon, Prof. John S. Mbiti (Nov. 30, 1931-Oct. 6, 2019), the other name to be quickly mentioned will be that of the Catholic priest, Prof. Charles Nyamiti (Dec. 9, 1931-May 19, 2020). Whereas Mbiti specialized particularly in the field of African religious philosophy,  Nyamiti worked in the area of theology proper. Without any doubt, these two have been the leading and enduring voices in the African theological field.

Charles Nyamiti passed on in mid-May this year (2020) after serving as a professor of theology for many years – since 1984, to be exact – at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. Nyamiti was one of the founder-lecturers at that Establishment. It was then known as the Catholic Higher Institute of Eastern Africa (CHIEA). Previous to that, he had lectured at the St. Paul national major seminary at Kipalapala on the outskirts of Tabora town in the north-western parts of Tanzania.
He was assigned there in 1976, shortly after completing graduate studies in Theology, Social Anthropology (or Ethnology) and music composition at the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium and in Vienna in Austria, respectively.
Young Nyamiti’s theological studies in Belgium were pretty standard in Catholic perspectives at the time, heavily tinged with European ethno-centric biases in terms of expressing the Christian faith. But he had already then manifested a remarkable interest in employing African symbols in expressing the Christian faith.
Some people explain this away as merely coincidental, but it seems to many of us much more accurate to interpret this in terms of divine providence that guided him to orient his studies towards an Afro-centric emphasis despite the dominant European academic environment at the time. As illustrations, we may refer to both his Master’s and Doctoral theses to show this inner inclination.

Kenya. Catholic University of Eastern Africa in Nairobi

For both degrees Nyamiti concentrated on the processes and meanings of the rites and rituals of initiation to adulthood as practiced  in some African ethnic communities in view of the understanding of corresponding sacraments in the Catholic Church. He intended to show that despite the differences of approach between them, African indigenous and Western Christian approaches  to these rituals, they were matching in terms of the meaning and intention at their  core.
To say this may not be shocking today, but in 1966 and 1969 when Nyamiti wrote and defended these ideas, they were intellectually and doctrinally revolutionary, if not heretical, to say the least, even if Vatican II had just concluded.
It was this zeal for creating a “mature, adult and dignified way of conceiving, perceiving and talking” about the Christian faith in the African milieu that formed Nyamiti’s theological preoccupation throughout.  Again it involved the issue of how to express Christian mysteries without in the least adulterating the sense of Christian belief. In summing up Nyamiti’s lifetime work, we can indeed distinguish in it between what one of his students, Prof. Mika Vähäkangas characterizes as Christianity served in “foreign vessels” and what another African theologian, A. E. Orobator, describes a theology “brewed in an African pot.” Nyamiti has worked tirelessly for the latter.

African theologians would agree with Vähäkangas that “There are few … [people] who have dared to venture as far as Nyamiti … in constructing a complete African theology covering the whole field of dogmatics.”
In a field now quite replete with individual theologians and theological associations in one way or another interested in the field, this is no mean compliment. In doing what Nyamiti has done, I claim that Nyamiti has lifted African culture to a status that is “equally capable and worthy as any other to be a receptacle of Christic values in the African context.” Here we have Nyamiti’s greatest bequest to African and, indeed, world Christianity. Nyamiti’s has been a struggle to unearth values deeply embedded in African beliefs and behavior that, in the words of Joseph T. Djabare, “can unlock the African soul and open it for an authentic
union with Christ.”
Pope Paul VI already affirmed this in his Message to Africa in 1967, saying that “Many [African] customs and rites, once considered to be strange, are seen today … [to be] worthy of study and commanding respect.” These include, in the Pope’s mind, the Africans’ “spiritual view of life,” their “idea of God,” “respect for human dignity,” “the sense of family” and “community life.” All of these the Pope viewed as “providential” insights. It is to these that Nyamiti in his theological method has sought to offer Christian expression.

Collaborating this intuition and goal, Pope Francis writes in his recent Apostolic Exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel” (Evangelii Gaudium), reminding the universal Church about why “We cannot demand that peoples of every continent, in expressing their Christian faith, imitate modes of expression which European nations developed at a particular moment of their history, because the faith cannot be constricted to the limits of understanding and expression of any one culture. It is an indisputable fact that no single culture can exhaust the mystery of our redemption in Christ.” The core of Nyamiti’s work captures this truth.
One outstanding contribution by Nyamiti to theological discourse in Africa that will be remembered above all is in the area of Christology. Who is Jesus for Africa? Who is Jesus for Africans in their cultural milieu? Early on in his reflections, Nyamiti proposed the image of “Ancestor” to depict the identity, mission and ministry of Jesus as one that the majority of African peoples could easily understand and relate to. His African Ancestral Christology has been lauded throughout the continent as a theological breakthrough.
Nyamiti’s seminal publication in this area, titled Christ as Our Ancestor: Christology from an African Perspective, is identified as “monumental” by one of his former student, Dr. Patrick N. Wachege.

In his many of his writings, Nyamiti constantly returns to this theme as central as well in terms of appreciating the mission and ministry of the Church in Africa. In view of the values rooted in the African worldview, as was explained  previously, Jesus is the Ancestor par excellence in the “Family called Church” or in “the Church as Family.” Canadian Africanist scholar Diane B. Stinton explains why, on account of the indisputable “vital” role ancestors play in African life, the vast majority of African theologians “lend various degrees of assent and priority” to this image of Jesus Christ as Our Ancestor.
On this issue, Nyamiti is not merely theoretical. He puts it quite clearly that the “most decisive step” in the development of African (Ancestral) Christology will only come when it is “allowed to enter into the magisterial teaching of the Church.” His call to African theologians and the African Church at large is that the goal of Christological thinking in the African continent should be to enable this perception of Jesus Christ “to influence, as far as possible, the doctrinal formulations of African bishops’ conferences and synods.”
Even during his earthly life, Nyamiti was popularly known and referred to by his students as “Ancestor” on account of his wisdom. Now that he has gone to join the Ancestors in reality, the African Church must remember what an African saying reminds us all, that “To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without roots.” It is a grave responsibility we owe to this illustrious giant of African Theology, Charles Nyamiti. The African Church remains ever grateful to God for the life and theological thought of Charles Nyamiti.

Laurenti Magesa

 

 

 

Nigeria. The dance of the street children.

The Dream Catchers Academy is an organisation that helps street children. To give them some dignity and a future.

Lagos is the biggest city in the whole of the African continent and one of the most densely populated in the world. It is so big that other ‘cities’ have formed within Lagos itself. In the area of northeast Lagos is Ikoradu and it is here that Seyi Oluyole has founded ‘Dream Catchers Academy’, an organisation that helps street children.
The expression ‘Dream Catchers’ refers to people with dreams and young Seyi Oluyole, not yet thirty years old, has succeeded in making a very important dream come true: the dream of taking the children and young people off the streets and giving a new meaning to their lives.

Many disadvantaged and poor families in Ikoradu, where the Dream Catchers Academy is based, do not give priority to the education of their children. Some of them are forced to sell small items and many others live on the streets. Growing up in Lagos can be extremely difficult, especially for those born in such a difficult context of poverty and violence. It was precisely her experience of a complex and contradictory environment that inspired Seyi Oluyole to create something completely different. It is a space dominated mostly by music and especially by dance. This is the space into which Seyi Oluyole has brought these boys and girls, aged from 6 to 16, taking them off the streets.

Seyi Oluyole has succeeded in creating something special: an academy in which many children and young people can study; learn to read and write; find a way out of their poverty. It is by means of the dance rhythms that the youngsters manage to shrug off the traumas of street life and develop self-esteem and self-confidence. But there is much more. The children receive healthy and regular meals, receiving care and a place of safety. The videos made by Seyi Oluyole in the streets of Lagos, showing the children smiling and dancing, have been watched all over the world. This has gained supporters for the Dream Catchers Academy in various countries. Even famous African-American singers like Beyoncé and Rihanna have shown their appreciation for this cause. The well-known model Naomi Campbell has also given her support. The Dream Catchers group has become a celebrity, even dancing on the video of the Nigerian singer Amada.

It all began in a church
Before creating the Dream Catchers Academy, Seyi Oluyole was the choreographer of a group of liturgical dancers at the church in her quarter of Lagos. During Mass, Seyi noted the presence of many needy young people whose numbers increased each Sunday since the religious celebrations with songs and dances helped them to forget their hunger and the other hardships of their lives.

“The children were coming in increasing numbers to the church, wanting to dance. I suddenly realised that most of them were not going to school. Many had not a word of English, one of the official languages of Nigeria”, Seyi Oluyole remembers. It was these considerations that produced the dream of giving new hope to the poorest children by means of dancing.
Seyi Oluyole succeeded in creating the Dream Catchers Academy. It is important to note that she had personally experienced life on the streets. She was just twelve when her father lost his job in a bank and soon the family had to live on the streets.

This lasted for two years. Despite everything, she has been fortunate, since her parents, despite their troubles, kept her in school. Things are not so rosy for the hundreds of children who live in Lagos. It was this that made Seyi Oluyole do her utmost to make her dream come true and create the Dream Catchers Academy and also do the same for so many Nigerian street children.

Silvia C. Turrin

The Energy Transition Paradox in Africa.

The binding agreement of the Paris Conference (COP 21) on climate change established the objective of reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. This reduction of CO2 is considered essential to significantly reduce the risks produced by climate change, as well as the rising sea level.

The Agreement established a global action plan to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C by the end of the century. Reducing the consumption of hydrocarbon-based energy sources and promoting the development of renewable energies were considered essential to achieving this objective.

Currently, most energy is generated from fossil fuels which are mainly hydrocarbons (oil and gas) and coal. However, renewable energies are created from the gifts of nature, but need to be transformed to be used as electricity generators. The sun, the wind, the water and the vegetable or animal biomass are inexhaustible sources of energies.

By themselves, they do not generate CO2 emissions to the atmosphere and they are considered clean energies.[ But to reach an energy model based on clean energies, renewable energies need to be created, transformed, stored and channelled through wind mills, solar panels, batteries, turbines, etc. It is in the manufacture of all this technology that we find the need to find new materials which are more efficient
and less polluting.

The shift from an economy based on hydrocarbon energy to an economy based on renewable energy requires an energy transition period. It is not just enough to replace some energy sources by others, but the new energy form also requires new technologies compatible with the renewable energy sources, changing consumption patterns, improving recycling, reducing the consumption of single-use plastics, creating new but less polluting packaging and promoting circular economy models that encourage the sustainability of the planet’s
natural resources.

The paradox of the energy transition towards a sustainable economy, respectful of the environment and without CO2 emissions into the atmosphere requires the creation new technologies such as electric batteries, solar panels or wind mills which are themselves harmful to the environment. These technologies require large amounts of raw materials and strategic minerals that need to be obtained from nature.

In other words, the energy transition to achieve a sustainable economy requires new technologies that though compatible with renewable energy sources will continue to exacerbate the negative dynamics of social and environmental impact triggered by the extractive industry. That is, paradoxically; the end to the mineral curse in developing countries which we have continued to accept as a norm and the sufferings that these countries have endured for decades is
not yet in sight.

In sub-Saharan countries, despite enormous efforts in recent decades to bring electricity everywhere, still more than 600 million people live without access to electricity and more than 700 Million still rely on coal as their primary source of energy. The energy transition towards a new economy is particularly important for advancing the sustainability of the planet, but it is also an opportunity to fight poverty in general and energy poverty in particular on the African continent.

The lack of access to energy is linked to poverty and the development capacity of peoples, since not only domestic use depends on access to energy, but also the sanitary use of electricity in hospitals, access to water for automating irrigation systems in agriculture, or its use for industrial and commercial development.

So far, 23 strategic minerals have been identified as essential to the creation of the technology needed for the energy transition. And once again, these minerals and natural energy reserves are found in abundance in developing countries.

The European Union is making a commendable effort to achieve the decarbonisation objectives for a sustainable economy, but in that effort it must rely on responsible co-development.
It cannot once again abandon the African continent to its fate, achieving carbon neutrality, but doing so at the expense of the exploitation of natural resources in Africa.

The recent Green Deal published by the European Union recognizes that the mining sector is one of the main factors in the emission of CO2 into the atmosphere and therefore is among the main causes of climate change along with transport. Therefore, the EU is responsible for its energy transition towards more sustainable economies; but it is equally responsible for the damage caused by its economic transition policies that push companies into the extraction of strategic minerals in Africa.

However, the trade agreements between the EU and different African regions do not include any chapter on energy transition, environmental protection, sustainable development or the protection of human rights. There is no binding due diligence for European companies operating in Africa and there is not even transparency for such companies in the extraction of minerals from conflict zones.

The spirit of the letter of the agreements between the EU and Africa shows good will on the part of the EU, but is clearly insufficient. The energy transition may be motivated by good intentions, but it may once again become a trap for developing countries that will strengthen their economic dependence on natural resources: a sine die extension of energy neo-colonisation.

As the recent European and African Bishops’ document points out, the renewed EU-Africa partnership should thus include provisions not only on enhancing energy efficiency and reducing the greenhouse gas emissions, but also on sustainable and just management of energy resources both in Europe and Africa, ensuring full energy access for all.

José Luis Gutiérrez Aranda,
Trade Policy Officer,
Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN)

Bangladesh. My life and Hope for the Sick.

She manages the Damien Hospital, the only specialized facility to treat leprosy, tuberculosis and AIDS in all of southern Bangladesh. An Italian medical doctor, and a Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Congregation missionary, Sister Roberta Pignone manages the Damien. She spoke to us about her work and faith.

Khulna is the third largest city in Bangladesh. It lies along the banks of the Rupsa and Bhairab rivers (about 130 km south-west of the capital Dhaka) in the Ganges delta region.
Some 1.5 million people, who typically work either in agriculture or the textile industry, live in its metropolitan area. Yet, many merely survive, working as casual workers and living in overcrowded slums amid widespread poverty. Sister Roberta comes face to face with this poverty on a daily basis at the Damien Hospital, which she has managed since 2012. And the ‘face’ she sees is often disfigured by leprosy, also known as Hansen’s Disease. “That’s right. Although the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Hansen’s disease eradicated in 1998, it is important for people to realize that in 2020, leprosy still exists in Bangladesh, and new cases are constantly being recorded. I diagnose one a week,” says the missionary.

Today, an ignorance of the issue among patients and medical doctors themselves, has aggravated the situation: “A poor man who manifests the symptoms of the disease, also considering that the incubation period might be as long as thirty years, has no idea how to recognize them. And when he turns to the doctor, he is told that he is suffering from an allergic reaction or to a neuropathy…. Thus, the man gets ‘treated’ incorrectly for years, and the correct diagnosis comes when it’s already too late, “explained the missionary. “Together with the relevant NGOs, we recently organized a meeting with the Prime Minister to raise awareness of the institutions. But the impression is that leprosy is not among the country’s priorities”. Thus, prejudices remain strong: “If I send a patient to a government hospital, he/she won’t be admitted because of a fear of becoming infected …”.

The only specialized facility in southern Bangladesh, therefore, is the one run by the missionaries of the Immaculate Congregation, which admits patients from villages, located even five or six hours away. And not just leprosy sufferers. In 2001, tuberculosis patients -and, since 2012, people co-infected with TB and HIV / AIDS – were admitted. Three nuns work at the Damien Hospital, which has 33 beds: “a local sister works with me; she manages the distribution of medicines. And then there’s an Indian sister, who is head nurse”. There are also 38 lay-people, 28 of whom actually work in outpatient clinics throughout the rural villages in the area around Khulna, which stands on the edge of the forest. They treat tuberculosis patients in the clinics or at home, also providing, where necessary, food or blankets for the winter, and only the most serious cases are hospitalized.

The hospital staff is multi-religious: in addition to Catholics (which in Bangladesh account for 0.3% of the population) there are Muslims, like the vast majority of Bengalis, and Hindus (an important minority, given they account for 10% of the population). “We start the day at eight o’clock with prayers, each according to their faith,” says the missionary, who adds: “Today there is much talk about dialogue: we practice it daily. Beyond the different faiths, we all share the same desire to take care of our patients as best as possible”.
This is, of course, the essence of Sister Roberta’s mission. Indeed, the missionary believes that medical care also means human proximity to hospital patients. Sister Roberta notes that “hospitalized women often talk about their living conditions in a context where the status of women is unquestionably lower than that of men. There is the husband who gets rid of a sick or sterile wife and marries another. Then there’s the one who asks her to come home, even if she has leprosy or tuberculosis, because she has to take care of the mother-in-law. And there are arranged marriages in which a young girl is forced to marry an older man, who demands she wear the burqa, and that she not leave the house … I cannot to bear to hear these women’s stories without feeling disturbed myself. I don’t say anything, but I feel a fire burning inside myself when I think about what they must endure without even considering the possibility that they could live a different life….I often hear them say: ‘Well, it’s normal that this be the case, it is normal for my husband to beat me: I am his wife after all!’ … I try to make them understand that this should not be so, and I’m glad when they come specifically to talk with us: to find an outlet. But changing the dominant mentality is not easy to change. Sometimes, I listen in silence and then in the evening, in the chapel, I bring it all with me in prayer”.

Sister Roberta becomes emotional when talking about Emanur, an HIV-positive child, who was hospitalized years ago for TB. “Having been treated for the first time, he returned to his village where he lived with his grandparents and older brother Aminur. But the tuberculosis came back and it was resistant to drugs. So, we hospitalized him, along with his brother, for a year and a half, appointing a teacher for him. But I began to wonder if there was something, we could have done for the child’s future. I said to myself: ‘If I send him back to the village, he will die’.
Just at that moment of bewilderment, I met a volunteer, Rudy, who runs a family home in Khulna. I introduced him to Emanur, saying: ‘We must give this child a future!’ Thus,  for the past five years, the two brothers have lived in Rudy’s facility. They are 14 and 24 years old and have grown up well, and happy”.

While all of Sister Roberta’s commitment begins from her encounter with Jesus, in her daily life she cannot speak openly about it. “I speak of Allah, that is, of God, but I announce the Gospel through my life. These patients, who are the lowly of the Earth, whom nobody shall ever treat, can always find a second home, and free assistance. Always. A leprosy patient who feels cared for, touched, sought after – seeing as we phone those who don’t come for their regular therapy – experiences a selflessness that raises questions, and which can help in altering a widespread utilitarian mentality. Above all, I want my life to become the testimony that for everyone there is a cure, and that for everyone there is hope.” (C.Z.)

 

African Independence. For a new Pan-Africanism.

Almost all the African constitutions declare their adhesion to Pan Africanism in their preambles and many governments include a ministry of regional integration, and so underline the primacy of a project of African unity.

The result has been a surprising institutional dynamism that has been active in the continent from 1960 to the present day, with the creation of more than 200 varied groups. Regional integration has become an alternative to the failure of the nation-state and national development. Nevertheless, this enthusiasm stands in stark contrast with the slowness and weak level of bilateral and multilateral cooperation among African states.Even though important steps at continental level have been taken with the creation of the African Union (AU), the adoption of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the launching of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, we are still far from having supranational projects.

Workers operate sewing machines at a garment factory at the Hawassa Industrial Park in southern Ethiopia.

The process of regional integration is a dead end due to its attachment to national sovereignty, the lack of political will, the lack of complementarity between interest and extrovert economies and, especially, because of the mistaken approach of free exchange based on imitating the European Union (EU). This shows how African integration is carried out from abroad – the US African growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA) or the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) of the EU – rather than by the continent itself.
In the face of such confusion, it is necessary to opt for a new approach to integration which takes into account the meso-economic aspects, in particular the strategies of advanced countries’ cultural areas, homogeneous and linguistic areas that are complementary and with overlapping customs unions, in fact, between two or more states, like a unifying osmosis; the creation of physical horizontal infrastructure to connect people and states; as well as the institutionalisation of trans-frontier migration and the above-mentioned popular economy.

Ethiopia. Delegates attend the opening session of the 33rd African Union (AU) Summit at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

We have to move from ‘Armed Pan-Africanism’ or the economic colonisation of some countries by others, as we have seen and continue to see in the region of the Great Lakes, to ‘Cooperative Pan-Africanism’. It is necessary to foster the complementarity or cooperation / integration of African countries, to improve the social and economic conditions of peoples for the benefit of all. The curse of natural resources must be ended and transformed into its opposite: a blessing for them.
The union and/or the unity of African states on a continental scale, from plurality and diversity or decentralisation from within and outward federalism, makes up the background of the Pan-African ideal of Kwame Nkrumah, of Patrice Lumumba and Cheikh Anta Diop, which now concerns its recovery and concretisation in a globalised world.
Faced with the ineffectiveness of Pan-Africanism on the part of the neo-colonial state, imperfect and devoid of meaning, we must foster a new Pan-Africanism – neo Pan Africanism: to promote development and unity initiatives from below; for the people, who have found solutions to their problems of daily survival at the margins of the state and the international community and, finally, to tackle the challenges
of globalisation.

Participative democracy
In the early eighties and nineties, the processes of democratisation were imposed in Africa, replacing the faulty one-party systems, according to western criteria of liberal democracy and the market economy.
The equilibrium that can be reached today with these processes is controversial. In some cases we may speak of improvements – there is no going back – while in others things have ground to a halt due to fraud, electoral manipulation, patronage, restrictive electoral laws, constitutional changes, the authoritarian manipulation of institutions and pre and post-electoral violence. If we look on the bright side, we must emphasise the emergence of a civil society that is dynamic and in difficulty, the role of the media in the reawakening of public awareness and the counter-power role of opposition parties.

Elections in Malawi.

Nevertheless, the democratic process is fragile since it is located within an economic crisis. Political democratisation has not been accompanied by economic and social democratisation. Democracy has been limited to multi-partyism, formal electoral democracy, and to freedom of the press. Besides, in some countries ‘democracies’ have been established, formal democracies and secret dictatorships, ‘republican monarchies’, when children follow their parents as heads of state, or constitutional amendments, constitutional and institutional coups, to perpetuate their power.Only four countries have sound democratic institutions: South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Mauritius, with significant progress in Senegal, Benin, Ghana and Ethiopia.
Solutions to the problems of development and democracy in Africa must not be identical to those adopted in Europe but must be inspired by traditional structures adapted to the situations of the peoples. It is time to replace the market with the social, to place economic development at the service of social development in line with the African culture of democracy and development: an inclusive democracy inspired by African values and lived in ubuntu (humanism).

Second independence
Africa needs a second independence or liberation since the first, being only imaginary, gave rise to neo-colonialism and internal colonialism.
According to Ali Mazrui, the Western model was imitated, instead of indigenising or adapting foreign values to local needs, cultural diversification or the defence of the national interest. In other words, Africa needs modernisation without becoming Westernised.

It is necessary to have a strategy of liberation and resistance against peripheral capitalism which has led to a truly ‘catastrophic economy in Africa’, which must define its own vision of the state, development, democracy and of unity and establish the societal project suitable for Africa.This new strategy must consist fundamentally in reconciling end-federation, internal federalism with exo-federation, external federalism, so as to create large spaces of political and economic sovereignty, with the aim of achieving internal development and reinforcing  African power within the international system.

Mbuyi Kabunda

Somalia. Glimmers of hope.

After decades of distrust and hostility, the Somali brothers from Mogadishu, from the break-away state of Somaliland and from the federal states of Somalia are talking to each other.  Regional and international partners are trying to help. Meanwhile, Somalia’s parliament removed Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire from his post in a vote of no confidence  for failing to pave the way towards fully democratic elections.

For the first time since the former British colony of Somaliland broke away from Somalia after the overthrow of the dictator Siad Barre in 1991, the leaders of Somalia’s President  Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, nicknamed ‘Farmajo’ (a deformation of his father’s own nickname, “Formaggio” or cheese in Italian), and his Somaliland’s President Muse Bihi Abdi, held official talks in Djibouti on the last 14 June.

The president of Somalia Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo.

The ambition of the host, President Ismail Omar Guelleh and of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abyi Ahmed who attended also the meeting and who had brokered an informal face-to-face discussion between the two, in February was to have Farmajo and Bihi seated at a same table. In itself, the presence of both leaders in Djibouti was an achievement. Indeed, in 2019, the International Crisis Group think tank reminded in a report that the relationship had become extremely tense. During several rounds of talks between 2012 and 2015, both sides made some progress on practical issues of cooperation such as airspace management, but failed to close the gap on the Somaliland’s status and eventually the talks collapsed. There were clashes between Somaliland forces and those of the neighbouring semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia, in 2018.

The president of Somaliland H.E Musa Bihi Abdi

Conflicting interests from regional partners contributed to the deterioration of the situation. The Mogadishu-based Federal Government of Somalia (FGS) felt very upset after the Dubai-based DP World Company which operates the port of Berbera, in Somaliland, offered Ethiopia a stake in the harbour in 2018. The Mogadishu government claimed that such agreement was “a violation of its sovereignty”. At the same time, the Emirati company, which also manage the port of Bosaso in Puntland, was unlikely to welcome negotiations in which Somaliland could be pressed to yield decision-making power to Mogadishu on issues that might affect its interests.
Somaliland’s President Bihi called Somalia’s opposition to the Berbera deal a “declaration of war”.
The Horn of Africa has become a field for the confrontation of interests between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia on one hand, and Qatar and Turkey on the other, like it happens in Libya. During the Covid 19 crisis, the Ukrainian air company Zet Avia which delivered weapons to the Libyan general Khalifa Haftar on behalf of the UAE, transported cargos of medicines to Somaliland and Puntland. Meanwhile, Qatar and Turkey which support the Tripoli government in Libya are backing the Mogadishu authorities.

Some positive developments occurred recently, however. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wished to get involved in the detente process. Turkey’s ambassador in Mogadishu, Olgan Bekar who had carried out mediation efforts between Somaliland and Somalia also attended the Djibouti talks. This added to similar attempts from Ethiopia, Djibouti, Sweden and Switzerland. The foreign partners insisted that the defeat of Al Shabaab’s insurgency required Mogadishu and Hargeisa to share intelligence and pool resources.
All this contributed to ease the tensions and to create a momentum towards renewing negotiations. Other partners tried to consolidate the process by expressing their support. The list includes the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union, the United Kingdom, the African Union Mission in Somalia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Uganda, the United States and the UN. No agenda was made public. Insiders say that the plan was to focus primarily on designing modalities for future dialogues rather than on the thorny question of statehood. Before the Djibouti meeting, President Bihi had indeed still declared that the Mogadishu authorities were the biggest challenge for Somaliland’s fight for recognition as an independent state.
One of the main outcomes of the meeting was the setting up of a joint ministerial committee tasked with spearheading dialogue between both sides. Somalia’s Interior minister Abdi Mohamed Subriye and Somaliland’s foreign affairs boss Yasin Hagi Mohamud were appointed as co-chairmen of this committee.

One week after the beginning of the talks, Djibouti declared that a “tremendous progress” had been made and that the delegates had discussed in a “warm and brotherly atmosphere” in presence of Djibouti’s Foreign Affairs minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf and of the facilitation from the US and the EU.
The committee met from June 15-17. As part of the goodwill gesture, both parties agreed to refrain from acts that would otherwise impede negotiations and discussed confidence-building measures.
To narrow down the issues, both parties formed several subcommittees on humanitarian aid, investment, management of Somalia’s airspace and security matters.  Both sides also agreed that the Joint Ministerial Committee would resume talks to review the progress made by the subcommittees in early August.
Yet, while the thorny issue of Somaliland’s international recognition was not discussed, the Hargeisa authorities still maintain that the issue should form part of the agenda, ultimately.
Time will tell whether progress can be recorded on this sensitive issue. Yet, the first reactions about the Djibouti meeting were positive: Somalia’s Interior Minister, Abdi Mohamed Sabrie, said that his government was committed to have a “genuine dialogue” with Somaliland. According to the Foreign Minister of Somaliland, Yasin Faraton, the talks were “a step in the right direction”.

The former US ambassador in Ethiopia, David Shinn, now professor of international affairs at The George Washington University, in an interview with the Horn Tribune suggested that rather than total independence for Somaliland, which would not be agreed in the international arena, a possible compromise solution could be a confederated status for Somaliland whereby it would maintain considerable autonomy. In his view, the question of the recognition of Somaliland should be determined by the African Union. So far, the AU has shown reluctant since it seeks to avoid to open a pandora box. But the Somaliland case is a challenge for the organization since according to the AU’s principle of intangibility of borders inherited from colonization, Somaliland which was colonised by the British and Somalia which was an Italian colony, declared independence separately in 1960 before agreeing to form a single Somali Republic, were different states. At the same time, AU member states do not want secessionists in South-Western Cameroon, Cabinda or Katanga to use the precedent case of an internationally recognised independent Somaliland, to promote their cause.

The road of reconciliation is difficult. Both sides face the opposition of hardliners. In Mogadishu, President Farmajo’s speech at the Parliament was interrupted by loud whistling, boos and hisses when he declared that “President Bihi of Somaliland had accepted the talks But under Farmajo’s rule, the Federal Government of Somalia seems committed to improve its relations with all the other entities of the Somali community. On the 14 June, the FGS officially recognised the leader of the semi-autonomous Jubaland state, Ahmed Madobe after months of rising tensions and armed violence, following the re-election as president of this former warlord in August 2019 who had been boycotted by the federal government who had backed his rival. Such recognition should help to ease tensions with Kenya which backed Madobe and had escalated in March, when heavy fighting broke out near the Kenyan border between Somali troops and Jubbaland forces
The Federal Government which had faced criticism for engaging in disputes with federal states instead of focusing on the fight against Al-Shabaab, also invited heads of the various states to Mogadishu to discuss national elections. President Farmajo held virtual talks with the leaders of   Puntland, South West, Galmudug and Hirshabelle.and invited all of them and Madobe as well to Mogadishu to discuss elections and also security and economic issues.The move was appreciated by Senator Ilyas Ali Hassan, the foreign secretary of the Himilo-Qaran opposition party, which is led by former president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed. “The meeting is a good gesture”, he said.

Now, concerning the forthcoming elections, a number of issues remain to be solved. One contentious proposal is whether Somalia should continue with the clan-based system in elections. Puntland state, which declared autonomy in 1991 and Jubbaland are insisting that clans should not be used in the upcoming elections.
Another bone of contention is the date of the election. In principle, a new parliament has to be installed by end November 2020 and a presidential election is scheduled at the end of June 2021. President Farmajo has pledged to hold elections on time. But the chairperson of the National Independent Electoral Commission (NIEC), Halima Ismail Ibrahim, told the Lower House of the parliament that political differences, insecurity, flooding and COVID-19 have hampered the schedule and that the election could not take place as foreseen, reported the Voice of America on the last 28 June
According to Ibrahim, the necessary biometric registration imposed by the electoral law cannot be completed in time. She says that the purchase of registration equipment, the security of registration sites, the registration of voters and candidates and the establishment of the voters’ registry need more time and budget. In her view, at least 13 months are necessary to meet these conditions.

The main opposition coalition, the Forum for National Parties (FNP), which brings together six political parties, is outraged and has called on the electoral commission to resign for failing to hold the election on schedule. It has accused the NIEC of collaborating with the current government on term extension.
Nevertheless, some useful steps are taking place to mend the gap between the federal government and the regional states whose relations are extremely difficult. Progress was recorded with the signature of a badly needed cooperation security deal between Puntland and the neighbouring state of Galmadug as both entities are struggling to cope with an escalation of Al-Shabaab attacks. In April, Al-Shabaab militants launched attacks on the rather peaceful Puntland from Galmadug, during which they shot dead Nugal Governor Abdisalam Hassan Hersi in Garowe, the regional administrative capital of Puntland.Meanwhile, on July 25th Somalia’s parliament removed Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire from his post in a vote of no confidence  for failing to pave the way towards fully democratic elections.  A whopping 170 of parliament’s 178 MPs backed the no confidence motion, and Khaire’s ouster was immediately endorsed by President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, who had appointed him as prime minister in February 2017.

François Misser

 

Herbs & Plants. Rhus vulgaris Meikle. An Important Herbal Medicinal Plant.

Vital in traditional medicine for the treatment and management of various disease conditions. The ash is used for oxytocic action, and externally, the ash is applied for the treatment of scabies.
The Yje plant possesses potent sources of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents.

Articles about the use of plants as a source of medicine for the treatment of diseases have been in existence since time immemorial. It is estimated that about 40% of the population in developed countries and about 80% of those in developing countries rely on natural medicines for their primary health care needs. The high level of dependence on herbal medicine is attributed to the cultural acceptability and ease of access to these herbal medicines and/or medicinal plants. Indeed, the significance of plants in traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines has been well documented around the world.

Among the plants with varied medicinal uses is Rhus vulgaris Meikle which belongs to the plant family Anacardiaceae. It is a shrub or small tree that occasionally reaches 6 m. Its branchlets are brown, hairy and its leaf consists of 3 leaflets, dull green and softly hairy, especially underneath, oval to rounded, and usually 5 cm long. The tip is either rounded, notched or sharp, the upper edges sometimes with large rounded teeth; the leaf stalk is up to 4 cm, leaflets, branchlets and underside of leaflets are densely hairy and the leaflet sizes are very variable. The flowers form in small bunches on hairy branched sprays up to 15 cm, and are yellow green, with bright yellow stamens.
The fruits are thin, yellow red, flat and round discs, brownish-red when dry, and only 3-5 mm across.

Its distribution range extends from Cameroon in West Africa to Ethiopia and south to Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
All the parts of Rhus vulgaris, including the leaves, stem bark and roots, are vital in traditional medicine for the treatment and management of various disease conditions. Rhus vulgaris fresh leaves are burned and the ash is used for oxytocic action and externally, the ash is applied for the treatment of scabies. The plant is used to stop diarrhea, for wounds and gonorrhoea. The branches of Rhus vulgaris have been used as one of the traditional toothbrushes (chewing sticks) for ages and the sap from the chewing sticks is believed to possess protective activities against a number of mouth microorganisms.
In some communities, Rhus vulgaris roots are boiled and drunk to treat abdominal pain in pregnant women, hypertension and diabetes. The leaves and root decoction is administered to prevent vomiting. Similarly, the leaves and root decoction is also administered to treat chronic diarrhea, and applied to the skin to treat skin rashes.

The decoction made from freshly collected and boiled roots of Rhus vulgaris  is orally administered for treatment and management of dysentery. In some communities, the stem bark decoction is used in the treatment and management of coughs. Leaves, stem bark and roots decoction are used for treatment and management of colds, abdominal pains, and gonorrhea. The leaf decoction is administered orally to treat sterility. The root decoction is administered orally to treat sterility and hemorrhoids. The infusion is drunk to treat and manage syphilis, and the roots boiled in milk are used as an antidote. Furthermore, the roots infusion is bathed in to treat measles.
Scientific studies have showed that Rhus vulgaris possesses potent sources of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents. In addition to its medicinal potential, Rhus vulgaris is also used as a source of firewood, farm tools, and the fruits are also eaten in some communities.

Richard Komakech

 

Young People lead the protest against racism, discrimination and social inequality.

More and more young people are joining protests around the world and are playing an increasingly important role to protest against racism, discrimination and social inequality.

Is it possible that eight minutes and 46 seconds can change the world? From London to Lisbon, Berlin to Pretoria, as well as Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Toronto, thousands  people have asked for justice for George Floyd who was killed in 8 minutes and 46 seconds in a video  that revealed his killing by four Minneapolis  police officers. Since 2015, police in the US have shot and killed around 1,000 people each year, with Black people twice as likely to die at the hands of law enforcement.

Protests have spread beyond the US and around the globe. Young activists and students have played a critical role in calling for change and transformation in our society. Today, these activists have turned to the streets and to social media to amplify their voices and to call attention to structural racism and police brutality across different countries. Social rights activist Desmond Tutu once stated, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”  The protests have been not only for the black people but for all who are discriminated by a culture of dominance.

In London, Mary Gaffney attended one of the rallies. She comments: “We experienced powerful moments of kneeling along the routes and brilliant signs. We chanted: “No Justice, no Peace, no Racist Police”; “What do we want? Justice”; “Silence is Violence”.
“As Black and minority people, we’re more at risk if we are infected with COVID. So in a way, we’ve got more at stake because we’re actually here,” said Caroline Craven, a Black protester.  Black women are 4.3 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than their white counterparts, according to U.K. government data. (Black men are 4.2 times more likely.) “For me, it means so much that I’m willing to risk that to be out here today,” Caroline said. “The reason this has impacted around the world is that it has highlighted that we haven’t really dealt with racism, we haven’t dealt with discrimination and inequality.”

Young students are also calling for the national history curriculum in England and Wales to recognize the role of Britain in the slave trade and Empire.  Francis Byron, student at London University, pointed out. “If people have a better idea of history, then they can see how those things have now got us to where we are today, and they can see that there’s bias. They can see things are geared against certain people, and they will have a better understanding of what’s going on in the world, to know how we move forward.”

In Germany, a young activist, Afua Ekuoba of Ghanaian origin said: “The reality of racism in the country is largely swept under the rug. Many people say that because we dealt with racism in the past. Thinking about the Holocaust, we learnt from the history. In reality racism continues and it is very much alive”. The recent demonstration led by young people in Berlin has shown the importance of facing the problem. Thousands of people formed a human chain through Berlin in a message against racism, discrimination and social inequality, among other causes. They were linked by coloured ribbons, forming what organizers called a “ribbon of solidarity.” People appeared to keep to the hygiene restrictions during the event, which lasted just over an hour.

In Sydney, Australia, young people protested saying that Australia must reckon with its own treatment of indigenous and minority group in the country. Across Australia, thousands of anti-racism demonstrators rallied against high rates of indigenous incarceration, deaths in custody and the removal of indigenous children from their families. Aboriginal Australians make up about three  percent of the population but almost a third of prison inmates are indigenous. “We are here to support our future as indigenous people and to walk against the injustice of what happened to our people,” one aboriginal woman said.

Young activists in Myanmar see it as the right time to challenge racism in the Buddhist-majority country. Launching a campaign called “Don’t call me ‘Kalar’” on Facebook, the effort seeks to end the use of a term that historically referred to people from the Indian subcontinent. But today the K-word is often used as a racist term for people with dark skin. Zay Linn Mon is among the activists. He said the campaign aims to highlight racism in Myanmar. “Does the Indian community accept this word? The problem is privileged people who don’t see this as an issue,” Zay Linn said. He also added that the term has also been used to describe Tamils and Muslims. Parents often warn their children that “a big Kalar” will come and get them if they misbehave.
“What we are aiming for with this campaign is not to use a word that the community dislikes. Our campaign doesn’t support violence against those who continue to use the K-word. This is just the beginning and we need to push for the issues of minorities,” Zay Linn explained.

In Africa, students have led the protest. Young people are marching in Accra, Lagos, Pretoria and in Nairobi demanding justice after a rise in the number of police killings since a curfew was enforced in March to slow the spread of coronavirus. Recently hundreds of people came out on the streets in the capital Nairobi to protest against police brutality and the killing of innocent people in the country. Protesters marched across the slums of the city where most of the killings have taken place and paid homage to the victims.

Anti-racist protests are also springing up across Latin America countries. In Brazil, which was the last country in the West to abolish slavery, there is rising anti-racism fervour despite the impact of the coronavirus. Matheus Mendes, a young activist of  “Vidas Pretas Importam”, the Brazilian version of Black Lives Matter said that “  Black people in Brazil are tired. Every day, a Black is person is being killed. We are discriminated in work and also in the coronavirus pandemic”.

According to the latest available data from the Brazilian Forum for Public Security, more than 75 per cent of those killed by police officers in recent years were black.  Brazil’s statistics institute records that black Brazilians earn about 44 per cent less than whites. And the Health Operations and Intelligence Centre estimates 55 per cent of those who have died of Covid-19 are black, compared with 38 per cent of whites. Francisco de Oliveira, another young activists said that since president Jair Bolsonaro has been in power in 2019 he has made continuous discriminatory comments about both Black and indigenous communities in the country. (C.C.)

African Independence. Sixty years on.

Sixty years ago, seventeen African countries became independent. Enough time has gone by to take stock of the situation of the continent and, especially, to plan for the future.

In 1961, when African independence was beginning, the French agronomist René Dumont, the author, among other books, of The Hungry Future, denounced the mistaken path taken by African countries, especially because it imitated the western model of the state and of development. In their enthusiasm after recently gaining independence, the African elite and political intellectuals replied in unison: ‘The direction matters little; what is important is that we make a start’.
Since then, there has been a multiplicity of adjectives, mostly negative, used to describe the situation in the continent: Africa at a standstill, betrayed, strangled, tired of itself … to quote but a few of the views that sought to point out the failure of independence and its postcolonial elite. Nevertheless, despite all these Africa-disaster diagnoses, Africa is still there and challenges all the forecasts of its demise.

In this continent which is distinguished for its unity in diversity, Sylvie Brunel, a French economist, today speaks of three intertwined and overlapping images: ‘The Africa of chaos and misery’, ‘The Africa of exoticism’ and ‘The emerging Africa’ which is that of the last decade. The truth is that people now live better in Africa than they did a century ago, but also somewhat worse than sixty years ago.
Postcolonial African leaders set themselves their main objectives in building their nations: the nation state; economic and social development; the promotion of democracy, human rights and African unity. Six decades later, it is necessary to take stock regarding the achievement of these objectives. Fundamentally, we must try to respond to these questions: after sixty years of African independence, what sort of political and economic statement can we present? In what ways has it succeeded or failed? What is the outlook for the future of the continent?

Nation-building
In Africa, the juridical state has preceded the nation as a sociological phenomenon. This was the principal historical abuse by the colonial powers at the Conference of Berlin in 1884.
Due to its colonial origins, the African state was not conceived for development or democracy or for the promotion of human rights. It was, and still is, conceived as an instrument of domination and exploitation. Instead of transforming the colonial state inherited from colonisation, the post-colonial African nationalist governments recuperated and maintained it due to their obsession with the creation of the nation state and this caused them to fall into the trap of authoritarianism.

Kenya. Parliament buildings in the city centre of Nairobi.

The demands of national development and construction, both of which became national priorities, led the postcolonial elite to create strong centralised states by instituting, during the sixties and seventies, new instruments of dominion: the single party ethnocracy – whether by right or in fact – the ‘dictatorship of development’ or social development, by means of state capitalism and/or state socialism.
It was in this way that the new African leaders appropriated political and economic power and so became ‘new colonies’. The outcome has been a break between the state and society with different legitimacies.

Development in Africa
By maintaining the division of work established decades or centuries previously, the colonial pact remains in force, thanks to which the African continent occupies an important place in the world economy due to its raw materials and cheap labour.
Between 1960 and 1980, the developmentalist state, charged with the creation of the nation-state, considered the foundation of development, was instituted. The result was an investment in political and ideological aspects, to the detriment of economic development.

From 1980 to 2000, faced with the catastrophe generated by the previous model, a privatisation amendment was imposed – the Washington Consensus – which removed economic and social functions from the state, together with the conversion of the private sector and international trade into forces for development.
From the year 2000 until now, there has been an attempt to create a possible balance between the state and the market. The result has been an increase in internal and external deficits, structural unemployment and deterioration in the aspects of human development.

It is necessary to emphasise, during the six decades of independence, the lack of diversification in the African economies, de-industrialisation as well as little or no social investment, all factors that explain the persistence of underdevelopment in the continent.
In synthesis, we may explain poverty and underdevelopment in Africa as due to three combined crises: an organic crisis – the priority given to the construction of the nation or the nation-state to the detriment of other economic aspects; a structural crisis – continuing with colonial economies or with income based on raw materials or on mining; and an economic crisis – the consequences of the world crises due to the extreme vulnerability and extroversion of the African economies, apart from giving priority to a consumer society at the expense of a production society.It must be emphasised that for ten years African GDP has grown faster than that of the other continents, an average of circa 5%. But it is growth without development since it is based on economy rather than on structure.

At present, only eight countries are in a good economic situation: Botswana, Mauritius, The Seychelles, Kenya, South Africa, Namibia, Ghana and Ivory Coast. As the economist Carlos Lopes suggests, the development of Africa during the coming decades will take place within a synthesis of humanism, Pan Africanism, the combination of economic and social development and respect for the environment in opposition to the present ecocide model.
The coming decades should see the imposition of the democratisation of development whose axes will be the development ‘of the people’ – the promotion of human and social development, favouring education and health assistance; ‘with the people’ – promoting popular participation in favour of the majority; and ‘for the people’ – with a reduction of inequality and the promotion of social justice. Thus the conversion of the popular economy, whether social or assistential, which amounts to 40 to 50% of the GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa and 30% of that of North Africa, and 80% of jobs in many countries, into the development vector.

Mbuyi Kabunda

 

Photo Gallery – Snapshots from Africa

Advocacy

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Baobab

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Youth & Mission

Pope Leo and the Youth.

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