Month: July 2019

Uncategorized

Meet Godshelter Oluwalogbon who Sells Jollof Rice Outside the Nigerian Consulate in New York

By Nina Roberts

Parked in front of Manhattan’s Nigerian consulate, during a blizzard or heat wave, is the intrepid Divine Flavored Food Truck selling home-cooked Nigerian food. Customers line up at the window to order jollof rice with goat, gizzdodo (chicken gizzard with plantain cooked in fresh thyme and curry), or a pureed red bean called moimoi, among other traditional Nigerian dishes.

Continue reading “Meet Godshelter Oluwalogbon who Sells Jollof Rice Outside the Nigerian Consulate in New York” →
Policy

How bonds aimed at the diaspora can raise crucial funds for Africa

By Jay Benson

Nigeria’s first diaspora bond, issued in 2017, was a resounding success. It raised $300 million for investment in infrastructure from Nigerians overseas and was oversubscribed by 130%. The government is now reportedly planning a second similar offering.

As many African countries attempt to raise development finance, diaspora bonds – which resemble other kinds of bonds but are targeted at citizens abroad – are highly appealing.

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Uncategorized

Jerry Mpufane Joins South African Tourism North America as President

By Janeen Christoff

Well-known South African marketing and advertising executive, Jerry Mpufane has been appointed as the new president for South African Tourism North America.

Mpufane will be based at the organization’s New York office and will lead a dynamic team responsible for driving growth into South Africa from the USA and Canada.

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Uncategorized

Africa’s first black ‘Afronaut’, Mandla Maseko, dies in road accident before maiden mission

Mandla Maseko, a South African man who had won the opportunity to become the first black African to go into space, has died in a motorcycle crash. He was 30.

Continue reading “Africa’s first black ‘Afronaut’, Mandla Maseko, dies in road accident before maiden mission” →
Discussions

‘The new diaspora is riding on the sacrifices of the old diaspora,’ and other takeaways from a black leaders roundtable

By Valerie Russ

It was the evening before Independence Day, and about 40 black people whose families had come from around the globe gathered at S.A. Cafe in Upper Darby to talk about an independence of their own.

This was the first Diaspora Leaders Roundtable, sponsored by FunTimes magazine publisher Eric Nzeribe, for people of African descent — African-Americans, African immigrants, and African-Caribbeans — to talk about bridging cultural divides and building a future together.

Continue reading “‘The new diaspora is riding on the sacrifices of the old diaspora,’ and other takeaways from a black leaders roundtable” →
Uncategorized

Finger-lickin’ Ethiopian food at Queen of Sheba, New York

By Gabe Herman

Queen of Sheba has been serving Ethiopian food in Hell’s Kitchen for nearly two decades, and is still going strong with a wide array of tasty dishes from owner and chef Philipos Mengistu.

Before Mengistu moved to America in 1990 with dreams of opening an Ethiopian restaurant in New York City, he learned the craft in a restaurant that his parents ran in Addis Ababa.

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Uncategorized

Dillon shop brings Africa to Montana

By Annie Pentilla

African Oasis, an upscale curio shop and coffee and tea house in downtown Dillon, is a site that isn’t hard to miss. In the small ranching and agricultural community, the Idaho Street store certainly stands out, laden as it is with African art and the taxidermy busts of animals from the continent where human life is said to have its origins..

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Policy

America pledges an ‘unwavering’ commitment to higher education in Africa

By Edwin Naidu

Senior United States diplomat Tibor Nagy, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said his country is committed to strengthening ties on the African continent through stronger trade links and investment in higher education.

Nagy, the former vice-provost for international affairs at Texas Tech University in the US, spoke glowingly of the “enduring partnership between the United States and South Africa”.

Read more from source

African Politics, Policy

Economic ‘Game Changer’? African Leaders Launch Free-Trade Zone

By Boureima Balima

African leaders launched a continental free-trade zone on Sunday that if successful would unite 1.3 billion people, create a $3.4 trillion economic bloc and usher in a new era of development.

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Communities

Ethiopian culture celebrated at 10th annual festival in Burnaby

By Steve Saunders

It was a feast for the eyes and mouth as a Burnaby stadium was given some Ethiopian flair.Hundreds of people celebrated at the annual Ethiopian Summer Festival at Swangard Stadium Saturday.

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Uncategorized

Is This 19-Year-Old the Next Great Kenyan Runner?

Rhonex Kipruto has ran the fastest 10km on American soil and wowed his coaches and competitors. So what makes him stand out in a country ripe with running talent?

By Adharanand Finn

Identifying the next big running star in Kenya, from the country’s incredible wealth of raw, hungry talent, is no easy thing. But for coach Ian Kiprono, a then 15-year-old Rhonex Kipruto stood out even as a scrawny, barefoot kid in a cross-country race a few years ago.

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Uncategorized

Royal Air Maroc connects new England to Africa

By Iuliia Tore

Massport and Royal Air Maroc officials celebrated a new international service to Casablanca, Morocco, the first nonstop route from Boston Logan International Airport to mainland Africa. Boston is Royal Air Maroc’s fourth destination in the United States.

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Leadership

Mandela Washington Fellows make stop in Williamsburg, learn from local leaders


By SaraRose Martin

A group of 25 young Africans with passions for journalism, human rights, law, gender equality, peace and nonprofit work stayed in Williamsburg the past two weeks for an exchange of ideas on civic leadership.

They are part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders. The program that started in 2014 invites 700 leaders, ages 25-35 from 49 Sub-Saharan African countries to the United States each year.

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Education

Top American universities are doubling down on their presence across Africa

By Abdi Latif Dahir

Amid the rolling hills on the outskirts of Rwanda’s capital Kigali, the Carnegie Mellon University Africa’s new campus is a prominent feature on the lush landscape. The 6,000 square meters property is located within the Kigali Innovation City, a public-private partnership aimed at positioning Rwanda as a globally competitive and knowledge-based economy.

Since it’s establishment in 2011, CMU Africa has grown from a small graduate program attracting local applicants to becoming the only American research university with a full-time faculty and operations in Africa.

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Immigration

U.S. dream pulls African migrants in record numbers across Latin America

Marilyne Tatang, 23, crossed nine borders in two months to reach Mexico from the West African nation of Cameroon, fleeing political violence after police torched her house, she said.

She plans to soon take a bus north for four days and then cross a tenth border, into the United States. She is not alone – a record number of fellow Africans are flying to South America and then traversing thousands of miles of highway and a treacherous tropical rainforest to reach the United States.

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Leadership

Mandela Washington fellows from Africa sharpen leadership skills in Boise, Idaho

Doctors, lawyers and public servants from Africa are in the City of Trees for six weeks.

By Shirah Matsuzawa

BOISE, Idaho — What could be learned in Boise and brought back to Africa? Twenty-five young African leaders are in the City of Trees to find out.  They’re here as part of the U.S. State Department’s Mandela Washington Fellowship. 

The goal is to exchange ideas and perspectives with each other and Americans in hopes of taking that knowledge back home. The program began in 2014, but this is the first time fellows have come to Boise.

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Uncategorized

Candace Owens sparks twitter storm following remarks about Nigerian-Americans

by  Nurudeen Lawal –

American conservative commentator and political activist Candace Owens is known for her pro-Trump activism and her criticism of the Democratic Party. In a tweet that is trending on Twitter, Owens claimed that Nigerian-Americans are the most successful ethnic group in the United States; more successful than blacks of over-privileged America.

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She also asserted that the success achieved by Nigerians is because they are not exposed to the “Democrat parasite of victimhood!”

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Communities

‘We Are Americans’: Somali Refugee Family Reflects On Making A Life In The U.S.

By Josh Axelrod, Von Diaz, and Camila Kerwin

Facing persecution, violence, lack of health care and myriad other barriers to safety, millions of refugees leave home each year seeking a better life in a different country. As of 2017, more than 2 million Somalis have been displaced, in one of the world’s worst refugee crises, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Continue reading “‘We Are Americans’: Somali Refugee Family Reflects On Making A Life In The U.S.” →
Entertainment

Ghanaian stars, Amakye Dede, LilWin, Kurl Songx to tour the US

Abrantie Amakye Dede is billed to hold what is expected to be an explosive concert with his Apollo High Kings Band, Kurl Songx and comedian cum musician, Lil Win from July 20th to 1st September 2019 at a concert dubbed ‘Amakye Dede Live In Concert’ in the United Stage of America, (USA). 

Continue reading “Ghanaian stars, Amakye Dede, LilWin, Kurl Songx to tour the US” →
Communities

Ugandans in the diaspora told to unite

By Henry Sekanjako

Ugandans living in the diaspora have been implored to avoid divisions and work together for a better Uganda.

“We cannot liberate Uganda with a divided and disorganized diaspora. We are all for a better Uganda.

A United and organized diaspora community will have so much to offer for the motherland,” Eng. John Julius Muwulya, the Vice President of the Uganda North America Association (UNAA) said.

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Entertainment

Egyptian American, Rami Malek Reveals He Will Never Play The Role of an Arab Terrorist

The Mr Robot star, who received an Oscar earlier this year for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, admitted that he had to think twice before agreeing to take on his next role.

The actor, 38, who is of Egyptian ancestry, said that he needed a guarantee from the American film director Cary Fukunaga that his character would not be an Arabic-speaking terrorist. 

Continue reading “Egyptian American, Rami Malek Reveals He Will Never Play The Role of an Arab Terrorist” →
Communities

Samini To Thrill Fans at GhanaFest in Chicago

By Daily Guide

Samini has been invited to perform at this year’s edition of the Ghana Festival of Arts & Culture (GhanaFest), which is slated for July 27 & 28 at the Park 5600 Russel DR, Chicago IL in the United States of America (USA).

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Communities

Ghanaians with dual citizenship will soon be able to hold public office

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday opened the Ghana Diaspora Celebration and Third Homecoming Summit, with an assurance that the government would soon place before Parliament a bill that would allow Ghanaians with dual citizenship to hold public office.

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Opinion

Lazy people don’t immigrate; hopeful hard workers do


By Amgad Naguib

Earlier this year I was at my local gas station at 6 a.m. stocking up on caffeine for the daily commute. I joked with the young Ethiopian attendant about how haggard he looked and how happy he must be to get some rest after a graveyard shift.

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Trade

Egyptian exports to US up by 25.7 percent in 2018, CAPMAS

Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said on Wednesday that Egyptian exports to the United States during 2018 witnessed a 25.7 percent increase.

According to CAPMAS’ monthly bulletin, Egyptian exports to the United States during 2018 amounted to US$1.716 billion, compared to US$1.366 billion during 2017. The report noted that Egyptian exports to the US during the past year represent 5.9 percent of the country’s exports to the whole world.

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African Politics

How one former Minnesotan is modernizing government — in the Somali state of Puntland

By Ibrahim Hirsi

For the better part of the 2000s, Yasin Jama spent most of his free time with friends at Starbucks coffee shops in Minneapolis, contemplating what he could do for Somalia, especially the semi-autonomous northeastern state of Puntland from which he hails. At the time, Jama served as a medical laboratory technician for various hospitals — including HealthPartners, Park Nicollet Clinic and Fairview Hospital — in the Twin Cities metro area.

But what kept him up at night in those years wasn’t necessarily testing and recording blood samples. It was the urge to improve Puntland, which was founded in 1998 and has since enjoyed relative peace and tranquility, while also seeing dramatic economic growth, political development and waves of returnees from North America, Europe and Australia.

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Book review, Communities

Somali and American: Portrait of a Minnesota Community

By Aida Alami

Refugees often say that war feels like a wave of violence washing over them, leaving behind death and destruction. The feeling was no different for Katra Ali Hethar, who fled war-torn Somalia in 1991 with her nine small children.

Continue reading “Somali and American: Portrait of a Minnesota Community” →
Opinion

America’s Asylum System Is Profoundly Broken

Until the United States establishes and articulates clear rules, the crisis at the border will continue.

By David Frum

A 25-year-old man from El Salvador tried to swim with his daughter across the Rio Grande to Brownsville, Texas. Father and daughter were caught in the current, and drowned. Their bodies washed ashore on the Mexican side of the river, in an image that has seized the attention of the world.

Continue reading “America’s Asylum System Is Profoundly Broken” →
Music

Soweto Gospel Choir: Three Heavy Grammys And A World Singing Their Praise

Songs of the struggle and music steeped in South Africa’s apartheid past. The story of how the Soweto Gospel Choir captivated the world

By Motlabana Monnakgotla

Three Grammys in 12 years. And more global awards in their 17 years of existence. In February this year, at the 61st annual Grammy awards in Los Angeles, South Africa’s child and Africa’s pride, the Soweto Gospel Choir (SGC) walked up to the stage to a rousing ovation.

Continue reading “Soweto Gospel Choir: Three Heavy Grammys And A World Singing Their Praise” →
Communities

‘Because I love Somalia and because I love America’: Minnesota celebrates Somali Independence Day and Week

By Jim Walsh

Cheers erupted and hundreds of Somali flags cut through the humid Minnesota night, waving wildly as Walz read from his proclamation celebrating Somalia Independence Day and Week. Observed annually in Somalia on July 1, the date celebrates the unification of the Trust Territory of Somalia (the former Italian Somalia) and the State of Somalia (the former British Somaliland) on July 1, 1960, which formed the Somali Republic. 

Continue reading “‘Because I love Somalia and because I love America’: Minnesota celebrates Somali Independence Day and Week” →