Month: January 2020

Donald Trump targeting of Nigeria: Is it really about terrorist problem or is America fearful of Africa’s first superpower emerging?

by Darius Shahtahmasebi

The US is punishing Nigeria amid a current humanitarian crisis where the West African nation is grappling with a violent terrorist problem in the form of Boko Haram; a terrorist entity that the US indirectly helped rise to power.

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Nigeria most hit by Trump’s new visa ban on four African countries

By Yomi Kazeem

The Trump administration’s controversial visa and travel bans has now been extended to include four more African countries.

The new restrictions will see the United States no longer issue immigrant visas that offer a path to permanent residency, and possibly citizenship, to nationals of Nigeria and Eritrea, US officials have confirmed.

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South Sudanese refugee turns harrowing experience into remarkable new video game in America

After 22 years in a refugee camp, Lual Mayen has designed a game to share his epic journey with the world.

By Anthony DiFlorio/Video by Danny Welch

Lual Mayen was 14 years old before he even saw a computer for the first time.

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African Chop: Eclectic Instapot of Flavors in Los Angeles

by Lena Nozizwe

Food is so ingrained into the culture of Cameroon that even the West African country’s name, camarão, means shrimp in Portuguese. Throw in some 250 ethnic groups and the influences of colonization by Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Add the Portuguese explorers who named the country after a crustacean and you get an eclectic Instapot of flavors. Flavors served up in African Chop, as far as I can tell the only sub-Saharan African food truck in Los Angeles, California.

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Where to find pepper soup, suya, jollof rice, and more in Houston, Texas

by Sonia Chopra

Houston is often called the most diverse city in America, and the influence of immigrant communities has a huge impact on its food. In Houston, most of the West African population is Nigerian, but people, and ingredients, from Senegal, Liberia, Ghana, and other countries in the region also continue to make their mark on the local food scene. Popular dishes found in Houston range from suya and jollof rice to peanut soup and plenty of other stews.

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Angélique Kidjo Wins Best World Music Album For ‘Celia’ at 2020 GRAMMYs

Angélique Kidjo won Best World Music Album for Celia at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards. This marks her fourth win in the category and fourth GRAMMY win overall. 

During her acceptance speech, Kidjo celebrated a new generation of African artists coming up to represent the continent while thanking luminaries who came before her for their contriutions to world music, including Celia Cruz.

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Kenyan-born MSNBC news anchor Ali Velshi who is making waves in America.

By DERRICK OKUBASU | Kenyans.co.ke

Kenyan-born news anchor Ali Velshi who was born in Nairobi in 1969 before his family moved to Canada in 1971 has worked diligently and climbed the corporate ladder to host his own show on MSNBC called Velshi & Ruhle, complete with an office on the esteemed NBC headquarters in New York.

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Educational Institutions Across United States to Host Mandela Washington Fellows

Launched in 2014, the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) and embodies the United States’ commitment to invest in the future of Africa.  YALI was created in 2010 and is celebrating its 10th anniversary supporting young Africans as they spur economic growth and prosperity, strengthen democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across Africa.  Since 2014, nearly 4,400 young leaders from every country in Sub-Saharan Africa have participated in the Mandela Washington Fellowship.

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Burna Boy’s Grammy Loss Shows The Issues With The World Music Category JANUARY 29, 2020

JONITA SINGH

In less than a year, Nigerian superstar Burna Boy parlayed a quip at Coachella into a critically-acclaimed, record-breaking Grammy-nominated album, African Giant.

Burna Boy, née Damini Ogulu, has experienced an ascension that has been less meteoric and more piecemeal — marked by defining deterrents and gradual wins. His Best World Music Album Grammy nomination comes at no surprise to the fans and onlookers who have been following the 28-year-old afro-fusion artist’s rise over the better half of a decade. This development in the Afropop protagonist’s career represents the climax in a coming-of-age success story of one of Africa’s most successful artists of today.

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Kenyan Themed Restaurant Overwhelming US Capital


By EZRA MANYIBE

Located at the heart of Washington, District of Columbia, USA is a restaurant, Safari DC famed for the Kenyan cuisines it dishes out and is the only Kenyan themed eatery in Washington DC.

The restaurant has hosted a number of prominent persons from Kenya when they made their trips abroad, most notably President Mwai Kibaki, ODM leader Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Keneth Matiba, and Mama Sarah Odinga the Standard reported.

Many people that have visited the restaurant, shower it with praise stating that it gave them a taste of Africa and the zeal of African food. It has established itself as a fan favorite among Kenyans and Africans in the larger DC metro area.


“Once you walk in here, you are an African and we love to eat, talk politics and interact with each other,” Everitus Kalaba then a Consular official from Zambia described the restaurant.

The restaurant was founded by William Mukabane and his wife Alice. Coincidentally, Mukabane left for the US to pursue the American dream the same day President Jomo Kenyatta passed on, August 1978.

After doing manual jobs at various restaurants, he pursued hotel Management and classical french cuisine, served as a chef and later branched out to start the restaurant.

A yearn for Kenyan food ignited the desire to establish a restaurant majoring in African delicacies.

Talks of the restaurant as an authentic Kenyan cuisine joint attracted people across Washington DC, inking its name among fan favourites.

A corner of the restaurant is dedicated to US’s 44th President Barack Obama and was christened the Obama shrine.

During Obama’s inauguration, it hosted his grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama and several Kenyan dignitaries who were set to attend the function.

A section of Safari DC, a Kenyan-themed restaurant in Washington DC.
A section of Safari DC, a Kenyan-themed restaurant in Washington DC.
She came in at around 10 am and left at 3 pm. I treated them to Tilapia, Samosas, Kenyan sausages, chapatis, nyama choma,” Alice recounted.

The hotel features cuisines such as grilled meat, staples such as collard greens, cassava, and grains.

In 2017, the restaurant was acquired by David Laichena, a Kenyan, and he along with his partner continued the Kenyan theme for the restaurant.

According to American publication Petworth news, some of the chefs at the restaurant are Kenyans. And Laichena constantly liaises with the Kenyan embassy to import Kenyan chefs for the restaurant.

For its African dominated menu, the restaurant imports a majority of the foods from Kenya. Kenyan tea including spiced masala tea, Arabica coffee from Kenya, Tilapia from lake victoria, Farmer’s choice pork sausages.

The soothing Kenyan music that plays in the background adds to the African experience the restaurant’s clientele seeks.

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