How the Pandemic Is Reshaping Africa

In the past decade, tech clusters have sprung up in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and elsewhere, despite ongoing teething problems around funding and country regulations. Startups are now innovating to cushion effects of the pandemic on their countrymen. M-Pesa, the mobile money platform immensely popular in Kenya and Tanzania, lowered transfer fees and increased transaction limits for users; other innovators are working around the clock to introduce lightbulb solutions for these dark times.

2. The Bow Tie Revolution

Last month, an independent panel cleared African Development Bank (AfDB) chief Akinwumi Adesina of charges of nepotism and cronyism by whistleblowers. The outspoken 60-year-old former agriculture minister is widely seen as a hard worker and an opponent of Western imperialist control — and it was powers in the U.S. and Europe that called for the external review. But with his previously spotless image now stained, even with the renewed clean bill of health, Adesina will have to tighten his trademark bow ties and charm his way to a second five-year term this month.

As the head of Tunisia’s first licensed tattoo studio, Fawez Zahmoul is breathing new life into the Arab world’s tattoo scene, helping normalize an art form often associated with criminals — and one that was illegal for generations. Now his school is training the next generation of tattoo artists. Meanwhile, over in Egypt, halal tattoos are taking off in the conservative society.

4. A Franc Evaluation

Eight Francophone West Africa nations are preparing to hijack plans of their larger regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States, and adopt a single currency. But they should beware what’s happening next door. The Central Africa franc — used by six countries — has been burned by the economic fallout of COVID-19, and despite injecting liquidity to the tune of billions and lowering policy rates, the central bank governor has been accused of a delay in responding to the pandemic. Now he must decide whether a devaluation is in the cards or not.

5. Shuttering Shoprite

The South African grocery retail chain — Africa’s biggest — is in talks with interested investors to exit Nigeria. Disposable income has fallen due to fiscal policy missteps and the 2016–17 recession, the first in a generation for Africa’s largest economy. With another looming recession, Shoprite is cutting its losses. So too is Mr Price, a South African discount fashion store.

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Some of the biggest cheerleaders for Brexit can be found in the South African cricket community. That’s because an obscure European Union ruling effectively blocked top cricketers who had signed on to play in Europe from competing for their home nations. This mostly affects top South Africans competing in England — and will no longer be an impediment once England is out of the EU. It means a nation that crashed out early from the cricket World Cup last year could have a lot more to cheer about.

2. Basketball Business

Sierra Leonean-American investment banker Victor Williams was recently plucked from his position as Africa head of corporate and investment banking at Standard Bank Group to head the 12-club NBA Africa league. The Harvard alumnus, who also has experience at Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs, will now “oversee the league’s basketball and business development initiatives in Africa” in the Johannesburg-based role. Given the league’s ongoing friction with China, Africa offers a tempting market.

3. Soccer Stagnation

In Europe, soccer leagues that reopened after a pause due to the pandemic are concluding business for the season. But proceedings have yet to resume in the significantly less-funded African leagues, and now experts fear they may never do so given the astronomical costs of complying with health regulations. And the continued disruption could result in staggering losses for the leagues, says Nigerian sports broadcaster Deji Omotoyinbo.

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1. COVID-19 Is the New Cancer

The pandemic has not respected age or social status and some of Africa’s political leaders have fallen. The two most high-profile deaths have been Burundian dictator Pierre Nkurunziza and Amadou Coulibaly, prime minister of Côte d'Ivoire. In Nigeria, Abba Kyari, the influential chief of staff to the president, and Buruji Kashamu, the senator who evaded the FBI for years and whose drug-dealing ways inspired Orange Is the New Black, have also passed away.

2. Human Rights Go MIA

Old Robert Mugabe may be dead and gone, but in Zimbabwe, his former comrades are keeping the tradition of human rights abuses alive. His successor, Emmerson “Crocodile” Mnangagwa, is blaming “dark forces” for the chaos, including “divisive falsehoods and concoctions by renegades and supremacists.” Meanwhile, a portion of a speech by South African demagogue politician Julius Malema referring to Mnangagwa as a pig eating his compatriots has been juxtaposed on a catchy house instrumental. Here’s the meme starring the septuagenarian president’s dance moves.

George Weah’s rocky time as president of Liberia continues to hit new lows. Through two years, the soccer legend’s government has detained critics and is struggling with a dwindling economy and persistent allegations of nepotism. This week, Weah set up a committee to probe a major scandal — allegedly falsified COVID-19 test reports at the National Public Health Institute. It is a far cry from the mid-1970s, when Liberia had one of the best African health care systems and was paradise for African American activists. Soul singer Nina Simone felt so welcome that she shed her sorrows and then her dress one night at a discotheque.

Beyoncé’s new visual album has been attracting controversy for, among other things, its Wakanda-esque depiction of the continent and its residents. But there have been far fewer complaints about the music curation for the project, which brings together bass-thumping and heavy percussive West African sounds and groovy minimalist South African house — which outsiders often lump together under the same Afrobeats genre. If you want to learn more about the thinking behind it, this Ghanaian producer worked on the album and has his sights trained on scoring a Black Panther movie in the future, allowing an African to curate a Western perspective of the continent for a change.

2. An Eazi Ecosystem

Another collaborator on the Beyoncé album, Mr. Eazi has launched a $20 million fund alongside a music distribution system to help fellow African acts expand their catalog. An entrepreneur before he became a musician, Eazi is aiming to diversify the African music ecosystem from within. Last year, he organized a boot-camp accelerator program for up-and-comers across Africa, with mentors like Major Lazer’s Diplo, to bring along new talent to follow in his footsteps and that of his protégé Joeboy — 2019’s breakout star on the continent.

Renowned among Francophone and Lusophone audiences, jazz singer Mayra Andrade is embracing a new sound — Afrobeats — helping her break out as an international star. In the process, she’s lifting up the impoverished but idyllic country of Cape Verde as one of the most prominent members of its strong diaspora.

4. A New Hand in the Cookie Jar

In July, Def Jam Africa announced an expansion into French-speaking parts of the continent, starting with Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon. In the past few years, music executives have begun a new scramble for Africa, and this move comes just a month after the Universal Music subsidiary launched operations in Johannesburg and Lagos to scout new and established hip-hop talent.