Education in a Multicultural Society

"Africa’s most advanced economy has threatened to regress this past fortnight as rolling blackouts kept the country in the dark. The blackouts are scheduled and limited, affecting different areas at different times, in a process meant to convey some sort of stability, even as the national grid flounders. These organized power cuts are known as “loadshedding,” a term coined by the failing national power supplier itself."

"In Nigeria, an almost two-year recession brought on by disrupted oil output and a crash in commodity prices, led Africa’s largest economy into a period of intense self-analysis. The oil growth that Nigeria enjoyed between 2011 and 2015 was exposed as a poisoned chalice and diversification became a rallying cry."

"This report documents the progress South Africa has made in reducing poverty and inequality since the end of apartheid in 1994, with a focus on the period between 2006 and 2015."

"UNICEF estimates that Nigeria has 10.5 million children of school age who do not get into school at all, the highest in the world."

"Accra’s gutters are persistently clogged, despite pressure on government and promises in return. A common complaint through the city is that when people clean out the gutters, waste will sit in a pile nearby and eventually find its way back. Piles of rubbish sit on street corners, picked on by birds. After a storm, plastic bottles washed out with the rain return to line the beaches."

"The UK will pay up to £700,000 ($967,954) to build a new 112-bed wing at Kirikiri maximum security prisons, one of Nigeria’s largest. Boris Johnson, UK’s foreign secretary says sponsoring the prison will allow for some of the over 320 Nigerian inmates currently serving time in the UK to complete their sentences in Nigeria—in line with a 2014 prisoner transfer agreement between both countries."

"The country’s current debate over land expropriation without compensation, which has now been endorsed by Parliament, is important. Not because, as some fear, it will radically change the constitution. Rather, it tells South Africans how, in the economy and other spheres, the country deals with its minority ruled past: by crisis followed by compromise."

"The types of white collar crimes in South Africa are indicative of the kind of corruption that’s been a blight on the economy and damaged the country’s reputation. Asset misappropriation was the most prevalent, followed by fraud committed by consumers and procurement fraud."

"Botswana, however, has become a safe haven for the world’s largest land mammals. “Elephants are using well-known migratory routes into Botswana to flee threats from neighboring countries,” says Mark Hiley, cofounder of the UK-based nonprofit National Park Rescue. “The systematic movement of elephants into Botswana is linked to their survival.”

"In 2017, overall removals by ICE dropped from 240,255 to 26,119, but the removal of African migrants went up - in some cases, more than doubling. Despite a six percent drop in overall removals, there was a significant rise in removal of migrants from countries as Gambia, Niger, and Senegal."

"A new Afrobarometer survey of respondents in 34 African countries shows that 36% of Africans are more likely to move to another country within the continent. The trend noted in the report is also backed by reality as only 20% of African migrants who decide to emigrate from their countries actually leave the continent, according to the African Union. "

"Ezekiel is one of the thousands of comfortably middle-class Nigerians looking to uproot their families and plant them across the Atlantic. For many, that desire is borne out of growing frustrations with living in a country where basic amenities can often be a luxury despite the trappings of a middle-class life."

"More than half of the population already lives in poverty, and a further 27% of the population live in a state of susceptibility to poverty. These 27% are referred to as the transient poor by the World Bank in it’s report “Overcoming poverty and inequality in South Africa.” On the other hand 20% of the country can be considered middle class, while only 4% of the country is considered elite. In comparison, Mauritius’ middle class is nearly 80% of the population."

"The United States is worried about China’s engagement in Africa, and how it is jockeying to spread its diplomatic, military and trade influence across the continent. That much is evident from comments of top US officials, who have recently stated that China’s financing of roads and bridges “comes at a price,” and that it’s new base in Djibouti on the strategic Gulf of Aden corridor is aimed at asserting “power over world trade.”

"Big Tobacco’s fastest growing markets are in Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean where regulations are lax and populations are growing, according to the latest edition of the Tobacco Atlas."

"Data focused on the African continent is not as readily available, but what exists is alarming. Recent research by the Confederation of Tanzania Industries estimates that over 50% of all goods, including food, drugs and construction materials, imported into Tanzania are fake. Anecdotal evidence suggests that rates could be between 10% and 50%, depending on the food category and the country." 

"A majority of those leaving is forced out by conflicts, leaving their homes in countries such as South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan. Many of them are also children and women, who are fleeing inter-communal violence, economic decline, disease, and hunger. But some people are also moving from peaceful and economically stable countries too, like Namibia (190,000), Botswana (80,000) and Sao Tome & Principe (80,000)."

"The 13-minute long skit opens with dozens of African performers, alongside antelopes and a lion, dancing to the tune of Shakira’s “Waka Waka”, all rejoicing over the opening of the China-built Nairobi to Mombasa Railway. They are joined by a group of Kenyan train attendants and the female lead, a Gabonese actress speaking fluent Mandarin."

"lack of infrastructure, good road networks, internet service penetration and a lack of urban planning that is peculiar to Nigeria has made the distribution of ATMs a goal that might be unattainable. But as Nigeria is a capitalist society, its loopholes and distribution problems that make for new business opportunities."

"Evidence suggests that more than half of primary school students in Nairobi attend private schools. This is despite the fact that 15 years ago the government implemented a free primary education programme. So why do poor parents, struggling to support their families, elect to pay school fees when they could send their children to school without paying fees?"