Over last weekend, my research associate, Asch Harwood, and I visited two of South Africa’s best known apartheid museums, the Apartheid Museum, between Johannesburg and Soweto, and the Hector Pieterson Museum in Soweto itself. The first, by far the largest, seeks to provide a comprehensive overview of apartheid, including its roots in the practice of racial segregation and exploitation going back hundreds of years. The second is more specifically focused on the 1976 Soweto student uprising against an attempt to force Afrikaans as the language of instruction in public schools. (Hector Pieterson was a twelve-year-old demonstrator who was killed.) For an institution of such serious purpose, the location of the Apartheid Museum is quixotic: it is adjacent to an amusement park and hotel and across the street from a gambling casino. Read more »

When a measure of economic stability returned to Zimbabwe, South Africa dismantled its special treatment regimes for refugees from that country. It now requires entry permits, work permits, and imposes other requirements which, according to a human rights NGO, are consistent with international practice. However, xenophobia remains in job-starved South Africa, and the under-trained and poorly paid police often have been unduly rough with Zimbabweans. Read more »

Nigeria, South Africa, and Angola are supporting the candidacy of Nigeria’s foreign minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, for the World Bank (WB) presidency. For that office, President Obama has nominated the president of Dartmouth and a medical doctor, Jim Yong Kim, who has a distinguished background in development — but not in business, finance or politics, as his predecessors have had. Read more »

This is a guest post by Jim Sanders, a career, now retired, West Africa watcher for various federal agencies. The views expressed below are his personal views and do not reflect those of his former employers.

The putsch is being reported as a coup by lower-ranking officers and senior people have reportedly been arrested in Gao. Apparently, the action was engendered by soldiers’ dissatisfaction with the level of support from the government in fighting the Tuareg insurgency. Insurgents are reportedly thrilled by events, which they feel will make it easier for them to move ahead and take more towns in the North. Read more »

A week following the dark news of a military coup in Mali, Senegal’s presidential runoff is profoundly encouraging for African democrats. Incumbent president Abdoulaye Wade has conceded to, and congratulated, opposition candidate Macky Sall following the March 25 presidential runoff. The press reports that the elections were calm. Though election observers have yet to comment, based on press reports their findings are likely to be favorable. Read more »

Initially facilitated by a journalist, talks between the Supreme Council for Sharia, on behalf of the Abuja government, and Boko Haram, the radical Islamic movement held responsible for a campaign of terror in northern Nigeria, have broken down. A Boko Haram spokesman attributed the breakdown to “insincerity” on the part of the government, while one for the Sharia Council complained about leaks. Read more »

In a previous blog, I stated that the date of Senegal’s presidential runoff would be Sunday, March 18. This is only partially incorrect; civilians will vote on March 25. Read more »

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams’ departure at the end of the year as leader of the Church of England and Anglican churches around the world brings to mind the growing importance of Africans in the Anglican Communion and the other “mainstream” churches, particularly as African Anglicans are exploding in numbers. Read more »

Press reports indicate that President Robert Mugabe has decided to press ahead for elections this year, despite the lack of a new constitution and other reforms designed to forestall a repetition of the electoral violence of 2007. The opposition Movement for Democratic change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai, remains opposed to pre-new constitution elections as does South Africa and much of the international community. Read more »

This is a guest post by Jim Sanders, a career, now retired, West Africa watcher for various federal agencies. The views expressed below are his personal views and do not reflect those of his former employers.

Nigeria’s struggle against corruption is moving slowly, at least in terms of results. Transparency International’s “Corruption Perception Index 2011″, which evaluates 183 countries, put Nigeria at 143. The country ranked 134 out of 178 countries in 2010. Read more »