Annansi Chronicles

Official trailer for Don Cheadale’s documentary Darfur Now.

• Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought Ethiopia. (Not the African country itself, but the island which represents Ethiopia in Dubai’s island phenomenon The World)
• American general seeks to play down fears over new Africa command. (Uhhh… sure. No worries.)
  
• Africa’s nuclear hopes. (Could this be the solution to the electricity shortages?)
  
• MTV begins Africa Music Awards (Viacom knows where the money is)
• More (RED)washing at The Gap (African charity still gets consumers in the retail door)
• Gucci’s African charity Indy bag drops (holidays + African charity = $$$$)
• India eyes Africa to meet rising energy needs (African’s need to refine and accelerate our business models)
• First black (Nigerian) mayor elected in Ireland (A Nigerian Irish mayor. Wow!)

As much as we hate to believe it, Africa is still the charity case of choice for celebrities looking to get public sympathy. Time and time again the African brand gives instant credibility and humanizes the privileged and their brand image. With every case in the news I am reminded of how much work we still have to do to get to a point where the African brand means more than charity. As serious as the work may be, humor is always welcome. (via AfricaBeat)

Slate posts a hilarious story on a Malawian family’s adoption of Britney Spears’ children. A must read!

“Los Angeles, where the Federline children have been living, is one of the richest cities in the world, trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of depravity, narcissism, and veganism. Nearly 27 percent of the children in Los Angeles suffer the misfortune of having celebrity parents. Mr. and Mrs. M were stunned by the deplorable conditions these victims live in. Children are subject to verbal abuse via cell phone, and babies are dangled over balcony railings. “Fathers kill mothers, and then put out badly written books about it,” Mr. M said. “And the names these children must bear,” said Mrs. M. “Apple, Fifi Trixibell, Fuchsia, Moxie CrimeFighter, Pilot Inspektor, Sage Moonblood—what kind of future can these poor children have?” - Slate.com

Thanks to Afromusing for the link.

MORE>>

• Fall Out Boy head to Africa….Uganda really (What’s a rock band’s image without an African charity connection. Shout out to director extraordinaire Alan Ferguson) )
  
• Clint Eastwood will direct Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon in a new Nelson Mandela movie “The Human Factor” (The Hollywood/Africa trend grows. They should expect a call from some concerned Africans real soon.)
• Facebook is the new office fashion in Kenya (Rupert Murdoch needs to get the Myspace/Wall Street Journal thing sorted out fast)
• Actress Mary-Louise Parker adopts a child from Africa (Can all these African childrens’ biological families get visitation visas now?)

The 4th edition of the The Carnival of African Enterprising has launched at Nii Simmonds’ Nubian Cheetah blog. As with the previous 3 installments of ideas, this edition highlights some of the best posts from the African business/entrepreneurship blogosphere. I’m happy to see that as the carnival continues, there are new names and perspectives being added. This edition covers Blogging Trade & Investment Forums, Business in Africa, Entrepreneurship in Africa with posts on:

• TED Global 2007: Afterglow (David McQueen)
• Idea Exchange: sponsors & links (Bankelele)
• TED Global, Africa: The Next Chapter (Jen Brea)
• Vote to add Africa 2.0 panel to SXSW festival schedule (G. Kofi Annan)
• IBM Thinks Africa (Benin Mwangi)
• Hear IBM Vice President’s view on Africa’s present market opportunities (African Path)
• Kenyans in the Diaspora Conference Final Thoughts (Joshua Wanyama)
• Planting Seeds: TED Global (Emeka)
• The Power of a TED Talk (Erik Hersman)
• Tanzania diminishes chances of regional integration (Ken Teyie)
• In the media: Khartoum, the Dubai of Africa (Africaincorp)
• Want Financial Freedom? Start your Own Fashion Business (Uduak Oduok)
• Ideas to grow the informal sector in Africa (Nii Simmonds)

If there was any doubt about how ineffective and out of touch old-world charity organizations have become when it comes to Africa(ns), here is an example. UNICEF Germany put time, effort and valuable resources into producing this recent ad campaign which “shows four German kids who appeal for solidarity with their contemporaries in Afrika”. In an attempt at drawing a familiarity between German and African children on the topic of education Jung von Matt/Alster - UNICEF’s ad agency - came up with the brilliant idea of showing typical German children with mud spread across their faces. Taglines for the ads include: “In Africa, many kids would be glad to worry about school”, “Some teachers suck. No teachers sucks even more”, “In Africa, kids don’t come to school late, but not at all”, and my personal favorite “I’m waiting for my last day in school, the children in Africa are still waiting for their first one”.

Needless to say, the ads have caused a lot of controversy. When “help” efforts like UNICEF’s and the eerily similar Giorgio Armani’s Kate Moss cover are so off mark, you know there is a serious need for African intervention at the planning stages. Someone tell these guys to give me a call before they embarrass themselves further and continue to lose money.

If ideas are capital, why is Africa investing more on things than on information, and more on the military than on education? Suddenly, I realized what this idea could mean for Africa. If the pen is mightier than the sword, why does a general earn more than the work of a hundred writers combined? If ideas are indeed capital, then Africa should stem its brain drain and promote the African Renaissance, which will lead to the rebirth of the continent. After all, a renaissance is a rebirth of ideas. And knowledge and ideas are the engines that drive economic growth.

From Philip Emeagwali’s speech delivered at the University of Alberta, Canada, September 23, 2006 (read more)