A year of blogging…

I began this blog just over a year ago. I had just left The Independent to start working on a book about African football and wanted an outlet to occasionally vent, make the odd witty remark, or post a bit of analysis.

The book is now all but finished – available in good bookshops (and bad) in May – and I’m now trying to work out what to do next. I’ll carry on writing for Monocle and in the run up to the World Cup I’ll be writing and talking about African football to a rather unhealthy degree. After that, who knows? I think I’ll carry on blogging though. Whether it’s getting into a transatlantic row over Darfur or discovering I’m not the only one that finds Nairobi’s traffic jams interesting, I’ve rather enjoyed it.

So for all those who have read and commented over the past year, thank you. The site is going though a slight redesign to make it look a bit nicer but other than that nothing much will change. I’ll still post irregularly, I’ll still make hypocritical comments about bad journalism, and I’ll still use the same title which one reader in Sierra Leone correctly charactised as “a bit wanky”.

Cheers,

Steve

Football needs to tackle its stereotyping

It has already begun. Within minutes of the World Cup draw on Friday, Sky News reporters were commenting on how fortunate England were not to be playing in crime-ridden Johannesburg. The Times took up the same theme yesterday, warning that British tour operators would offer armed guards for fans travelling to World Cup matches. A German security firm has already advised their national team to wear flak jackets whenever they step outside their hotel.

South Africa has one of the highest crimes rates in the world, but it also attracts nine million tourists a year. Every major city in the world has places you wouldn’t recommend visitors go to after dark. South Africa has successfully held cricket and rugby world cups and is currently hosting the England cricket team. Are any of the Barmy Army protected by armed guards? Is Andrew Strauss holed up in his hotel room, refusing to come out without a flak jacket?

From my column in today’s Independent on Sunday. The rest is here.

The rebel tourists

In the street cafés of Asmara, which serve some of the best macchiatos and cappuccinos outside Italy, opposition politicians and rebel leaders gather to discuss how they are going to overthrow the government.

Eritrea is one of Africa’s most repressive countries, a place where dissent is stifled and those who speak out are swiftly arrested. But these rebels are free to plot because they are planning to oust the rulers in Eritrea’s neighbours.

The start of my latest Monocle column from my recent trip to Eritrea. The rest is here.

I have wanted to go to Eritrea ever since I moved to East Africa in 2006 but a combination of factors – partly the reluctance of the Eritrean authorities to grant me a visa – meant I had to wait three and a half years. It was well worth it. In a week-long trip I saw some of the most amazing architecture Africa has to offer, heard numerous harrowing tales of young people trapped in never-ending national service, and was accused of being a spy for MI5 during a two and a half hour-long interview with the president. An interview which, like all interviews with foreign journalists, was broadcast on Eri-TV.

I will blog more about Eritrea when the main article for Monocle appears in the magazine early next year.

Defining famine

I’m confused. According to The Times there is a famine in Ethiopia which the government is trying to cover up. The Independent on Sunday also thinks there’s a famine. Its sister paper, the Independent, isn’t so sure. And while the Times’ headline may have used the f-word, there is no trace of it in the article itself.

On his Aid Watch blog (which occasionally gets a little smug but is usually pretty good), Bill Easterly bemoans the famine troika of exaggerating NGOs, defensive governments and credulous media which makes it “tragically difficult to know when tragedy is happening”.

The credulous media is the biggest problem. They (we) are the guide which is supposed to tell us whether the NGOs are exaggerating or the governments are lying. But how many journalists writing about famine know what a famine actually is? As Easterly points out, the media is often “unable to handle subtleties like chronic food insecurity and chronic malnutrition vs. emergency famine.”

But it’s not that hard. The Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit in Nairobi tracks food availability in Somalia. In its recent report on the 2009 Gu rains (or lack of) the FSNAU includes a definition of the five stages of food security from 1 (Generally Food Secure) to 5 (Famine / Humanitarian Catastrophe). Here’s what phase five means:

So if an NGO claims there is a famine, ask them: what is the crude mortality rate? What is the level of acute malnutrition? What availability is there to food and water? Then compare it to the definitions.

Famine has a specific meaning. It is not a shorthand for “hungry people in Africa”.

Africa and stereotypes

Three examples of crass stereotyping of Africa from the last two days:

One: Twitter decides to commemorate World Aids Day by turning every tweet about Africa red. Because AIDS equals Africa, see?

Two: The BBC wonders whether an African team can win next year’s World Cup. And how do they choose to decsribe Africa? “The world’s poorest and most underdeveloped land”

Three: In a piece commemorating the 25th anniversary of Bob Geldof saving Africa launching Band Aid, the Independent’s Paul Vallely describes how Band Aid raised £100m for “the stricken people of Africa”. No, it was for the stricken people in the Ethiopian highlands.

All hail Africa’s newest anti-corruption czar

Angola’s president, Jose Eduardo dos Santos, has called for a crackdown on government corruption:

“Irresponsible people, people of bad faith, have taken advantage… to squander resources and to carry out illicit and even damaging and fraudulent acts of management.”

One of his first tasks will be to recover the $56 million placed in an offshore account belonging to a Mr Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Luanda, Angola.

He may also want to look into the ‘Angolagate’ scandal. Court papers revealed that a man known as “Jose Eduardo dos Santos” was among those who received millions of dollars in bribes.

While he’s at it he should probably investigate how $1bn a year of Angola’s oil money has gone missing every year since 1996. He should start by asking the man who was president during that time where all the money went.

The name escapes me, but I’m sure he’s not too hard to track down.

Funding terrorists to fight hunger: bad; Funding terrorists to fight terrorists: good

The US is currently refusing to fund life-saving aid in Somalia because it believes some of the food will be diverted to Al Shabaab. At a time when half the population in Somalia is in need of aid, 40m pounds of food is sitting in a warehouse in Mombasa while US and UN officials try to work out new protocols which would include:

“…demanding that aid transporters not pay fees at roadblocks, which are ubiquitous and virtually unavoidable in a nation widely considered a case study in chaos.”

The US government is being idiotic. Dangerously idiotic. Al Shabaab control most of the areas where aid is needed most. Either you strike deals with local commanders to let the aid through and thus save lives or you let people die. It’s not perfect, no, but let’s go over that other option again: LET PEOPLE DIE.

So it was with some interest that I read this story in today’s Guardian:

Something tells me this might be brought up by UN OCHA officials at their next meeting with their US counterparts.

 

Smoking in Cairo

The immigration official who stamped by passport was smoking. The two policemen standing near the immigration counter were smoking. The porter who tried to carry my bag was smoking. The woman who organised my taxi was smoking. The taxi driver offered me a cigarette and seemed upset when I refused.

A big ‘no smoking’ sign, about five-foot wide, greeted me as I stepped off the plane. I don’t think the message has got through yet.

 

Africa’s football crown to be won by mediocre players

The football champions of Africa will be crowned tomorrow as the Democratic Republic of Congo’s TP Mazembe take on Heartland of Nigeria in the final of the African Champions League. But what should be a showcase of the best football Africa has to offer will serve only as a reminder of the challenges the sport faces here. For the players on the pitch, the Champions League trophy is irrelevant. They will be playing for a much bigger prize – the possibility of a move to Europe.

As the continent prepares to welcome the world’s best footballers to next year’s World Cup in South Africa, the local game is suffering. The vast majority of Africa’s best footballers play their club football in Europe. So do a lot of the mediocre ones. The money is far better and the chances of eventually playing for the national team also far greater.

The exodus of African footballers to Europe has had a terrible effect on the local leagues. In Senegal, officials estimate that 80 Senegalese footballers now ply their trade in France and Belgium. Hundreds of Nigerians are believed to be playing in leagues across Europe and Asia. Those that remain are nowhere near as good.

As the standard of football in African leagues decreases, interest from fans has begun to dry up. Satellite coverage of European leagues, particularly the English premier league, has also had an effect on crowds. African leagues that schedule matches at the same time as an English premier league fixture can find just a few hundred people in the stands.

From my latest column in Monocle. The rest is here.

Pirate PR

No story about Somali pirates is complete without a suitably bloodcurdling quote from a cutlass-wielding Jack Sparrow wannabe. Luckily for journalists there are plenty of Somalis willing to pretend to be pirates spokesmen for us to choose from.

Following the kidnapping of Paul and Rachel Chandler, a British couple sailing from Seychelles to Tanzania, the pirate PRs have been out in force. By my count 11 people has so far claimed to be spokesmen for the pirates and had their quotes faithfully recorded in the western media.

Here’s your rundown of pirate spokesmen. Must rush, I’m waiting on a call from a pirate spokesman who goes by the name Abu Sharati.

Nor Abdiwali in The Independent

“Anyone who tries [a] rescue will kill the ones they want to rescue,” said Nor Abdiwali, who claims to be the commander of the group holding the Chandlers, in an interview with The Independent yesterday. “Our guns will randomly exterminate them. We are not afraid and we [have] kept them in a safe place,” he added.

Mohamed Shakir in The Independent

According to one report a “pirate leader” called Mohamed Shakir called from Haradheere to say: “We have captured two old British people, a man and a woman in the Indian Ocean. They were on a small boat that we have hijacked. The people are healthy and they are in our hands.”

Abdinor in The Guardian

A spokesman for the pirates, who identified himself only by his first name, Abdinor, said the couple would be moved to a ship anchored off the coast of Somalia. He said it would be safer for the couple to be kept on a ship with other hostages.

Hassan in The Times

A pirate called Hassan said: “We warn them any attack on us, this is a good advice for them, otherwise they will burn their two people’s bones. If warships surround us, we shall point our guns at the British tourists. They are old and we will take care of them — that is if we are not attacked.”

Red Teeth in The New York Times

A Somali pirate boss named Red Teeth said Saturday that his gang of pirates had whisked the British couple kidnapped at sea last month to a lair on shore, and apparently the pirates have begun bickering among themselves about what to do next.

Farah Siad in The Daily Telegraph

A spokesman for the pirates told The Daily Telegraph that the couple are unharmed and promised to treat them well unless a military rescue operation was launched. Farah Siad, speaking from the pirate stronghold of Harardhere town, Somalia, said: “This message should be heard by Britain, we will do many harmful things to them if rescue attempts take place.”

Warmoge in The Sunday Times

“We can defend ourselves and, if there is an attack on us, the captives will die before us,” said Warmoge, a pirate who was in the group that captured Paul, a structural engineer, and Rachel, an economist.

Ahmed Gadaf in The Sunday Times

Yesterday Ahmed Gadaf, who claimed to speak for the gang, accused western vessels of “harassing local fishermen and destroying their nets”.

Mohamed Hussein on Sky News

“We are telling Britain that any bullet of our friends on the yacht will be big cries for the families of the two old people we hold.”

Gedow on Sky News

Talking to a Sky News reporter Gedow insisted he was a voluntary coastguard and the Chandlers were seized as a precaution against “international violators”. Gedow said: “Our naval forces met them in the deep ocean, but it was the Somali ocean. ”They didn’t have permission to sail in the Somali waters, so that is why we captured them.”

Shamum Indhobur to EFE, the Spanish news agency

In one call, a pirate who gave his name as Shamum Indhobur, reportedly told the Spanish news agency EFE that any rescue attempt on either vessel would result in suffering for those aboard the other. ”We have the Spanish ship and this new yacht, and we warn naval forces that they must avoid any military action, because if one is attacked, we will punish those from the other,” he said in a call from Harardhere, a Somali pirate haven.

Ahmed Sheikh to AFP

Ahmed Sheikh, who claimed to be a member of the gang, reportedly told the French news agency AFP that about 60 gunmen had arrived in Harardhere to protect the pirates, adding: “We have made proper contact with the boat and everybody is OK. The hostages’ fate will be discussed when the boat gets here.”

Kudos to the Indy and AFP for using the word ‘claimed’.