CNN
 — 

For years, the people in the villages around Chingola in Zambia endured frequent health challenges and dead fish floating around in their water source, but that was just the beginning of their nightmare.

In 2006, their once-clear river water suddenly turned a vivid blue, tainted by waste from the copper mine owned by the Zambian subsidiary of UK-headquartered mining giant, Vedanta Resources, according to a 2015 Zambian Supreme Court ruling.

Villagers suffered nose bleeds, rashes, and abdominal pain, and some even had blood in their urine, which was a result of contamination by the Zambian subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), said Chilekwa Mumba, the son of a former miner who has been fighting for justice on behalf of the communities.

The Supreme Court ruling found that KCM was in contravention of its license and that the “final straw” was the bursting of slurry pipes which “discharged” acidic effluent into the tributaries of the Kafue River, which provides almost half of the country’s drinking water.

But attempts by residents to get compensation for damages caused to their environment had been unsuccessful in Zambia.

In 2015, Mumba launched an epic David versus Goliath fight to try to secure compensation for the community.

The community organizer, led a six-year legal battle in the UK that eventually led to Vedanta Resources and its subsidiary Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) paying compensation to 2,500 Zambian villagers, although the companies admitted no liability.

Along the way, Mumba helped to set a new precedent, allowing a British company to be sued for the actions of its subsidiary in another country.

On Monday, Mumba, 38, was awarded the 2023 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa for his work for the community and setting legal precedent. ​

“It’s a wonderful feeling to receive this award,” he told CNN. “It’s the culmination of work which was done, not just by me but even the community themselves … who stood up against injustice and stood with us for six years.”

Mumba, a father of three, is one of six global winners of the prestigious award, which honors grassroots environmental activists.

The prize is awarded each year by The Goldman Environmental Foundation, with ceremonies in San Francisco and Washington, DC.

Zambia is Africa’s second-biggest copper producer and its economy relies heavily on copper mining, which generates more than half of its revenue from exports, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

KCM is one of Zambia’s largest mining operations and also one of the country’s biggest private employers, according to its website.

CNN has reached out to Vedanta and KCM for comment but has not received a response.

Mumba said he faced a battle getting justice for Chingola communities suffering the effects of pollution.

In 2011, the Lusaka High Court ordered KCM to pay $2 million to 2,000 Chingola villagers for polluting Mushishima, a tributary of the Kafue River, with toxic chemicals.

The Environmental Council of Zambia, a body set up to protect the environment, provided evidence to the court that KCM violated its license by discharging acidic mine water waste into the river.

While the Supreme Court of Zambia later upheld the verdict that KCM polluted the villagers’ water source, it overturned the ruling on compensation, as the lower court had not fully assessed the extent of injury and damages for each of the 2,000 people.

Only six villagers had provided evidence to the high court of health complications, according to the Supreme Court ruling.

Determined to get justice for affected Chingola communities despite setbacks in the Zambian courts, Mumba approached English law firm Leigh Day in 2015 to launch a legal challenge against KCM’s parent company Vedanta in the UK.

No UK parent company had been held liable for environmental damages caused by their overseas operations at the time.

Vedanta Resources, founded by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, has had a controlling stake over KCM since 2004, with the Zambian government retaining minority control. CNN has contacted Vedanta and the Zambian state mining company for comments.

Threats and arrests

Mumba said he played the role of facilitator between community members and Leigh Day lawyers. He said he managed to convince the claimants to provide blood samples for analysis of the health impacts of the pollution, overcoming people’s concerns that their blood samples would be misused.

He recounted nearly being attacked by reptiles while wading through a flooded river during the rainy season to gather water quality samples for the case.

“It was just sheer will,” he told CNN. “The very first day we were collecting samples, we saw a snake just fall out of a tree. We laughed about it and moved on because we knew what we were trying to achieve. We also had to go close to a crocodile infested river, so there was always that threat.”

Mumba said he faced other challenges, including being arrested by local police in 2017 for not having the required permission from authorities to address thousands of villagers from polluted communities.

“I did feel threatened at certain times,” he said.

The road to compensation was lengthy.

A breakthrough came in 2019, when a landmark ruling from the UK Supreme Court held that the Zambians could sue Vedanta in the English courts, finding that Vedanta, as the parent company of KCM, owed the villagers a duty of care.

The ruling added that “even if Zambia would otherwise have been the proper place in which to bring the claims, there was a real risk that the claimants would not obtain substantial justice in the Zambian jurisdiction.”

The litigation was eventually settled. In January 2021, Vedanta announced in a joint statement with Leigh Day: “Without admission of liability, Vedanta Resources Limited and Konkola Copper Mines Plc confirm that they have agreed, for the benefit of local communities, the settlement of all claims brought against them by Zambian claimants represented by English law firm Leigh Day.”

A Leigh Day spokesperson, Caroline Ivison, told CNN that the amount paid as compensation was “confidential under the terms of the settlement agreement.”

Leigh Day attorney Oliver Holland, who worked on the Vedanta case, said in an email to CNN, that the 2019 UK Supreme Court ruling has established “an important precedent for providing access to justice for foreign claimants in transnational corporate liability litigation.”

Following the Vedanta case, the UK top court also ruled in the same year that two Nigerian communities could sue oil company Royal Dutch Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary in the English courts.

Peter Sinkamba, a prominent environmentalist in Zambia, said KCM’s now restricted operations due to a legal dispute over liquidation, have reduced pollution in the Copperbelt area. Zambian authorities handed control of the firm to a liquidator in 2019, sparking a legal dispute with Vedanta, the company’s largest shareholder.

Sinkamba, was among those who helped repeal a law preventing Zambian communities from suing mines for pollution in 1996, said the country’s judiciary is now building expertise in handling environmental cases. CNN has reached out to the office of the chief registrar of the Zambian judiciary​​​​.

Despite the risks posed to communities and wildlife in Zambia, mining operations are still being approved. The government, however, says that approved projects will follow environmental policies set by the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA).

Environmentalists were angered when Zambian authorities supported a huge open-pit mine for copper in Lower Zambezi National Park last year. Sinkamba says they fear that the project will harm the vital wildlife conservation area.

For Mumba, who now runs an orphanage in the Zambian capital Lusaka with his wife, the battle is far from over.

“I’m still working to make sure that our communities live in better ways in terms of the extractive industry. We want pollution and environmental degradation minimized if we cannot stop it,” he told CNN.

“We remain focused in holding those companies accountable … and the communities must be seen to get some justice.”

Johannesburg, South Africa
CNN
 — 

The US ambassador to South Africa on Thursday accused the South African government of delivering arms and ammunition to a sanctioned Russian cargo vessel late last year, local media said.

“Among the things we noted was the docking of the cargo ship in Simon’s Town naval base between the 6th to the 8th of December 2022, which we are confident uploaded weapons and ammunition onto that vessel in Simon’s Town as it made its way back to Russian,” Ambassador Reuben Brigety II told local media, including News24.com.

“We are confident that weapons were loaded onto that vessel, and I would bet my life on the accuracy on that assertion,” the ambassador also said in a video released by Newzroom Afrika, a local news channel that was also at the briefing.

“The arming of the Russians is extremely serious, and we do not consider this issue to be resolved, and we would like SA to [begin] practicing its non-alignment policy,” he said, according to both news outlets.

In response to the ambassador’s claims, South Africa has summoned Brigety to Pretoria. In a statement released on Twitter Friday, Clayson Monyela, the head of public diplomacy for the South African foreign ministry, said it would “demarche the USA Ambassador to South Africa following his remarks yesterday.”

Monyela said a detailed statement would be released following the meeting. South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor would also speak to her US counterpart, Secretary Antony Blinken, about the matter, he added.

The presence of the mysterious ‘Lady R’ cargo vessel caused significant speculation when it docked at the naval base in Simon’s Town near Cape Town in December last year. Cargo vessels routinely dock at Cape Town’s civilian harbor, not the naval base.

At the time, opposition member of parliament and shadow Defense Minister Kobus Marais said in a statement that goods were loaded off and onto the ship during the overnight hours and demanded answers from the government.

The US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control added the Lady R to its sanctions list in May last year for alleged weapons shipments, along with a host of other Russian-flagged cargo vessels.

The South African presidency called the explosive allegations “disappointing” and warned that the remarks “undermine the spirit of cooperation and partnership” between the US and South African government officials who had been discussing the matter.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement late Thursday that no evidence had been provided to support these allegations and that the government planned to form an independent inquiry into the matter.

“In recent engagements between the South African delegation and US officials, the Lady R matter was discussed and there was agreement that an investigation will be allowed to run its course and that the US intelligence services will provide whatever evidence in their possession,” the statement read.

CNN asked presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya why an inquiry was needed for events at South Africa’s own naval base.

“US intelligence services said they had evidence that they would only provide to us via a credible investigation or inquiry. We take the allegations seriously, and we want to have a credible independent voice to state the actual facts of the matter,” he said.

“Otherwise, we risk a back forth series of accusations and denials, which is not going to be helpful in the context of our bilateral relations.”

It is unusual for a US ambassador in South Africa to make such public accusations against the government.

The South African government has come under intense criticism for its stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has routinely abstained from votes condemning Russia at the United Nations General Assembly.

While South African leadership has repeatedly stated that they are neutral in the conflict and have frequently called for a negotiated settlement, their actions have come under increasing scrutiny from Western powers.

In February of this year, South Africa convened naval war games off its coast including both the Russian and Chinese military.

Later this year, South Africa will host the BRICS summit, a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Russian President Vladimir Putin was invited to that summit.

South African officials have flip-flopped in their public commitment to the Rome Statute – the treaty that compels signatory nations to arrest individuals indicted by the court – after Putin was indicted for alleged war crimes in March.

While South Africa’s ruling party African National Congress has an ideological history with Russia and the former Soviet Union, the European Union and the United States are far bigger trading partners.

CNN
 — 

Ten lions have been killed in southern Kenya this past week, including six on Saturday alone, as human-wildlife conflict escalates in the region, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).

This is “an unusually large number of lions to be killed at one go,” a spokesperson for the KWS told CNN on Sunday.

It comes after conservationists announced the killing of one of Africa’s oldest lions, Loonkiito, at the age of 19 earlier this week.

He had ventured out of a protected area and into a livestock pen due to being “starving,” and was killed by the livestock owner, according to conservation organization Lion Guardians.

The organization said that the end of a drought is commonly marked by an increase in human-lion conflict, since wild prey becomes harder to hunt and livestock owners are “particularly vigilant” after losing so many animals. Kenya has been experiencing its worst drought in 40 years.

The six lions that died on Saturday had killed 11 goats and one dog, the KWS said in a press release on Saturday.

The lions were all part of Kajiado County’s Amboseli ecosystem, a UNESCO biosphere reserve site near Mount Kilimanjaro, according to the UN.

KWS hosted a meeting Saturday attended by locals and government officials to discuss the recent killings.

“The discussions centered on exploring ways to minimize the risk of human-wildlife conflict, including developing early warning systems to alert communities to the presence of wildlife in their vicinity,” said the KWS.

“Further discussions centered on the wider picture of exploring human-wildlife conflict in the context of community livelihoods and benefit sharing towards a harmonious coexistence in the open community and wildlife landscapes,” it added.

Reuters
 — 

The United States has imposed entry restrictions on more Nigerians for undermining the democratic process during the African nation’s 2023 election cycle, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday.

“These individuals have been involved in intimidation of voters through threats and physical violence, the manipulation of vote results, and other activity that undermines Nigeria’s democratic process,” Blinken said in a statement.

Additional details were not provided.

The action is the latest in a series of visa restrictions imposed on Nigerian individuals in recent years.

Nigeria’s election tribunal this month was to begin hearing opposition petitions challenging president-elect Bola Tinubu’s victory in the disputed February presidential vote, court records showed.

Tinubu, from the ruling All Progressives Congress party, defeated his closest rivals Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party’s Peter Obi, who have alleged fraud and have launched a court challenge.

Atiku and Obi want the tribunal to invalidate Tinubu’s victory, arguing that the vote was fraught with irregularities, among other criticisms. Tinubu, who is set to be sworn in on May 29, says he won fairly and wants the petitions dismissed.

There have been numerous legal challenges to the outcome of previous Nigerian presidential elections, but none has succeeded.

CNN
 — 

A United States convoy was attacked in Nigeria on Tuesday killing four people, including two personnel from the US consulate and two police officers, and kidnapping three others, according to local police and US officials.

The attack took place in the southeastern Anambra state, with Anambra Police Command telling CNN that the attackers “murdered two police operatives and two staff of the US consulate and set their bodies and their vehicles ablaze.”

The personnel who were killed were not US citizens, according to the White House and the local police. “No US citizens were involved and therefore there were no US citizens hurt,” said John Kirby of the US National Security Council. “We are aware of some casualties, perhaps even some killed.”

When the assailants saw security forces “they made away with two police operatives and a driver of the second vehicle in the convoy,” Ikenga Tochukwu, deputy superintendent of police, said. “No US citizen was in the convoy,” he added.

Police said that joint security forces “have embarked on a rescue and recovery operation in the area.”

A State Department spokesperson said Tuesday that “Mission Nigeria personnel are working with Nigerian security services to investigate.”

They continued: “The security of our personnel is always paramount, and we take extensive precautions when organizing trips to the field,” they continued.

CNN
 — 

Nigerian chef Hilda Effiong Bassey has become a national sensation after cooking nonstop for 100 hours, in an attempt to set a world record.

The chef, known on social media as Hilda Baci, started cooking on Thursday and continued until Monday – creating more than 55 recipes and over 100 meals designed to showcase the best of Nigerian cuisine in the marathon kitchen session.

The Guinness world record committee still has to confirm that all their criteria have been met and whether Bassey will become the record holder.

The record to beat – 87 hours and 45 minutes – was set in 2019 by Indian chef Lata Tondon who posted a message of support to Bassey during her attempt.

Bassey told CNN that she was motivated to attempt the record because she wants to put Nigerian food on the map.

“Nigerian cuisine is the best out there,” she said. “The more recipes are propagated, the more people will be willing to try it. Nigerian food is such comfort food,” she added.

Despite the lack of sleep throughout her cooking spree in Lagos, Bassey remained in high spirits and could be spotted dancing and waving at her fans who turned out in droves to support her.

One man, Uduak Obong, told CNN he took a bus journey through the night, traveling hundreds of kilometers to arrive at the venue in Lagos.

“I drove 12 hours to be right here to support my sister, my friend. She’s just amazing,” he said.

Enioluwa Adeoluwa, a media personality, who also doubled as MC for the cookathon, told CNN: “When a Nigerian is doing something we all come out to show support… We are super excited. She’s doing such an amazing job.”

“She’s opening the door to the African food market and showing all the youth out here that if you can dream it, you can achieve it,” actor and Nollywood star Damilola Ogunsi said.

Celebrities including musician Tiwa Savage and local politicians visited Bassey during the cooking challenge.

Bassey told CNN that she nearly gave up on the first day, but after surpassing the previous record, she decided to aim for 100 hours.

“The first day was the most difficult. I was ready to give up 6 hours in. I feel like a miracle happened and somehow I got to this. The support has been incredible,” she said.

CNN
 — 

A toddler has died after a boat ferrying more than 30 villagers across the Shire River in Malawi’s Nsanje district was attacked by a hippo, causing it to overturn, authorities said.

A police spokesperson, Agnes Zalakoma, said the incident happened early Monday and 23 of the boat’s 37 passengers were missing and feared dead in the water, which is infested with crocodiles and hippos.

“Well-wishers managed to rescue 13 people while 23 others went missing and the dead body of the toddler has been found,” Zalakoma said in a statement Monday, adding that the deceased child was only one-year-old.

Rescuers are continuing searching for the missing persons, Zalakoma’s statement added.

Zalakoma told CNN Tuesday that it was dangerous to cross the river and accidents are common.

“It is too dangerous because it (the river) is too shallow and in this river there are crocodiles that most of the time attack people and also hippopotamus that cause incidents like the one we’re dealing with,” Zalakoma said.

According to a lawmaker for the Nsanje district, Gladys Ganda, the villagers were crossing the Shire River to get to their farms at the Malawian border with Mozambique when their boat was hit by a hippo.

Hippos are one of the world’s most dangerous animals, and they can snap a canoe in half with their strong jaws, according to National Geographic.

They are found naturally in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, especially in east and southern Africa.

Hippo attacks are also common in sub-Saharan Africa. In December, a two-year-old Ugandan boy was attacked by a hippo which swallowed half of his body before spitting him out, Uganda’s police said.

CNN
 — 

Floods have caused almost a quarter of a million people to flee their homes after the Shabelle river in central Somalia broke its banks and submerged the town of Beledweyne, even as the country faces its most severe drought in four decades, according to the government.

Aid agencies and scientists have warned climate change is among the key factors accelerating humanitarian emergencies, while those impacted are some of the least responsible for CO2 emissions.

Seasonal rains in Somalia and upstream in the Ethiopian highlands triggered flash floods that washed away homes, crops, and livestock, and temporarily closed schools and hospitals in Beledweyne, the capital of Hiraan region, local residents said.

“At once the entire city was underwater. Beledweyne itself became like an ocean,” said shopkeeper Ahmed Nur, whose business was washed away.

“Only the roofs of the houses could be seen. We used small boats and tractors to rescue people,” he said.

Nur has been staying with relatives on the edge of the city which, just weeks earlier, had been celebrating the end of the crippling drought.

“Rain came, we were happy. People planted their crops,” he said.

The drought, coupled with violence and a spike in food prices caused by the war in Ukraine, killed as many as 43,000 people last year, according to United Nations figures.

Since mid-March the floods have affected more 460,000 nationwide and killed 22, according to the U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA).

The Somali Disaster Management Agency said the floods in Beledweyne alone have caused the displacement of more than 245,000 people.

“Recovery from six consecutive seasons of poor rainfall performance will take time,” OCHA said in a May 14 report.

The rains are recharging water sources and enabling vegetation to regenerate, however, it will take much more rainfall to effectively alleviate the impact of the recent drought, OCHA said in a report.

After back-to-back disasters, at least one resident of Beledweyne, Halima Abdullahi, said she had seen enough, making her one of the 216 million people the World Bank predicts could be compelled to move within their own country by 2050 because of climate stress.

“We shall move to villages far away,” said the mother of two children. “Beledweyne no longer exists.”

CNN
 — 

Rescuers have recovered six more bodies from a river in southern Malawi days after a boat carrying about 37 people was capsized by a hippo on Monday.

Police spokesperson Agnes Zalakoma said the bodies were recovered Wednesday from the Shire River in Malawi’s Nsanje district, bringing the death toll to seven.

Thirteen people were earlier rescued but 17 are still unaccounted for and on Monday, the body of a one-year-old toddler was pulled out of the river, which Zalakoma said was infested with crocodiles and hippos.

Those found dead were aged between 17 and 51, she added.

A lawmaker for the Nsanje district, Gladys Ganda, said the villagers were crossing the Shire River to get to their farms at the Malawian border with Mozambique when the boat they were traveling in was struck by the hippo.

Police spokeswoman Zalakoma earlier told CNN that accidents are common on the river.

“It is too dangerous because it (the Shire River) is too shallow and in this river, there are crocodiles that most of the time attack people and also hippopotamus that cause incidents like the one we’re dealing with,” she said.

She added that rescuers are continuing the search for those missing.

The area has seen previous tragic boat accidents. In January, a canoe carrying 15 people capsized in the Shire River after hitting a tree trunk, leaving one person dead and six others missing and feared dead, Zalakoma told CNN.

London
CNN
 — 

When Africa needs medicines, all too often the continent must look abroad.

African nations consume about 25% of vaccines produced globally, but import nearly 99% of their supply, according to the African Union Development Agency. For packaged medicines, only 36% of demand is produced locally, and just 3% is supplied by regional trade, according to the World Economic Forum.

Of the roughly 600 manufacturers of packaged medicines operating on the continent, South Africa’s Aspen Pharmacare is one of the largest, with more than 9,000 employees in over 50 countries. CEO Stephen Saad discussed the future of the pharmaceutical sector in Africa, and what lessons Aspen Pharmacare has learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, with CNN’s Eleni Giokos.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

During the pandemic, we’ve seen a spotlight on the inequalities that exist on the continent in the pharmaceutical sector. Aspen has had a very strong commercial presence across Africa and now you’re moving up the value chain. Certainly Covid has catalyzed a lot of work that you’re doing. Tell me what you’re up to.

Saad: You mentioned inequalities. [Covid] really sparked the world’s attention to say, ‘Hey, this doesn’t seem right.’ We were very proud to be able to deliver vaccines to the continent in the quantities that we did, but the reality of Covid was that Africa didn’t get vaccinated. But what we’ve learned — whether it was Aids or multi-drug-resistant TB — is that we have to be strong regionally. We have really doubled down and instead of saying, ‘Look we’ve lost the Covid vaccine volumes and so we’re closing up,’ we’ve actually put [in] even more capacity. We’re committed to one person one vaccine in Africa and we’re working very hard towards that process.

If I had to ask you to describe what the pharmaceutical sector looks like right now in Africa, what would your answer be?

The answer is simple. When Covid came and Africa needed vaccines, over 90% of the vaccines were supplied by India — and that wasn’t great. At the end of the day, you can’t ask politicians from other countries to supply someone else before them. I don’t think anybody wants Africans to suffer, but the reality is when the borders close, whether it was Europe or India, they looked after their own population first. If it hadn’t been for Aspen, there would have been no vaccines made in Africa for the continent.

There’s a lot of money going into it now, there’s a lot of investment, there are many initiatives — many of them government-driven. We, off our own bat, have decided that we want to be a source not just of vaccines but biologicals — we would really like to be assisting in oncology, diabetes. We’ve got a lot that we would like to do across the continent to make sure we get access, because there are so many diseases that are just so under-serviced.

The World Trade Organization has done a lot on the policy front for Africa. The Continental Free Trade Area will hopefully make it a lot easier for cross-border trade in the pharmaceutical space. What challenges do you face?

There are numerous challenges. We have facilities in Accra [Ghana], Dar-es-Salaam [Tanzania], Nairobi [Kenya] … It is not always easy to get registrations approved. You decide not to put medicine in Kenya, for example, because of the cost of registration and the time taken. Whereas if it was already registered, we’d be exporting manufacturing into one of those territories.

It’s not so much a tariff issue or a trade issue, this is really a regulatory issue, where your medicine is required to be registered in a specific country in a specific way. For example, you can register a product across Europe [via] a central regulatory body. I think that is something that Africa should also consider.

Even though you say you’re doing good, you still have to make money. How do you balance out all of these factors?

There is this [misconception] that for you to supply cost-affordably means that it’s not very profitable. So much is about economies of scale. I remember when we did ARVs [antiretrovirals, used to treat HIV] and we were desperately trying to cut the price by nearly 90%. We got some fantastic pricing from everyone, but we still made a loss. The decision we made was, let’s go for it. At worst we would have a pretty expensive social investment project, but we backed ourselves that with increased volumes we would be able to reduce pricing. That’s what happened — the volumes came in, the prices, the technologies, and it became affordable. So sometimes you just have to go in and do it. I can’t tell you it was an exact science, but I do believe there’s a balance to be had.

I do think the world acknowledges that there are people that can pay and there are people that can’t pay. To deny people that can’t pay simply because they don’t have money is not a model that’s sustainable.

Cotonou, Benin
CNN
 — 

Standing on the stony ground in the bustling Fifa Park car lot, Rokeeb Yaya is haggling over the price of a dark red car. It is one of a couple hundred vehicles, parked in long lines stretching out across the vast lot – some shiny and new-looking, others dented and dusty.

The car Yaya has his eye on, a 2008 US-built Ford Escape, is on sale for around $4,000. It’s relatively affordable – US cars are cheaper than most other brands in the lot – and he wants to upgrade from his motorbike to a car. He is not interested in the history of the vehicle, he said, only that he can afford it.

But how this Ford ended up here – in one of the biggest car lots in the port city of Cotonou – helps tell a bigger story about how many of the West’s gas-guzzling cars are starting second lives in West Africa.

The 14-year old Ford arrived in Benin from the United States last year, after being sold at an auto auction.

Car records reviewed by CNN show it had three previous owners in Virginia and Maryland, and has logged over 252,000 miles on the road. It had one previous recall for its power steering, but unlike some of the other cars on the lot, it arrived in a relatively sound condition – it hadn’t been in any reported accidents.

This aging SUV is just one of millions of used cars that arrive every year in West Africa from wealthy countries such as Japan, South Korea, European countries and, increasingly, the US. Many of these end up in Benin, one of Africa’s top importers of used vehicles.

The stream of used cars heading to West African ports is only expected to increase with the West’s shift to electric vehicles. As wealthy countries set aggressive goals to move consumers towards electric vehicles to cut planet-warming pollution, gas-powered cars won’t necessarily go away.

Instead, many will be shipped thousands of miles away to developing countries like Benin, where populations are growing, along with demand for used cars.

Experts say the effect will be to divert climate and environmental problems to countries that are the most vulnerable to the climate crisis, undermining their own attempts to cut planet-warming pollution.

Exploding demand

The global market for used light-duty vehicles grew nearly 20% from 2015 to 2019, when more than 4.8 million were exported. There was a slight dip in exports in 2020 when the Covid pandemic started, but numbers are now “growing quite rapidly,” United Nations Environment Programme official Rob de Jong told CNN.

The US exports about 18% of the world’s used vehicles, according to UNEP data. These travel all over the globe, including to the Middle East and Central America, but many go to Nigeria, Benin and Ghana.

Some of these are salvaged cars that have been in accidents, were flooded, or are just too old – which get auctioned off for parts. Others are whole used cars that US car dealers are looking to offload.

“A lot of them are going to be two- to five-year-old Hyundais, Toyotas, sedans,” said Dmitriy Shibarshin, marketing director for West Coast Shipping, a company that specializes in shipping cars internationally. “It’s mostly the economy cars that get shipped there.”

Shibarshin’s company and others are “like FedEx” for cars, he said. His company usually specializes in higher-end vehicles, but also ships cheaper cars.

In major African countries like Kenya and Nigeria, more than 90% of the cars and trucks are used vehicles from overseas. In Kenya, where de Jong is based, the vehicle fleet has doubled every eight years; streets that used to be devoid of cars are now jammed with traffic, he said.

There is a tremendous appetite for these used vehicles. “You have a very young population that’s getting richer and richer by the day,” said Etop Ipke, the CEO of Autochek Africa, an online marketplace for cars. “The first thing they want to do, as they can afford things, is some mobility,” he said.

But, unlike in the US, few prospective buyers have access to credit, so new cars are often out of reach.

“That is fundamentally the reason why we’re not able to improve the quality” of cars sold, Ipke said. “It’s not like people want to drive used cars; it’s an affordability issue.”

Experts say demand for used cars could explode further as the take up of electric cars in the West increases the supply of used cars to African countries. Nearly one in five vehicles sold globally this year will be electric, according to the International Energy Agency, compared to less than 5% in 2020. China, Europe and the US are leading the EV market, the agency said.

In states like New York and Florida, where consumers are buying more EVs, dealers are increasingly looking overseas as a place to sell their older gas-powered models, according to Matt Trapp, a regional vice president at the huge auto auction company Manheim.

Those states also have robust port operations, making them an ideal place to ship used cars to Africa. “It’s setting up a really complementary dynamic,” Trapp told CNN.

“I’m not surprised to see how robust the export game is becoming,” Trapp said. “We’re going to see this dynamic more and more. When [auto dealers] see demand in other markets, they will find a way to move the metal there.”

From UNEP’s perspective, not all gas-powered cars are concerning – it’s the older ones, which tend to pollute more and be less safe, De Jong said. There’s evidence that the increasing demand in Africa for vehicles is actually resulting in more old and salvaged cars being shipped to the continent recently than there were 20 years ago.

“What we see at the moment is a wide variety of used vehicles being exported from the global north to the global south,” de Jong said. “Not only is the number increasing, but the quality is decreasing.”

In one section of Fifa Park, CNN finds a 16-year-old Dodge Charger, worn by age.

“We just sold it for 3 million XOF [around $4,500],” its seller, who did not wish to be named, said of the vehicle that arrived in Benin from the US two years ago.

Parked across from the Charger is a 24-year-old Ford Winstar that was shipped to Benin from the US last year. It’s a cheaper alternative for low-income car buyers who cannot afford newer models.

Car dealer Abdul Koura said that US and Canadian cars are very desirable to importers, who often bring in cars that have been in accidents, he told CNN.

“They repair these cars and resell them to make a profit,” said Koura, whose space at Cotonou’s Fifa park includes more than 30 used vehicles imported from Canada.

Victor Ojoh, a Nigerian car dealer who frequents Fifa Park, told CNN that it’s often possible to tell the origin of a car by what’s wrong with it.

“The cars that smoke are mostly from the US,” said Ojoh. “The cars from Canada are mostly flooded cars that start developing electrical faults.”

Some imported vehicles are missing their catalytic converters, an exhaust emission control devices which filter toxic gasses. Catalytic converters contain valuable metals including platinum and can fetch up to $100 on the black market. Some of the cars are shipped without catalytic converters or have them removed by dealers upon arrival, Ojo said.

Millions of cars shipped to Africa and Asia from the US, Europe and Japan are “polluting or unsafe,” according to UNEP. “Often with faulty or missing components, they belch out toxic fumes, increasing air pollution and hindering efforts to fight climate change.”

Regulations aimed at reducing pollution and increasing the safety of imported cars into West Africa have tended to be weak. But attempts have been made recently to tighten them up.

In 2020, Benin and 14 other members of the Economic Community of West African States bloc agreed a set of vehicle emissions regulations in the region, including an age limit of 10 years for used vehicles and limits on the amount of carbon pollution cars are allowed to produce.

But it’s unclear how strictly they are being enforced.

UNEP officials, including de Jong, have also had conversations with US and EU officials about putting in new regulations that would crack down on shipping very old or junk cars to developing nations. Those conversations are in early stages and have yet to result in any commitments.

Still, de Jong said climate change and global emissions have made the conversation around used cars “a different ballgame.” Increased shipments of older and more polluting cars are just as much of a problem for developed nations as they are for the developing countries where they are being driven, he added.

“Today with climate change, it doesn’t really matter where the emissions are taking place,” de Jong said. “Whether in Washington, DC, or Lagos, it makes no difference.”

Ipke doesn’t think that it is inevitable that Africa will accept all the old gas-powered cars the West no longer wants. He hopes that the transition to electric vehicles will come to the African continent as well, although that will require significant improvements to the charging infrastructure.

“In terms of where Africa goes, the transition shouldn’t necessarily be from used cars to brand new combustion engines, it should be from used cars to EVs,” Ipke said. “I think the continent has to be prepared for EVs, used or brand new, because that’s the direction the world is taking.”

For Yaya, however, this all seems a long way off. What brought him to Fifa Park, and to the old Ford SUV, was a lack of other options.

“I can only purchase what my money can afford,” he said.

CNN
 — 

For years, Alli Nansolo grappled with whether to cut his son’s dreadlocks or not. Although it is not a legal requirement in Malawi, an unwritten policy enforced across government schools meant his son was being denied admission because of his hair.

Nansolo’s could not pay for private education for his son Ishmael from his modest dressmaking income and cutting his hair, an important symbol of their Rastafari religion, was inconceivable to him.

“Rastafari is a spiritual way of life. Keeping dreadlocks is like we are committing ourselves to a vow before the most high creator that we will serve him in our life without denying his laws or commandments,” Nansolo told CNN.

The 48-year-old makes between 200,000 to 300,000 Malawian Kwacha (around $194 to $291) monthly, while his wife Empress supplements the family’s income by selling secondhand clothes.

“I felt oppressed,” Nansolo said as he recalled the staff of a state-run secondary school in Zomba, southern Malawi. refusing to register Ishmael because of his hair.

Nansolo said he contacted an officer at the Ministry of Education who advised him to cut his son’s hair so that he could go to school.

Nansolo found himself caught up in the discriminatory policies of Malawian public schools and decided to take legal action against the Ministry of Education, along with a group of parents.

“I went to the Women Lawyers Association of Malawi to ask for help. The association accepted and we went to court in November 2017,” he said.

For three years, Ishmael, then 15, would remain out of school as the court case dragged on.

Then, in 2020, the Malawi High Court placed an interim order compelling public schools to enroll Ishmael and other Rastafari children until a final ruling was reached.

It was a legal victory that marked a significant milestone for the estimated 15,000 Rastafarian community in Malawi, according to Nansolo, who is also a community elder.

However, the temporary relief did not address the broader issue of discrimination that around 1,200 affected students face, their lawyer Chikondi Chijozi told CNN.

“We saw a number of Rastafari children being admitted into government schools but there were still reported cases of children of [the] Rastafari community being denied admission into government schools, and their parents were forced to take the court injunction to the school to compel them to admit them,” Chijozi said.

‘Free’ at last, but challenges remain

After a six-year legal challenge, the Malawian High Court delivered a landmark ruling on May 8.

The court ruled that it was unlawful to require learners, including Rastafarian kids, to cut their hair before they are enrolled into public schools.

The ruling came into immediate effect but the government has until June 30 to issue a nationwide statement mandating acceptance of all dreadlocked children into school.

Chijoki told CNN: “We got a judgment from the court which essentially upheld the rights of the Rastafari children and abolished the policy that requires all learners, including Rastafari children, to cut off their dreadlocks for them to be admitted into government schools.”

Nansolo expressed his community’s jubilation that their children could now finally continue their education.

“The judgment means that we are now free because most of us in [the] Rastafarian community don’t earn much, so we couldn’t manage to send our children to private schools,” Nansolo said.

“We are happy seeing that our children will now be going to public schools without being sent back or denied their right to education.”

CNN has contacted the education ministry for comment on the ruling.

Despite this victory, Malawi’s Rastafarian community still faces numerous challenges. Unemployment, poverty, and corporate discrimination persistently plague the community. Data on the community is hard to come by but the US State Department says around 5.6 percent of Malawi’s nearly 21 million population is formed of other religions including Hindus, Baha’is, Rastafarians, Jews, and Sikhs.

“Most of us rely on business to survive. Lack of jobs is a big challenge for the Rastafarian community because those in offices are reluctant to employ Rastas,” Nansolo said.

“The corporate world feels that being Rastafari is associated with criminality, but we are not like that.”

CNN
 — 

Before music streaming was popular, Nigerian group P-Square was already among the pioneers of the sound now dubbed Afrobeats.

Twin brothers Paul and Peter Okoye have experienced both highs and lows since their 2003 debut, including six studio albums and collaborations with some of the biggest names in the industry, such as Rick Ross, T.I., Akon, and Tiwa Savage.

Yet the pair went their separate ways, breaking up P-Square in 2017 to pursue solo music careers behind their pseudonyms RudeBoy (Paul) and Mr. P. (Peter) – the latter also dipping his toes into acting in the 2018 drama, Genevieve Nnaji’s “Lionheart,” and more recently in the Netflix original “Shanty Town.”

Read more: ‘This is a dream’: Burna Boy, Afrobeats stars take center stage at NBA All-Star Game

“Anything you see that happens to a (music) group, it’s the same thing that happened to us,” Paul Okoye told CNN’s Larry Madowo during a recent interview in Lagos. “Irrespective of how people want to look at it, we felt the fans were disappointed,” he added. “We’re humans. It’s normal.”

Now, P-Square is back together and producing their first album in nine years, vowing a 2023 release date. After reuniting last August, they released the single “Jaiye (Ihe Geme)” to promote their “100 Cities World Tour,” starting with North America and continuing through Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa later this year.

Watch the video at the top of this page to hear more from Larry Madowo’s conversation with P-Square in their Lagos studio.

Johannesburg
CNN
 — 

The most wanted fugitive in the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has been arrested in Paarl, South Africa after decades on the run.

Fulgence Kayishema is accused of orchestrating the killing of more than 2,000 Tutsi refugees – women, men, children and the elderly – at Nyange Catholic Church during the genocide. He has been on the run since 2001.

He was captured Wednesday in a joint operation between the South African authorities and UN investigators.

When he was arrested, Kayishema initially denied his identity, according to a statement from the UN team. But by the end of the evening he told them: “I have been waiting a long time to be arrested.”

Investigators said he used multiple identities and forged documents to evade detection.

“The arrest was the culmination of an intense, thorough and rigorous investigation,” a senior official at the prosecutor’s office involved in the case told CNN.

“Family members and known associates were exhaustively investigated. That ultimately led to identifying the right location to search and finding the critical intelligence that was needed.”

“Fulgence Kayishema was a fugitive for more than 20 years. His arrest ensures that he will finally face justice for his alleged crimes,” said Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz of the United Nations’ International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

“Genocide is the most serious crime known to humankind. The international community has committed to ensure that its perpetrators will be prosecuted and punished. This arrest is a tangible demonstration that this commitment does not fade and that justice will be done, no matter how long it takes,” Brammertz said.

At the end of the genocide in July 1994, Kayishema fled to the Democratic Republic of Congo with his wife, children and brother-in-law. After relocating to other African countries, he moved to South Africa in 1999 and claimed asylum in Cape Town, using a false name.

According to prosecutors, since his arrival in South Africa he was able to rely on a tight support network including former Rwandan military members which went to extreme lengths to conceal his activities and whereabouts.

In recent years, the IRMCT prosecutor has complained about the lack of cooperation from South African authorities and there have been a series of near misses capturing Kayishema. A report describes a failure to arrest Kayishema three years ago.

But on Thursday, Brammertz lauded the cooperation and support of the South African government.

The events in Nyanga, Rwanda, were one of the most brutal of the genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed over the period of 90 days.

The tribunal alleges that Kayishema directly participated in the “planning and execution of this massacre.” The indictment says he bought and distributed petrol to burn down the church while refugees were inside. Kayishema and others are also accused of using a bulldozer to collapse the church following the fire, while refugees were still inside.

The former priest at the church, Athanase Seromba, was convicted over the massacre in 2006 and sentenced to 15 years in prison, which was later increased to a life sentence on appeal.

Kayishema is due to be arraigned on Friday in a Cape Town court.

A reward of up to $5,000,000 was offered by the US War Crimes Rewards Program for information on Kayishema and the other fugitives wanted for perpetrating the Rwandan genocide.

With the arrest of Kayishema, the UN is still seeking three more prominent suspects.

In 2020, another fugitive was captured in a Paris suburb after more than 20 years on the run.

Félicien Kabuga, “one of the world’s most wanted fugitives,” who is alleged to have been a leading figure in the genocide, was arrested in a joint operation with French authorities.

The Rwandan genocide saw Hutu militias and civilians alike murder vast numbers of members of the Tutsi ethnic minority: men, women and children, many of whom had been their neighbors before the conflict began.

The killings finally came to an end 100 days later, when Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) troops, led by Paul Kagame, defeated the Hutu rebels and took control of the country.

“The fact that I am single was another reason for the bullying with many saying that it was the reason I got the position,” insinuating that she had used sex to get ahead, Nyanjura tells CNN. People will say “I am not responsible because I am not married,” she says. And if they ever saw her with a man, even just standing next to one, “they would want to make it an issue.”

The 33-year-old politician, who was a student activist at Makerere University in Kampala before entering into politics in 2016 and joining the Forum for Democratic change (FDC), one of Uganda’s main opposition parties, says that the harassment she gets on social media and messaging platforms is worse when she advocates for gender equality.

“Many feel advocating for equity and equality is an abuse of culture and religious beliefs. For all my posts advocating for gender equity, I receive abuse or insults,” Nyanjura explains, adding that her advocacy posts on social media usually get lifted and shared across several WhatsApp groups, followed by abuse on all platforms.

Nyanjura goes on: threats of “physical attacks happen when I am planning a demonstration and posting about them on social media … I get threats of being arrested or being carried in a ‘drone’ (a nickname given to the vans that have reportedly been used in arrests of political activists in Uganda). So, I stay away from my home at such times and ask my family members to do the same,” she told CNN.

At first, the abuse made her feel awful, she says, but aware that her abusers want to silence her Nyanjura tells CNN that she’s decided to stand her ground and be a positive example for other women in public life.

“There are so many women who are not on any of these media platforms (but) if I am to go off social media because I have been bullied, what example am I creating for other women that are following me, my posts, my videos and pick encouragement from me?”

One in two Ugandan women in public life targeted

Recent surveys in Uganda have revealed stark numbers highlighting how common it is for women to be targeted online.

“Many of them stopped using the apps and stopped organizing online,” says Irene Mwendwa, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Pollicy.

The report, the second by the IPU, following one in 2018 on European parliaments, found that in comparison “online attacks are also common but lower than in Europe,” attributing the difference to “greater disparities in women’s access to the internet between the two regions.”

When Olive Namazzi decided to go into politics, she believed she would have a rewarding public life. But Namazzi, who, like Nyanjura, is 34 and in the FDC, says she hadn’t realized that stepping into the political arena as a woman — and one with a disability — would kick off a campaign of cyberbullying that would last for more than a decade. 

As part of its commitments, the FDC prioritizes women’s empowerment. In her role overseeing health, education, environment and sports for the Kampala City Council, Namazzi says social media is a vital tool to help make her work in the community visible and to build voter support. But it is also a space she says she must defend herself against a torrent of abuse.

Speaking on why women politicians and public figures experience more cyberbullying than their male colleagues, Namazzi tells CNN: “People find us easy targets. Once you are a woman who is known, you are a likely candidate for bullying.”

An accident in 2013 left her with a limp, for which she wears specially made shoes. For her detractors, this is something to mock. She described an exchange in a WhatsApp group she’s in: “I was trying to reason somebody out intellectually and then somebody (else) came and started abusing me that I put on shoes that are not balancing. He started telling me about how I can’t balance when I am walking,” Namazzi says. “It was below the belt.”

In another WhatsApp group, this time a private group chat with other politicians, Namazzi says remarks were made about the age at which she got married and started a family. “What I find interesting is that sometimes these abuses are from our very colleagues who are educated and whom we expect to understand us,” she says, adding: “This is on a platform of leaders. It was very bad.”

Namazzi and Nyanjura’s experiences are supported by the IPU and APU’s 2021 research, which found that the majority of abuse women parliamentarians face, comes from their male peers, especially those from rival parties. The report also found that women parliamentarians who live with disabilities as well as those who are unmarried, under 40, and from minority groups, suffer more violence. As Nyanjura’s account shows, women MPs who promote women’s rights and gender equality are also targeted, the report found.

Systems Error

A law in place for over a decade

This online abuse of women politicians is happening in a country that has had a cybersecurity law in place for more than a decade.

Uganda’s Computer Misuse Act initially prohibited offensive communication and cyber harassment and was amended in 2022 to add hate speech to the list. The offensive communication part was ruled unconstitutional earlier this year, but cyber harassment is punishable by a fine of “up to seven hundred and fifty currency points” or imprisonment up to seven years, or both.

This “undermines the ability and efficacy (of laws) as tools against cybercrime,” says Eron Kiiza, a human rights lawyer and member of the Uganda Law Society Rule of Law Committee. Kiiza adds that cyber laws are typically “vaguely drafted and prone to legal challenges,” which “brings problems when cases are taken to court.”

Multiple legal and women’s right’s experts told CNN that the challenges with using the law to successfully prosecute online harassment results in women deciding not to report abuses to the relevant authorities.

For Namazzi, the police are of no help, she says. “Authorities do not consider online bullying to be as serious as physical bullying and therefore do not treat it with the severity that it needs,” she tells CNN.

CNN reached out the Uganda Police Force and the Justice Ministry for comment, but they did not respond.

Experts and activists in the country say that better-targeted protections are needed to ensure women stay vocal and visible in Ugandan politics and feel confident sharing their work and views as much as men in the same positions of power.

“We really need the women’s voice to change the way that economies and politics and social policies are made,” says Brigitte Filion, gender equality programme officer for the Inter-Parliamentary Union. “When there are women in parliaments, there is also more laws and policies on issues like violence against women and gender-related issues… It will be a very big loss for society in general if women are not involved equally in politics,” she says.

Learning how to respond to abuse

With laws failing to protect women, civil society organizations like Pollicy have spent years creating national and regional programs to help women protect themselves online.

“Less than a quarter of African national parliamentarians and local government are women,” explains Pollicy’s Mwendwa. “Digital upskilling will enable women politicians to scale up their work, their careers (and) their communities.”

People “weave through the maze of threats which are presented with lessons on how to navigate such threats in real life,” Mwendwa explains.

The game helped Namazzi learn how to respond to her bullies. “It taught me when to ignore and how to block bullies. It guided me on how to report bullying to the platforms where it was happening,” she tells CNN.

Pollicy also runs training events for women policymakers. In February, Mwendwa says 90 women from Uganda, Tanzania and Senegal came together as part of the Vote: Women program. Here, participants were able to share personal experiences as well as get training in digital resilience, combatting online violence and harassment, and engaging safely in public debate. Both Nyanjura and Namazzi attended the event.

“Rather than cower to the bullies, I have chosen to stay on”

Multiple organizations are working with Uganda’s beleaguered women politicians to achieve what they say the laws in place are failing to accomplish, including the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), an NGO that promotes the use of technology among women, girls and women’s rights organizations, formerly run by Peace Oliver Amuge as Executive Director.

WOUGNET, now active for more than 20 years, works with women leaders to not just address their own experiences of abuse but also to better legislate on these issues. Amuge points out that while the hate speech amendment does mention gender, Uganda’s Computer Misuse Act does not specifically cover online gender-based violence, which they are advocating for.

She agrees that online engagement can be an effective tool in politics, but warns that many women are avoiding online platforms for fear of abuse. But Nyanjura and Namazzi are determined to stay engaged and to stay in politics, despite the costs.

“I almost ran mad engaging a bully for two days nonstop,” says Namazzi. “But I was determined to be a politician against the odds of any kind of intimidation…Rather than cower to the bullying, I have chosen to stay on and attack them right back.”

“I want to tell (other women) when you stand up, (harassers) will eventually leave you alone,” says Nyanjura before adding: “If women do not embrace the digital world, they are definitely going to be left behind.”

The Ugandan Ministry of Information and Communication Technology did not respond to any of CNN’s multiple requests for comment.

—-

Credits

Reporting: Adie Vanessa Offiong

Editors: Meera Senthilingam, Eliza Anyangwe

Photography: Esther Ruth Mbabazi

Photo Editor: Will Lanzoni

CNN
 — 

A fashion show that features elderly people as models is a rarity. One with elderly Black African models is even rarer.

Perhaps that’s why Nigerian visual artist Malik Afegbua got so much attention from around the world when he posted images on social media last month showing seniors on a fashion runway, draped in stylish, colorful clothes.

Titled “The Elders Series,” the images challenge stereotypes around how older people are perceived, as well as foregrounding African faces and bodies, which have often been at the periphery of the fashion world.

“The inspiration behind (this series) was my mum,” explained Afegbua, 38. “She had a stroke, and I am very close to my mum. I just needed an outlet to find a way to express myself and not think about her on a life-support machine. I wanted to think about her in a happy place.”

But what’s truly remarkable about the images is that the ground-breaking fashion show never actually took place. While the images look like photographs of a genuine event, they were entirely generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

Twelve years ago, Afegbua was an amateur photographer and visual artist when he received a Canon camera as a gift. He says it gave him the opportunity to start producing videos, and as a self-taught filmmaker he has gone on to create numerous movies and corporate videos. He produced series two and three of Netflix show “Made By Design,” as well as a biopic docudrama on Nigerian designer Nike Davies-Okundaye.

“The Elders Series” is an extension of other projects that Afegbua has created through AI. He uses the AI platform Midjourney, which generates images in response to text prompts. Afegbua says he experiments with different phrases, refining his search terms until he gets an image he likes, and then edits it in Photoshop – repeating the process until he achieves the effect he’s looking for.

“When it comes to AI, you put in a text prompt, it gives you something random – you keep going to different depths until you find what you want,” he said.

There has been much controversy over racial and gender bias in AI. Facial recognition technology can be less accurate for Black skin than White, and AI systems to spot skin cancer have been found to be trained predominantly on White skin. It’s also been noted that AI art platforms can produce pictures that reflect the cultural biases of images found on the internet.

Afegbua said that until his mother’s stroke, he had only worked experimentally with images of Black people on AI platforms, but he found that the images they produced were “mangled up and not very good.”

He noticed that the images produced of Black Americans were different than those of Black Africans. “When you put ‘African’ they look less dapper and in a less nice environment,” Afegbua explained.

Through repeated searches using variations of his text prompts, he says he was able to train the AI and improve the images it produced of Black people. “Now anyone can go into the AI and put ‘a Black man in a fashion show’ and you are going to get something like what I did, because it’s now in the system,” he said. “Because I’ve done it, the system now has that data.”

Afegbua believes AI can be a powerful tool for the arts – film and television in particular. “It’s here to stay … it’s going to evolve and it’s going to get better,” he said. But he says the role of a human creator is still key. “AI is not All. It can’t think by itself, there is always a human being behind it regardless – to put things in motion,” he added.

His other AI projects include creating a virtual futuristic city called “Ngochola,” populated by people who are heroic, beautiful and African. Afegbua says he wanted the city to reflect ancient African civilizations, and “the power that technology would play in that society” if it weren’t for colonialism. But it is “The Elders Series” that has got him the most attention.

Afegbua says that since he shared the images he has been invited to exhibit his work at galleries in the US, France and Brazil, and has signed a deal to work on a Hollywood movie. But perhaps more rewarding is the recognition he’s received for presenting older people in a positive light.

“I’ve had many associations that have to do with the elderly contact me asking how we can collaborate,” he said, adding that the World Health Organization had been in touch to tell him that it views his work as “a major, positive contributor in the global effort by the WHO/UN’s Decade of Healthy Ageing in combatting ageism.”

“I didn’t think it was going to resonate with the world like that,” Afegbua said. “I am glad that people are starting to have that conversation.”

CNN
 — 

Although Nigeria has vast energy reserves, more than 92 million people in the country live without access to electricity, according to the International Energy Agency. Those who are connected to the electricity grid have to contend with frequent power cuts, which cost the country $28 billion a year – almost 2% of its GDP.

As a result, many Nigerians rely on petrol and diesel to fuel the generators that power their homes and businesses.

But generators are noisy, expensive, and pollute the air. Fuel shortages were a key issue in Nigeria’s recent presidential election and have made it increasingly difficult to run generators.

Entrepreneur Olugbenga Olubanjo is offering an alternative. His company Reeddi rents out small, lightweight solar-powered batteries called “Reeddi Capsules” that can power devices including TVs, laptops and refrigerators.

Reeddi was one of the finalists for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, which recognizes ambitious efforts to fix environmental problems. In a podcast, the Prince of Wales said that “the capsule will have a huge influence on communities where energy poverty is a big deal.”

Olubanjo grew up in Nigeria and says that during his time studying engineering at the University of Ibadan, he often had to work on his assignments while contending with power cuts. As a postgraduate, he studied at the University of Toronto, in Canada. “For the first time in my life, I had access to electricity, and I saw my own productivity quadruple,” Olubanjo said.

Often, when calling family and friends back home, their power would go off, highlighting the energy inequality. “As I had a deep understanding of the community, I felt obliged to do something,” he said.

Reeddi Capsules can be bought along with a solar panel for 199,000 Nigerian Naira (around $430) or rented from “mom-and-pop shops” for 24 hours for around 50 cents, charged using solar panels operated by Reeddi. Olubanjo says one battery can power a TV for around five hours, or a 15-watt fan for 15 hours.

That makes it considerably more expensive than using mains electricity, but it’s often cheaper than running a generator.

Joel Jewell, a trader in Ogun State, says he uses the capsule most days to charge his laptop and phone. Without it, he is forced to rely on his generator during the regular power cuts. “We sometimes don’t (even) get two hours of power supply,” he said. “And Reeddi coming is a kind of an answer to prayer.”

Currently, the batteries are only available in Nigeria, where Olubanjo says they are used by more than 1,600 people, mainly in Lagos and Ogun State. But across the continent, more than 600 million people lack access to electricity, according to the International Energy Agency.

Olubanjo says organizations in countries including Uganda, Ghana and South Africa have expressed an interest in the Reeddi Capsule. “We’re going to try our best to optimize what we have in Nigeria before we scale it to that broader part of Africa,” he said.

Reeddi is not the only company offering battery packs as an alternative to generators. UK-based Mobile Power rents out batteries in countries including Nigeria, Zambia and Ghana.

Anita Otubu, a senior director of Sustainable Energy for All – a UN-affiliated organization that works to improve access to energy – says “companies like Reeddi are key contributors to reducing Nigeria’s access deficit.”

But she adds that if Reeddi is to scale up its business, it will need to make the battery rentals cheaper “or increase the capacity of each system, to enable Nigerians to have value for money when they purchase such systems.”

For Olubanjo, the company’s biggest challenge is keeping up with demand, with each batch of batteries taking three to four months to produce. But he is confident Reeddi can have a wider impact.

“The goal is to make the future (brighter) for a lot of Nigerians and Africans,” he said.