On the Madagascar plateau the bodies of the dead are exhumed from their tombs and brought out for a day of celebration which, with singing and dancing renders homage to their dead. Close to the edges of the rice fields connecting the valleys of the central highlands, flickering lights can be seen in the darkness…
Read moreThey are at the traffic lights, juggling their torches and coloured balls and performing acrobatics. The street children have invented a new approach to raising funds by amusing the motorists. It is evening and the traffic flows along the brightly lit street of Managua. At the traffic lights, children both large and small have exchanged…
Read more
“I am totally paralysed, but I feel a fullness of mind and heart that surprises me, and I dream of an accomplishment that I have not yet experienced… This wheelchair has become the best of the pulpits for me”. Manuel Joao Pereira Correia was born on 27′” October 1951, in Penajoia, a village on the…
Read moreMore than 90% of the population of Senegal, an officially secular country, profess the Islamic faith. Besides being Sunnis (like the majority of Muslims), the dominant form of Islam is Sufi: this means it belongs to the mystical trend whose adherents (talibé) of the brotherhoods (tariqa) follow the directives of the spiritual guides (sheikhs, better…
Read moreOn one of the Atlantic beaches of Yoff, rises the Great Layene Mosque-Mausoleum. The low cube-shaped, white building surrounded by golden sands and crowned with a green cupola, contains the tomb of the founder of the Brotherhood, Seydina Limamou Laye and his two sons, Seydina Issa Laye, the first Khalif of the Brotherhood (1909-1949) and…
Read moreThe country is at the crossroads. Presidential and parliament elections are scheduled for the next 27 December in a country which is facing a number of serious challenges including jihadism, climate change, migration and the fall of uranium prices. The parliament elections and the first round of the presidential elections are due on the next…
Read moreThe country invests its capital also to diversify its oil-based economy. To contain Turkey, Qatar and Iran may cause an increase in the instability of the continent. For some years now, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been seen as a relevant geopolitical actor on the African scene. Many believe this to be a good…
Read moreWhat has become of Libya? Nine years ago, NATO launched a military offensive that destroyed the country. A country now without a state. Before 2011, Libya was the most prosperous country in Africa. Today basic supplies are in short supply and water and electricity are lacking. In the past eight months, oil production, a primary…
Read moreIn September, separatist attacks took place in the Volta Region of Ghana. These events represented an escalation in terms of action for the autonomist movement. They are the consequence of historic grievances and of an increase in political violence in the country. The competition for the 7th December presidential and political elections could worsen this…
Read moreThe wars in Syria and Iraq are (mostly) over, but the region’s rich cultural heritage remains at risk. Mosul, Aleppo, Baghdad – whose Iraqi Museum was looted after the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 – Damascus and Palmyra are some of the oldest cities in the world. Life and civilization have continued and evolved…
Read moreSyria is the Arab country that has best preserved the physical evidence of its pre-Islamic past: from the proto-Semitic cultures of the Levant (such as the Phoenicians to Mesopotamians and Assyrians) to Greek and Roman (the city of Palmyra, as well as Damascus and Aleppo, exemplifying this multifaceted aspect of the Syrian heritage). In fact,…
Read moreTouba, the holy city of the Muridiyya Brotherhood, situated in the centre of the country, though a religious city, stands out for its commercial character which comes from the popular motto of Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba, founder of the city and of the Mourides: “Pray as if you were to die tomorrow and work as if…
Read more
“What we would like to achieve when we talk about peace. Peace means self-determination. Peace means biological conservation. Peace means revitalization of our culture and…
Read more
At that time Viracocha, the creator God, looked down upon the earth. He saw it was bare, shrouded in impenetrable darkness, for daylight did not yet…
Read more
“Young Africans are playing an active role in bringing social change in the continent. They are contributing daily to the benefit of their communities and nations…
Read more
