Africa

1. …and a smile
2. Sporting chance
3. Don’t forget dementia
4. It’s electric
5. Prize winner

Also, how Eritrea beat colonial tropes to become a cycling powerhouse.

Hello! Welcome to Semafor Africa Weekend, where we understand the importance of being prioritized. In their journeys through national development, most African countries have to make very tough decisions on what to put first ahead of other important priorities. This is also the case with more advanced economies, but they typically don’t need to make life and death decisions around food, education, and health.

What this can mean is that, within a sector like health, the focus is usually about putting out the latest or longest-running fire; whether it’s COVID-19 or malaria. And, even among non-communicable diseases, the rise of cancer and diabetes in Africa has had much more focus and support from international donor organizations. That’s why less prominent conditions like dementia are hardly ever brought up, as we cover below.

Africa is so regularly associated with having a young population that we tend to overlook the fact that people are living longer than ever before and with that will come more medical conditions that are correlated with old age. It may not become the most pressing priority, but building awareness around the condition will be a good step in the right direction to avoid a crisis down the road.

🟡 We’re 48 hours away from our inaugural The Next 3 Billion summit to discuss the impact of digital connectivity on Africa’s economies. We’re looking forward to insights from President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi, President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, Cina Lawson, Togo’s digital economy minister, and Cameroon-born NBA basketball star Joel Embiid. You can bookmark our live stream to follow along here.

🟡 🟡 You can also follow us on social media to see clips from the event and much more or follow us on Whatsapp. And if this email was forwarded to you, sign up here to get it in your inbox too.

Coca-Cola doubles down on Nigeria

The amount Coca-Cola plans to invest in its Nigeria operations over the next five years, Nigeria’s presidency said. The announcement came after a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and senior Coca‑Cola executives. Since 2013, the US multinational has invested $1.5 billion in Nigeria to expand its production capacity, improve its supply chain, and support training and development, the statement added. The renewed efforts to attract more foreign investment follow an economic slump, in part triggered by the Tinubu administration’s reforms which caused a currency devaluation that led to the exit of some multinationals.

Kenya tries to beat stadium whistle

Kenya is in a race against time to get its stadiums ready for two of the continent’s biggest football events — CHAN 2025 next February, and AFCON 2027. Both tournaments are set to be hosted jointly by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.

Confederation of African Football President (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe was in Nairobi this week to inspect the ongoing works, and acknowledged there was still “a lot of work to be done” ahead of CHAN — the continental competition for players based in local leagues.

For CHAN, Kenya is undertaking major upgrades on its largest stadium, the 60,000-seater Moi International Sports Complex Kasarani in Nairobi. The 30,000-capacity Nyayo stadium in western Nairobi is also being upgraded. The government is also constructing a 60,000-seater stadium and sports complex on the outskirts of the city, dubbed Talanta Sports City. It is slated to host the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the continent’s largest sporting event, and is scheduled for completion by December 2025

After meeting with Motsepe, President William Ruto sought to assure both CAF and the public that the stadiums would be ready in time for both tournaments. The East African nation was notably stripped of the rights to host CHAN 2018 due to lack of preparation. The tournament was held in Rwanda.

— Martin K.N. Siele in Nairobi

The other demographic explosion

NAIROBI — African countries face a sharp increase in dementia cases due to longer life expectancies and healthcare systems that are inadequately resourced to treat the growing number of elderly patients, scientists have warned.

Dementia — a loss of brain function such as thinking and remembering — already impacts millions of elderly individuals and their families on the continent, but it should not be seen as a normal part of aging, caution experts.

Africa, which is often recognized for its young population with a median age of 19, is also home to the fastest-growing elderly population in the world, according to the UN. Now, with the continent’s population living longer than ever before, age-related diseases like dementia are becoming more common, says the World Health Organization.

The healthy life expectancy in Africa jumped by 10 years per person between 2000 and 2019, a greater rise than in any other region in the world during the same period.

Yet, research on dementia in Africa accounts for only 0.1% of the continent’s overall research output, according to a study by Aga Khan University in Nairobi.

“We have not been measuring dementia properly,” said Dr. Zul Merali, director of the Brain and Mind Institute at Aga Khan University. “We have been measuring when people come to the clinics and when they come, they already are very symptomatic and they know that something is wrong.”

September 24, 2024 | New York City | Request Invitation

Seven-time All-Star, 2022-23 NBA Most Valuable Player, and current Philadelphia 76er Joel Embiid will join the stage at The Next 3 Billion summit — the premiere U.S. convening dedicated to unlocking one of the biggest social and economic opportunities of our time: connecting the unconnected.

Nigerian automaker debuts EVs

Nigerian vehicle manufacturer Innoson has rolled out four electric vehicle models, marking the first release of electric cars by a local brand in the country.

Innoson has made gasoline vehicles and trucks until now, serving a Nigerian market with patronage specifically from companies and state governments. With factories located in the southeastern state of Anambra, the company has now added EVs to its fleet while also building up capacity for cars that run on compressed natural gas.

The four EV models offer different ranges, the top one traveling for up to 400 kilometers after a full charge, the company says on its website. The cars’ batteries come with an 11-year warranty, according to a test-drive video on the company’s X account.

Some of the initial reception in Nigeria to Innoson’s announcement last week has focused on the 38 million naira ($24,000) price tag for one car. But it has also highlighted the prospect of Nigeria becoming a market for electric vehicles.

The rising cost of petrol, after the removal of decades-old subsidies that made it relatively cheap, has spurred interest in alternative fuels for vehicles in the country. And the infrastructure needed to increase EV use could be on the way. Possible EVS, a company in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, said it is making progress on its plans of rolling out charging stations in Nigeria, a necessity for those who would want to own and use electric vehicles.

— Alexander Onukwue

South African writer’s triumph

South African writer Nadia Davids was last week announced as the winner of the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story, “Bridling” — published last year in The Georgia Review.

The short story is narrated from the perspective of a female actor who, alongside other women performers, reenacts artworks by men.

Chika Unigwe, the prolific writer who chaired a five-judge panel, termed Davids’ story as “a triumph of language, storytelling and risk-taking while maintaining a tightly controlled narrative about women who rebel.”

Davids’ story will be published in the Caine prize anthology titled “Midnight in the Morgue and Other Stories” by Cassava Republic Press in the UK, and the author will also receive £10,000 ($13,300).

Weekend Reads

🇪🇷 Eritreans have taken the colonialist sting out of cycling to make it a national sport attracting global recognition and stardom for its athletes. In African Arguments, Mohamed Kheir Omer describes the path through which the northeast African country rose through Italian fascism to produce the first African to win a Tour de France Green Jersey earlier this year.

🌍 Chinese phone maker Transsion could face tougher competition in Africa as shipments of smartphones begin to outpace feature phones. The Shenzhen-based company has been Africa’s top smartphone seller for more than a decade thanks to its key focus on consumer habits. But the continent’s shift to smartphones over feature phones could entail “fiercer competition from Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo and even Apple,” reports Austin Carr for Bloomberg.

🇪🇹 Growing demand for frankincense by makers of essential oils and fragrances may be quickening the extinction of trees that produce the resin in Ethiopia. While “it is often impossible” to trace frankincense sold around the world back to the people who harvest it, there is “mounting evidence” its popularity could be driving wild frankincense trees to the brink of extinction,” The Guardian reports.

🇹🇿 In The Republic, Tanzanian filmmaker Cece Mlay describes the conception and process of The Empty Grave, her documentary. It is about efforts by Tanzanian families to return the bodies of their ancestors killed during Germany’s occupation of the country, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

🇳🇬 Nigeria-born British poet Caleb Femi will not write another poetry collection after the release of his second work, The Wickedest, this year. He wrote it as a happier counter to Poor, his debut about violence’s blemish on innocence in south London. But while that earned him awards and plaudits in 2021, Femi’s “personal relationship with poetry started to sour” after that, beginning his exit from the medium.

🗓️ Week Ahead

Sept. 24 — Semafor’s The Next 3 Billion Summit will take place in New York. Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio, Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera, Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote, and World Trade Organization head Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will be among the speakers.

Sept. 24-30 — The 79th session of the UN General Assembly will be held in New York City.

Sept. 24 — Nigeria’s central bank will announce its latest interest rate decision. It is expected to hold rates for the first time this year after inflation eased for a second straight month in August.

Sept. 25 — Semafor’s Nights of Net Zero: Climate Innovations. Forward-looking discussions on the sidelines of UNGA about climate finance and AI’s role in advancing low-carbon technologies. Request Invitation.

Sept. 25-27 — The Power & Energy Africa event will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Sept. 25-29 — The 25th edition of the Nairobi International Book Fair 2024 will be hosted at the Sarit Centre.

Sept. 26 — South African insurer Old Mutual will report half-year results.

Sept. 27 — Nigeria’s Federal High Court in Abuja will begin a trial for 10 protesters who face charges of treason.

• AI startup aimed at demystifying the world of public policy secures new funding.
• The late GOP push to deny Kamala Harris a Nebraska electoral vote.
• Saudi Arabia is making a big bet on Egypt.

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Happy 64th Independence Day to the people of Mali!! 🇲🇱

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— Yinka, Alexis Akwagyiram, Alexander Onukwue, Martin Siele, and Muchira Gachenge