AfricaVox

Excess baggage

By Salamatu Turay

Having to work in the UK for two weeks was quite amazing, what with all the hustling and bustling around for news items and things to blog about. Though it should have been difficult, especially in a foreign land, it was actually made extremely simple for me by my hosts...

When I first arrived here I thought that I would not achieve much.  The UK has hundreds more professional journalists than my country, so I thought my presence would not make a difference. But that has not been the case, and with the help and support of Panos London staff, I was able to achieve a lot. 

Souvenirs...

By Maura Quatorze

It's almost time to go - my flight back to Maputo is this evening, Machrine and Hilary are leaving for home today too.  Before I go off for some last-minute souvenir-shopping, there are a few things to say...

Africa's leaders leave its journalists out in the cold

By Salamatu Turay

I have had the weekend to think a little, and after the ups and downs of last week - the G8, the Olympics, the bombings - so much has happened, it's difficult to take in.  But there is one unfortunate thing for us as African journalists that stands out from last week.

The nature of the long-awaited support by the G8 leaders to make poverty history was announced by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in the final press conference at Gleneagles on Friday, addressing about one hundred journalists from all over the world. But what beats my imagination is that there were close to ten of our leaders at the summit - Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa were all there - but by Friday evening not one of them had said a word to the twenty-odd African journalists there to cover the summit.

Goodbye - for now...

By Machrine Birungi

So Tony Blair has issued the final communique of Gleneagles 2005. An additional 50 billion US Dollars in aid, implementation of the recommendation for the Commission for Africa to commit an additional 25 billion dollars for Africa by 2010.

Has Africa achieved anything? Yes, it has been a significant presence in the press for the first time - and not in bad faith, but in an attempt to explore the opportunities that Africa has to offer. Africa has gained further from the fact that the G8 leaders were forced to shift their attention from domestic agendas to an African agenda.

But I must say the terrorists did not only damage London when they struck yesterday - they damaged Africa too. For the crucial 24 hours, Africa was shuffled off the agenda, only to be dragged back on Friday afternoon.

John Kamau's BBC Online diary - Updated links

John has provoked considerable debate over on BBC Online's pages, and I am not surprised. He's given a fresh and candid perspective on the experiences of an African journalist covering an international summit, and today's diary in particular shows the considerable frustrations that African journalists have to put up with in a day's work:

Yesterday we were told that [the African leaders attending G8] would have a press conference today. But as I write this, no African journalist I have met here seems to know where our presidents are. [...] Unlike in western nations where the presidents and prime ministers are accessible to the local media, for an African journalist, getting an interview with an African president may take a lifetime.

and here's Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Joel Okao live on Sky News

Joel Okao live (in the background) on Sky News during Prime Minister Tony Blair's end-of-summit briefing.

Ndesanjo in Metro: "Now the terrorists have seized the front page, who will tell Africa anything at all?"

A day of high contrast for Ndesanjo, with the relief of finally getting down to business in Gleneagles overshadowed by the attacks on London yesterday.

And I thought, wait a minute, why do the leaders of the world's most advanced 'democracies' meet so far away from the people they represent? Had they committed some heinous crime? [...] And then Thursday morning, ordinary people going to work, picking up groceries, touring London, bore the brunt of someone's anger against the G8, while the leaders themselves were caged safely away.

Machrine posted for yesterday's Metro, making a vow to cover climate change when she gets back to Uganda, and her first ever article on this subject asks, Is Africa Burning?

G8 Expectations

By Joel Okao

I am privileged to be at Gleneagles, as part of the AfricaVox team of African journalists, covering this historic event for Radio Rhino back home in Uganda. My audience is made up of people who live every minute of their lives watching over their shoulders to see where the next attacks of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels are emerging from. Over 2 million of my listeners live in medieval conditions in camps unimaginable in the civilized world in the 21st Century.

Many people back home in the North of Uganda know about the G8 and its agenda to help Africa, thanks to reports on local FM Radio stations like mine. And they wish all Ugandan debts will be cancelled.

But they have a big concern: Will money from debt cancellation help restore security to Northern Uganda? I hosted a programme on Radio Rhino just before I left for the summit, and many people called in to give their expectations of the G8 Summit. Here is a taste of what they said...:

Corruption and everyday life in Sierra Leone

Some thoughts ahead of tomorrow's Africa discussions at the G8 summit. Sierra Leone has over six major mineral resources, vast agricultural land and several rain forests, yet 40 per cent of its 4.9 million people live on less than a dollar a day. The trio of demands from Make Poverty History - more and better aid, trade justice and debt cancellation are well-known.

But a Sierra Leonean I met yesterday told me he thinks the solution to Sierra Leone's poverty is not debt relief or aid but proper planning.  Francis Forbie, a Sierra Leonean Consultant at the Centre for African Policy and Peace studies, in London told me: "Aid creates a dependency culture" and that part of Sierra Leone's problem is firstly the fact our country has had no strategic policy on poverty since independence - and secondly that corruption is everywhere.

As a Sierra Leonean I've been reflecting for the past couple of days on just how much corruption is part of everyday life. See my new article Aminata at the C8 to read some of my experiences.

John Kamau on today's bombings in London

After this morning's terror attacks on London, the atmosphere around the Gleneagles media centre changed markedly, and the tone of John's piece for BBC Online reflects that sombre mood:

The air is now extremely gloomy up here and I am not finding the excitement and energy that I usually see with journalists.

Those from London will be worried about friends, family and colleagues, and those from abroad will perhaps be feeling cut off from the real theatre of action, even as they are appalled at the loss of lives and threats of further terror.

Like John, many of the journalists have seen the aftermath of violence and terror in their own countries, and they're all shocked by this morning's events, and, like John, offer their condolences to the people of London.