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Category: Africa

Chad: “A Screaming Man”

Chad is a poor country, with about 11 million people who have a per-capita GDP of about $2000. It received independence from Algeria in 1960 and has suffered almost constant civil war as well as invasions (from Libya and Sudan. It’s one of those stereotypical “basket case” countries that investors think of when they write off… [Read More]

Niger: Nomads of Niger

Niger’s up for exploration this week. It has a population of 17 million people, and it skews young: the median age is 15, no surprise given that the country has the highest birthrate in the world. The per capita GDP of $800 is among the lowest in the world. This isn’t a country that is… [Read More]

Al-Jazeera’s series on French North Africa

I’ve been doing my look at Africa for a few months now, one country a week, and one thing that hits me is that it would be easier if I knew French. I’ve watched four movies with subtitles. At the UIC library, half the books that look good have to go back on the shelf… [Read More]

Mali – Bamako

The Africa country-by-country project continues, this week with Bamako, set in the capital of Mali. It’s a seriously weird, seriously interesting movie. There are three main parts to it. The first is a mock trial , featuring the people of Mali versus the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The director, Abderrahmane Sissako, filmed… [Read More]

Western Sahara

I’m learning a lot with this African-Country-a-Week series. Like: Western Sahara is not part of Morocco. While I was crossing Morocco off the map, I noticed that a goodly area that looked like it was part of the country was actually disputed territory. Here’s the story: This was once a Spanish colony, known as Spanish… [Read More]

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