Bonkers. Plain bonkers.

'A Dubai firm agreed to lend South Sudan $13 billion -- almost double the country's GDP -- in exchange for 20 years of discounted oil' bloomberg.com/news/articles/… via Bloomberg Markets

Bumba!

I’m going to take a small group with me again to Kohima, Jessami and the northern reaches of Assam (to visit the site of the Hump Airlift) 8-21 Nov 24 with Sampan Travel

The trip will be capped at 7 double bedrooms so make sure you speak fo Bertie Alexander today to reserve a…

📚In our book review section:
1⃣Artur Colom-Jaén (Universitat de Barcelona) reviews 'Youthquake: Why African Demography Should Matter to the World' by Edward Paice (@AfricaResearch)

Pitching for business?

'Western nations must engage with dictatorships in #Sahel ', says Tony Blair ft.com/content/4ee581…

About the Swazi Secrets investigation icij.org/investigations… via ICIJ

‘It ought to be abundantly clear that both African and the Gulf states stand to lose if those handling their respective relations are little more than gun-runners and smugglers with diplomatic passports’ - Ken Opalo

Kenya: fertility rate patterns in three figures (as of 2022).

No sign of irony in this post about #Sudan attitudes to environmental protection. Or in reference to a ‘government’. Weird.

This is magnificent to watch. The President of Guyana truly put the BBC in its place.

When sanctimony and pomposity meets sense and modesty.

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine extends its reach to Sudan, underscoring Africa's evolving role as a battleground for proxy wars in unexpected and intricate ways. #ProxyWars #AfricaConflict

There is vandalism currently underway in Addis Ababa - the entire urban fabric of the historic city centre is being ripped up, with residents barely given notice

‘Using collected rainwater to irrigate fields may seem like an obvious, and easy, way to improve farming and conserve water. But, in #Kenya , it is revolutionary— and vital’

‘ #Climatechange puts pressure on Kenya’s water resources’ ft.com/content/90debf…

New research shows up to 62% of Africa's country borders existed *before* European colonialists supposedly shared out the continent as is conventional thinking

An intriguing stat from Semafor Africa's newsletter yesterday.
semafor.com/newsletter/03/…

Changing times

#Chad 's ‘Fool’s bargain’
Simply mind-boggling
source-material.org/glencore-chad-… h/t Jeffrey Paller