To all prospective and existing long titled bloggers – Cut the long titles please!

Trials and Tribulations - Trials and Tribulations (http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com/2007/01/as-week-draws-to-close-in-ac...) E K Bensah’s blog – the title is too long – has some thoughts on Africa Today and Kofi Annan who is in town (Accra). The headline and photo on the front page of Africa Today reads:

“Romancing China: Africa looks east for new trading partner”
I thought it was the other way around – “Romancing Africa: China looks west for new colonies to conquer and resources to seize” – I suppose it depends on where you are standing as to where you look – east or west?

Blogging for Darfur, Black Kush - Black Kush (http://bloggingjuba.blogspot.com/2007/02/chinese-are-coming.html) comments on the cry or is it a loud voice shouting “the Chinese are Coming”.

“This cry used to cause fear around the world, but it is too late now. They are already here, at least that is what the situation is in Sudan.”

What tricks do they (the Chinese) have up their sleeves or is it just business?

The Benin Epilogue Part 1 - The Benin Epilogue (http://africareadyforbusiness.blogspot.com/2007/02/inspiration-to-many-c...) explains the inspiration behind his blog. No not his mother or Mama Ellen or even Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, but Carol Pineau, American journalist and producer of “Africa Open for Business”.

“Now, it just so happened that around the time of me learning about Carol Pineau two critical things were happening. 1) the off line group that I had really grown to love over the last several months was beginning to drift apart, with each member moving into other areas and 2) I had just read Professor George Ayittey's book called Africa Unchained. One of the things that this book did was point me in the direction of another amazing messenger of Africa's business successes called Emeka Okafor (not the basket ball player), author of Timbuktu Chronicles. These two events-aided by the strong impression left upon me by the Africa Open for Business website helped provide me with the impetus for starting the blog that you are reading right now. Now, it just so happened that out of the blue, after I'd already started blogging one of my good friends who has been to The Benin Epilogue blog a few times called me to give me the time, date, and the place of a local viewing of Carol's documentary. Upon hearing this I immediately stopped all of my other plans for that evening and happily attended the showing.”

He reminds us Africa is not just about Darfur, poverty and wars but also a land of stock markets, high rises, growing middle class and oh yes the internet. True and just in case you have forgotten in the midst of human rights and social justice - there is also a rising number of people living in squatter camps, street children and rural and urban homeless kicked off the streets of Cape Town becoming part of the invisible masses. Still we have to keep those stock markets rolling so those middle classes can buy their new 4x4s and other symbols of “success”.

Ugandan blogger, Country Boy - Country Boy (http://dennozbug.blogspot.com/2007/02/mr-president.html) is rather frightening as he tells us he is a huge fan of President Museveni of Uganda.

“Despite the many things people have said about Museveni, I’m an extremely huge fan of his. He survived the five years of the bush war to become president of a country as complicated as Uganda. He’s done a number of good things, is very knowledgeable –he absolutely seeks to add value to himself by educating himself –by all means I do quite admire him a lot.”

And oh yes, he too (Country Boy) wants to become President one day. My advice, please don’t follow in Museveni’s footsteps!

Another Ugandan Blogger, JackFruity - Jack Fruity (http://jackfruity.blogspot.com/2007/02/hour-of-our-discontent.html) discusses blogging anonymously and the “Ugandan Best of Blogs Award”.

“A study done in 2004 showed that 42% of bloggers almost never reveal their identities online, and 36% have gotten in trouble for something they wrote on their blogs. I value the freedom to say what you want online without offline retribution (provided you're not inciting riots or calling for murder), and I will never criticize those who treasure their online privacy. My intention with the BOB awards and the Ugandan Bloggers Happy Hours is not to force the spotlight onto anyone who would rather remain anonymous (UBHH guests: I went through the photos and deleted those that showed the faces of anyone who asked me to protect their privacy). If you don't want your blog involved in the awards, just e-mail me and let me know so I can take you out of the running.”

White African - White African (http://whiteafrican.com/?p=365) continues his promotion of mobile technology as essential to Africa’s development and connectivity. Here he comments on “Mobile Phones as a Platform in Africa”.

“Any long time reader here will know that I believe that the mobile platform is the only real platform for mass market communication efforts in Africa. Whether that’s with eCommerce, payment services, information, news or entertainment. More and more companies are coming out with new applications designed specifically for usage by Africans…..TradeNet is more than just a copycat of some other software, it’s a new take on how to communicate and foster trade in Africa. Not just that though, it has a business model. It’s not just an development agency, it’s a business that’s here to stay. That’s huge. It’s a big idea that is actually being executed on.”

Black Looks - Black Looks (http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/02/1313.html) comments on the trade of slaves from the “Rice Coast” of West Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal on the one hand, and the movement of “freed” slaves from Canada to Britain and finally to Sierra Leone as indentured workers for the first colonialists setting up agricultural trade between West Africa and Britain.

“The first 411 returnees took place as early as 1787 from Canada to Britain and then on to Sierra Leone. 15 years later another 1400 arrived however realistically I would think that returnees were arriving consistently from 1787 in small numbers. As with Liberia the returnees were “sponsored” by humanitarians and philanthropists in name but who were in fact the first colonisers running an indentured slavery system using returnees to develop commercial agricultural farms that would trade with Britain…..
Ironically at the same time that the freed slaves from Canada (runaways from the US) were returning to Sierra Leone, plantation owners in South Carolina and Georgia were purchasing slaves from what they called the “Rice Coast” Sierra Leone, Liberia and up to Senegal for their special knowledge of growing rice often using Bance Island - a major slave trading factory in Sierra Leone”.

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org