What We’re Reading: Why Youssou N’dour wants to be president

Jan 9th, 2012 10:41 AM UTC
By Robyn Mitchell

Africa Rising: Sub-Saharan Africa set for 2012 boom – The Christian Science Monitor forecasts that sub-Saharan Africa is set for a 2012 boom, due in large part to the rising demand for natural resources from countries such as Sierra Leone, Niger, and Angola. With a growing middle class, experts argue that boosting trade within the region is key to “making the most of that growing consumer wealth.” (Paige McClanahan, CSM)

Q&A with Youssou N’dour: Why the Musician Wants to Be President – TIME interviews “Africa’s most famous living singer,” Youssou N’Dour, who announced he would be running for the presidency of his native Senegal in elections on February 26. When asked why he is running, N’Dour said he cannot let rights and civil liberties continue to degrade and hopes that by jumping into the race, he will promote transparency in the election process, something the singer admits he has little confidence in. (Alex Perry, TIME)

S.Africa’s ANC accused of living in past after centenary – South African media criticized the African National Congress on Monday for celebrating its past in lavish style “at the expense of the present as the last merrymakers from the party’s 100th anniversary celebrations headed home.” The newspaper, Business Day, editorialized “The past does not blind an increasingly angry and disillusioned electorate anymore to the reality that it is the ANC which is failing to lift the majority out of poverty, that the ANC is riven with division among power-hungry and money-grabbing elites.” (AFP)

Maternal Health Poses Another Major Challenge for Somalia – Voice of America discuss the many challenges facing mothers in Somalia, highlighting that two decades of civil war have made the country one of the most dangerous places in the world for a woman to give birth – and the situation has become even more dire with the recent famine. The primary issue is a lack of equipment – there are no neonatal facilities in the south, making caring for premature babies extremely difficult. (Roopa Gogineni, VOA)

AIDS group rejects allegations against France’s Bruni – The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis dismissed as “inexact and misleading” a magazine report alleging that French first lady and Fund ambassadro, Carla Bruni, awarded $3.5 million in contracts to companies controlled by a musician friend of hers, at her request. According to a statement by the Fund, “The article makes several allegations that are groundless regarding a campaign that the Fund launched in 2010 with the backing of Mme Bruni-Sarkozy.” (Reuters)

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