Ofeibea Quist-Arcton

Media Focus On Ailing Mandela Is Not 'The African Way'

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Sat, 11 May 2013 09:30:00 +0000

It's almost impossible these days to switch on South African radio or television, or read a local newspaper, website or tweet, and not hear Nelson Mandela's name mentioned.

Friday marked the 19th anniversary of Mandela's inauguration as South Africa's first democratically elected — and first black — president, four years after he was released from prison.

For many South Africans, the coverage of his recent hospitalization and poor health seems like media overkill. Older South Africans stress that the African way of coping with the twilight years is culturally nuanced.

Lady Mechanic Initiative Trains Women For 'The Best Job'

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Thu, 02 May 2013 07:00:00 +0000

The young women training to be mechanics at Nigeria's Lady Mechanic Initiative wear navy overalls and work boots and their hair is tucked under customized red caps as they repair vehicles in a garage. Customers come and go, dropping off and collecting their cars. Trainee Enogie Osagie says she faced great resistance at home when she started.

"At first, they were really angry. They didn't want me to go for it," says Osagie. "My mum wasn't happy with it. She just went on crying, 'Why do you want to be a mechanic? The risk is too much.' I was like, 'Don't worry, this is what I want.

S. African Leader Under Fire After Awkward Visit With Mandela

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:45:00 +0000

In South Africa, controversial images of a frail and ashen Nelson Mandela being visited by South Africa's current president aired on national television this week.

Chinua Achebe, Nigerian Author Of 'Things Fall Apart,' Dies

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:29:00 +0000

NPR's Ofeibea Quist-Arcton reports from Lagos, Nigeria, on the death of one of Africa's greatest contemporary writers. Quoting his publisher, AP, CNN, and the BBC are reporting Chinua Achebe has died.

Chinua Achebe who taught at colleges in the United States made literary history with his 1958 best-seller Things Fall Apart, a sobering tale about Nigeria at the beginning of its colonization.

Achebe, 82, played a critical role in establishing post-colonial African literature and is known to students all over the continent for his seminal novel, Things Fall Apart.

Baba Salah: A Malian Musician Speaks To His Nation's Displaced

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:58:00 +0000

It's Friday night in Bamako, and a club in the Malian capital has come alive. Guitarist and singer Baba Salah is on the floor.

His hometown of Gao, along the banks of the River Niger on the fringes of the Sahara Desert, made headlines as the first city in the north to be liberated by French-backed Malian forces in January. Gao was one of three regional centers in the north captured by rebels and jihadis a year ago. Islamists warned musicians that their tongues would be sliced out if they continued to sing and play.

Pope's Resignation An Opportunity For Africa's Cardinals

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 10:18:00 +0000

The names of African cardinals are popping up as possible contenders to succeed Pope Benedict as head of the Roman Catholic Church when he steps down at the end of the month.

The Mary Mother of Good Council School is one of a number of respected Roman Catholic schools overseen by the archdiocese of Accra, the capital of the West African nation of Ghana.

Clinics Come To The Rescue Of Ethiopia's Overworked Donkeys

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:25:00 +0000

In Ethiopia, the donkey is more than just a beast of burden.

The Horn of Africa nation is home to more than 6 million donkeys and comes second only to China in global donkey numbers. The country is both donkey heaven and donkey hell, but though the animal is highly prized, it can also be mistreated.

"In Ethiopia, there's a good saying: 'A farmer without a donkey is a donkey himself,' " says Bojia Endebu, a veterinary surgeon and seasoned donkey doctor.

As Economy Prospers, Ghana Holds Presidential Vote

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Sat, 08 Dec 2012 10:29:00 +0000

Voting for a new president and parliament in Ghana has been extended into a second day in some areas due to glitches with the new biometric voter verification system.

Ghana, which began pumping crude oil in 2010 and is also a major cocoa and gold exporter, has gained an enviable reputation in its often-turbulent West African neighborhood. It's admired for being a relative oasis of stability and peace in the region — despite tensions in the build-up to the vote.

A Peaceful Democracy

The unofficial 2012 election campaign theme in Ghana was peace.

All Aboard South Africa's High-Speed Train

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 19:32:00 +0000

Public transit in South Africa can be a bit of a nightmare. Many South Africans have had to depend on the ubiquitous taxivans, which are often overcrowded, dirty and driven recklessly.

But the continent's first rapid rail service, built to ease traffic congestion in South Africa's economic heart, is changing that.

The Gautrain links Johannesburg, the country's economic and business hub, and Pretoria, its political capital. With speeds of up to 100 mph, it is a smooth, swift, clean and chilly ride (complete with American-style air conditioning).

Despite Critics, Gambia Plans Dozens Of Executions

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:53:00 +0000

There is growing international criticism over plans by Gambia's hard-line president to execute all of the country's death-row inmates within the next couple of weeks.

Gambia's leader, President Yahya Jammeh, has long faced criticism for his human rights record. In a recent speech marking the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, the president vowed to put to death all prisoners facing the death penalty by mid-September, as a way to curb crime.

"By the middle of next month, all the death sentences would have been carried out to the letter.