Sorry for the blogging hiatus. I spent the last five days in Segou for the Festival sur le Niger  and intended to post something here each morning. This plan proved overly ambitious. I forgot to bring the battery charger for my camera and internet access was almost non-existent.

The festival itself was amazing. Segou is one of Mali’s most charming cities. It sits on the Niger river and lacks the hustle and smog of Bamako. Since it was Mali’s administrative capital during French rule it has some interesting architecture and quaint boulevards. One could say that Segou offers almost everything that Bamako does, just only one of each. This was my first chance to spend more than a couple of hours in Segou, and I will be happy to find any excuse to go back.   

I spent most of my mornings perusing artisan stalls, checking out art exhibits and sampling some of Segou’s restaurants. Mid-days, when it is too hot to do much of anything, were spent poolside at L’Auberge, a quaint hotel with a Peace Corps-friendly owner.

The entire event was incredibly well organized, with a wealth of entertainment options. Dance troops from all over West Africa performed on side stages, and in the river there was a large boat which hosted lectures on Malian art, culture and politics. It was truly a celebration of Mali and its neighbors.

Music started in the early evening and almost all of the big names in Mali performed. Personal highlights included Tinariwen (who some of us got to meet later in the evening), Nahawa Doumbia (Mali’s preeminent diva), and stalwarts Habib Koite and Salif Keita. Even with all these heavy hitters present, it was Gao’s native son, Baba Salah who stole the show.

Salah is nationally known, but hasn’t had the international success of some of the aforementioned acts. He draws heavily from a genre known as “Gao-Gao” and “Takamba’. His music is also highly derivative of the great Ali Farka Toure, whose bluesy riffs made him world famous. Baba Salah, however, is a flat out virtuoso on electric guitar. In fact, his performance on Friday night was downright Hendrix-esque. The rowdy Songhai contingent went particularly crazy when he did his own rendition of a Ali Farka Toure classic.

Here is a video of him performing the same song few months ago from the Festival in the Desert in Timbuktu. At about the three minute mark, he shows off his guitar playing chops. By the fourth minute, it just gets out of hand:

Also, here are some pictures from the weekend (all photos credited to Suzanna M. Keenan):

At the risk of sounding cheesy, the concert was that much more enjoyable because I spent it in the company of Malians standing shoulder to shoulder, belting out the songs that are their country’s greatest ambassadors. There is something truly inspiring about watching a people collectively celebrate the most beautiful aspects of their culture. It was a great night when I got to see Tinariwen, but for the teenage kids right behind me from Kidal and Gossi, that was the greatest night of their lives. Their night made my night a little better.

Keep an eye out for Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, who will be representing Ghana in the winter Olympics:

Africans have long played a dominant role in the Summer Olympic Games. But the Winter Olympics are something else. Yet a man from Ghana is in Vancouver, Canada to take on some of the world’s greatest skiers at this year’s Winter Olympics (February 12-28).

Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong has only been skiing for six years. But the 35-year-old Ghanaian, known by his fans as the Snow Leopard, is representing his country at this year’s winter Olympics in downhill skiing.  

His Olympic journey began when he moved to Britain a decade ago. In order to earn a wage for himself and his young family, he got a job as a receptionist at an indoor snow center, where snow is manufactured from water and air.

It was there that he first sped down a snowy slope carried precariously on a pair of rented skis.

“Really it was like having some fun, not really skiing because I wanted to ski but it was there – like working here, having the free ski slope and I learned how to ski that way,” he said.

But what started as a bit of fun, in the end turned into a serious pursuit. Within two years he’d made his way into a real mountain range.  

It was then that he got a taste for what he says he loves most about skiing – waking up early on a crisp morning and gliding alone down a snowy slope. But he also loves the speed.

“When you get to the top of a racecourse and you’ve got all the gates and everything set up, it’s a challenge, you know, it’s a competition against yourself to see if you can actually get down to the bottom of the slope – not just get down but get down as fast as you dare,” he said.

Richard Harpham is Nkrumah-Acheampong’s manager and has been working with him for the last four years. He says watching the Snow Leopard develop as a skier has been an inspirational adventure to watch.

Go Snow Leopard!

Some of the trickiest aspects of development are those that require behavioral change. Certain cultural norms, such as a tradition of private land ownership, lend themselves to wealth accumulation. Others, such as those that emphasize collective ownership, provide a social safety net and reward age over merit. Various societies have been well served by both systems.

Malians, for example, are expected to provide for the older members of their family without condition. When they hear that in America financial independence cuts two ways, freeing individuals from their parents and their parents from them, Malians are perplexed. One must keep in mind, however, that Mali is a country where social security does not exist and where saving for retirement is almost unheard of. In such a society, the idea of children severing financial ties from their parents upon reaching adulthood is not only impractical, but morally reprehensible.    

In many cases, cultural norms are a result of geography. Sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, is sparsely populated and therefore does not have the same tradition of private land ownership that European societies do. Until recently, there has never been a perceived need to own land. There was plenty to go around. This is even more apparent in pastoralist societies, in which a specific plot of land is of little value. In such a society, ownership is a concept ascribed to things one could accumulate and carry with them (animals, materials, and people).

Some behavior change requires tackling cultural norms that are much more complex, as they stem from spiritual or religious convictions. The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is one of the most complicated examples.

FGM takes place throughout West Africa. Though not required by Islam, the practice has come to be associated with the Muslim faith as it is practiced throughout the region. Many villagers, for example, claim religion as the motivating factor behind FGM. Those who work to stop the practice of FGM are likely to be labeled cultural imperialists, imposing their own beliefs on another culture.

Many people find FGM morally repugnant. It is, after all, painful and oppressive. But the more compelling reasons against FGM are the numerous health complications caused by the practice. Serious infections are common, as are complications when giving birth. It is on this front that moral relativism holds little sway. If the practice is not only painful, but unhealthy and life threatening, then the case against FGM can be made from within the cultural norms in which it resides.

A few weeks ago, several religious leaders in Mauritania issued a fatwa against FGM. This is an important step toward ending the practice, as it serves to decouple the practice from Islam. Convincing people to abandon the tradition, however, will take time. As IRIN reports:

NOUAKCHOTT, 29 January 2010 (IRIN) – A recent fatwa banning female genital mutilation/cutting in Mauritania will help reduce the practice only if religious leaders take the message to the people, scholars and anti-FGM/C activists say.

***

A group of Muslim clerics and scholars on 12 January signed the religious decree against FGM/C after two days of debate led by the Forum de la pensee islamique et du dialogue des cultures in the capital Nouakchott.

A 2007 Health Ministry study showed that 72 percent of women in Mauritania had undergone FGM/C – about the same proportion as in 2001 despite years of awareness campaigns and a 2005 law punishing anyone cutting a child and “causing injury”.

But education campaigns did help bring about the fatwa, religious heads said. The Muslim leaders issuing the decree drew on a 2008 declaration by Mauritanian doctors and midwives that FGM/C is “harmful to health and can have grave consequences including death”.

In 2006 a Mauritanian association of Islamic scholars issued a fatwa denouncing FGM/C but few religious leaders agreed to sign it. The 2008 declaration put more weight behind the move this time, Muslim scholar and secretary general of the forum, Cheikh ould Zein told IRIN.

He said of the recent fatwa: “Our reasoning went like this: Are there texts in the Koran that clearly require this practice? No. On the contrary, Islam is clearly against any act that would have negative repercussions for health. Today Mauritanian doctors unanimously declare [FGM/C] threatens health; therefore it is against Islam.”

But many Mauritanians, like one in Nouakchott who gave her name just as Fatimatou, say they cut because Islam requires it. “We practice this from generation to generation as Allah wishes,” she told IRIN. “A girl who is not cut cannot pray or get married.”

She asked several times for confirmation of the fatwa then said: “I have my doubts. I am going to ask about this in the village; we have a marabout [religious leader] there.”

Fatimatou, pregnant with her third child, added: “But if the child I’m carrying is a girl, I think I’ll have her cut because I don’t want her to have a bad life.”

Ould Zein said FGM/C is too often seen as required by Islam. “The difficulty is separating tradition from religion.”

I should add that Mali, a country culturally and religiously less conservative than Mauritania, has a higher rate of FGM than Mauritania, meaning that the prevalence of FGM in a particular country is not necessarily correlated with how “conservative” a country is.  

Additionally, the sentiments of Fatimatou reiterate what we saw with the spectacular demise of the new family laws in the Mali this fall. That is, any proposal that has foreign fingerprints, perceived or real, will be met with resistance by the local population. Robust  education and awareness campaigns, possibly spanning generations, are necessary to induce change. Those not content with incremental change are set for disappointment.

I came across two reports yesterday on food security in the Sahel. The first warns that severe food insecurity in the Sahel could lead to famine if preemptive measures are not taken:

Erratic rains – beginning late and ending early – led to poor 2009 agricultural production in Niger, according to the US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network, FEWSNET.

Three indicators of a crisis are already apparent in parts of Chad and Niger, ECHO’s O’Neill said: high food prices, low livestock prices and low wages. A sack of millet in the agro-pastoralist area of Zinder in southern Niger costs $42 versus $25 this time last year, according to O’Neill, who recently visited the region.

In Niger families usually start showing susceptibility to hunger during the April to September lean season, but this year households are already showing signs of vulnerability, according to FEWSNET and aid officials.

Families are selling off livestock and many pastoralists who generally migrate in search of pasture and water in March started to move as early as November 2009.

Grain stocks in Niger are at an estimated 30-percent deficit, or one million tons; the government is still assessing stocks, according to ECHO.

While cost estimates are likely to shift, a 25 January Niger government report projected that US$220 million would be needed to tackle food insecurity in 2010.

***

Each year in the Sahel 300,000 under-five children die of malnutrition, according to the UN Children’s Fund.

The second piece, from Africa News, sheds some light on the politics behind food aid and how some governments are reluctant to acknowledge that their populations are food insecure:

Last October, Niger Association for the Defence of Human Rights (ANDH) released a statement warning of a food shortage threat that might affect 2.6 million people.

But the government had accused the ANDH for quoting false figures and that there was no famine in sight.

The authorities also accused ANDH of making the alert to tarnish the image of Niger and to raise funds from international institutions on the pretext of tackling food shortages.

But by acknowledging now that 2.7 million people face famine, the government seems to be giving reasons to ANDH.

By all accounts, this year’s African Union Summit was quite a show, with Muammar Qaddafi providing theatrics as he handed the AU presidency to Malawi’s Bingu wa Mutharika. As reported by Argaw Ashine:

 The Libyan leader used his farewell speech to again urge African leaders to begin the process of political unification, which was a large part of his agenda during his chairmanship.

He also criticised the AU for “tiring” him with long meetings and making declarations and reports without asking him.

“It was like we were building a new atomic bomb or something,” he said, referring to meetings that had lasted long into the night and that he characterised as “really useless”.

“The world’s engine is turning into 7 or 10 countries and we are not aware of that,” Gaddafi said, dressed in a white robe and black fur hat.

“The EU is becoming one country and we are not aware of it. We have to get united to be united. Let’s be united today.”

An African unity government is a goal of the AU’s founding charter goal and Gaddafi, supported by leaders like Senegal’s Abdoulaye Wade, has been pushing for union for years, saying it is the only way Africa can develop without Western interference.

But members, led by South Africa and Ethiopia, argue the plan is impractical and would infringe on sovereignty.

Three days is a short time period for addressing issues such as hunger, constitutional transitions of power, and peacekeeping operations throughout the continent. Three days is even shorter when Qadaffi spends it doing, well, what he usually does:

Colonel Qaddafi did not leave the lectern before giving the microphone to an unnamed representative of a Libyan-sponsored group of African traditional leaders who had crowned him “King of Kings” in a ceremony in 2008.

The representative, bearing a golden scepter and trailed by an aide fanning him with a large feather, spent much of his address praising Colonel Qaddafi.

“You have the African people with you,” said the man, who spoke in French and did not identify himself. “This is what is important, not politicking. It is politicians who have destroyed us.”

Once Qaddafi surrendered the lime light, AU leaders  discussed a range of issues facing the continent, including peacekeeping operations and a ”resurgence of unconstituional changes in government”. Also from Argaw Ashine:  

Although leaders fought over who would be chairman, they agreed on the need to support leaders of transitional governments in Somalia, Guinea and Sudan, and for tough action against feuding politicians ignoring AU directives in Madagascar.

The chairman of the AU commission, Jean Ping, said there would be unspecified consequences for parties that go it alone in resolving Madagascar’s year-long political crisis. They have been given 15 days to respond to AU power-sharing proposals.

Mr Ban said the United Nations also would continue to provide financial support to AU peacekeepers in anarchic Somalia, as the conflict has a “direct bearing on global security”.

An AU peacekeeping force of 5,000 — provided by Burundi and Uganda — is struggling to hold back Islamist rebels in Somalia. The AU has repeatedly asked for UN peacekeepers to bolster its efforts but has only been given funding.

The veteran Libyan leader’s presidency of the body has been marked by his efforts to promote his vision of a “United States of Africa” — a project that has made little progress during his 12 months in charge.

It has also prompted awkward questions about the continent’s commitment to democracy, given the absence of free elections in Libya ever since Gaddafi took power in a bloodless coup in 1969.

Mr Ban expressed concern about what he called a recent resurgence of “unconstitutional” power changes in Africa and rapped attempts by incumbents to change the law in order to help them stay in office.

“The resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government in Africa is a matter of serious concern,” said Mr Ban, the United Nations secretary general.

“We must also guard against the manipulation of established processes to retain power.”

In an interview with AFP yesterday, Mr Ban put particular emphasis on the fate of Sudan, where tension has been mounting in the run-up to a 2011 referendum in which the south is widely expected to choose independence from Khartoum, only six years after signing a peace deal.

He called the situation prevailing in the western Sudanese province of Darfur “a serious situation which reflects and exposes our limitations”.

“The UN has a big responsibility with the AU to maintain peace in Sudan and make unity attractive… “This year will be crucially important for Sudan with the election in three months and the referendum in a year,” he said.

Let’s just say there is work to be done.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta  (MEND) is considering ending its ceasefire called three months ago, threatening an all-out onslaught against oil companies:

The group said it had become disillusioned by the government’s inability to sustain the peace process.  The prolonged absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua, who has been receiving treatment for a heart ailment in Saudi Arabia since November, has stalled a federal amnesty program and forced former rebels to rethink their participation.

Etugbene Cross is a former rebel commander in the western delta. He told VOA many disenchanted former militants are now anxious to resume attacks on the oil industry.

***
Resurgent militant activity in the Niger Delta adds to mounting security and political concerns in the troubled African nation.

The Niger Delta rebels say they are fighting for a fairer share of oil revenues for the impoverished residents of the region.  In June 2009, the Nigerian government offered a 60-day amnesty to gunmen in the oil-rich region, in a bid to end unrest, which has cost Africa’s top oil exporter billions of dollars in lost revenue.

***

Violence has subsided in the Niger Delta as a result of the amnesty program, allowing some oil companies to repair damaged facilities and boost production to around two million barrels per day.

Nigeria derives more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from crude oil sales.

According to New York Times, a pipeline owned by Royal Dutch Shell was attacked this weekend:  

On Sunday, Royal Dutch Shell announced that a crude oil pipeline in the delta had been sabotaged the day before. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

“It is a quite predictable but unfortunate development,” said Ledum Mitee, president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, an activist group in the region. “There has been a growing frustration as to a lack of any discernible program. No attempt has been made to deal with the fundamentals.”

Thousands of fighters from MEND and other militant groups ostensibly laid down their weapons last fall in return for cash payments from the government. But now, analysts said, there is a risk they will return to the 43,000-square-mile region, from which as much as 12 percent of United States crude oil comes, to continue crippling attacks on the oil industry. The analysts put much of the blame on the prolonged absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua, who is being treated in Saudi Arabia for a heart ailment and has been gone since late November.

“The amnesty agenda of the federal government is neither here nor there,” said Anyakwee Nsirimovu, executive director of the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in the delta’s main city, Port Harcourt, and a former member of a special government committee set up to study the region’s problems. “Since the departure of the president, nothing has happened. No progress has been made.”

Bestman Nnwoka, a member of the presidential amnesty panel, said the program was “still being worked out” when the president left the country. “We are faced now with the absence of the president, which has delayed implementation,” he said.

He called for MEND and other militant groups to “be a little more patient.”

“Any resumption of hostilities would be uncalled for and may prejudice other attempts on resolving militancy in the region,” he said.

Attacks on oil company facilities and kidnappings of workers have been going on for years in the restive region; MEND is one of the newer groups, and it is unclear how many militants it controls, or whether nonaffiliated groups are also considering resumption of attacks. Perhaps as many as 15,000 militants may never have disarmed at all.

In a statement issued late on Friday, the group warned of more pipeline attacks, saying that if oil companies did not halt operations, “any operational installation attacked will be burnt to the ground.”

The statement also chastised the government for doing too little for the region. “It is sufficiently clear at this point in time that the government of Nigeria has no intentions of considering the demands made by this group for the control of the resources and land of the Niger Delta,” it said.

Last summer’s peace overtures by government and rebels aside, little has changed in the delta’s underlying conflict, activists in the region said in interviews on Sunday. “The so-called repentant militants, they can be tempted to go back to their former life because of the failure of the amnesty process,” said Patrick Naagbanton of the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development, in Port Harcourt.

For informed analysis and links to background information, check out Sahel blog.

Nigeria has been getting a lot of international attention of late, but not the good kind. Despite being the most populous country in Africa, endowed with tremendous economic potential and some of the most famous writers, artists, musicians and athletes on the continent, Nigeria is best known for corruption, email scams and occasional sectarian violence. Its largest city, Lagos, is one of the most populous cities in the world, with a rapidly growing population of approximately 16 million people. Some estimates predict that by 2050 one out of every three people on the African continent will live in Nigeria. As a result, even those uninterested in Nigeria cannot deny its geopolitical relevance.

Yesterday, Secretary of State Clinton claimed that corruption and poor governance drive individuals to embrace radicalism, and argued that improvement in both areas is “absolutely essential” for political stability in West Africa.

 ”The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted a meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can’t just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people, has meant there is a lot of alienation in that country and others,” she said.

***

Clinton, who spoke at a “town hall meeting” of State Department employees marking her first year in office, said Abdulmutallab may have been vulnerable for recruitment by extremists because of misgivings about the opulent lifestyle of his father, a leading Nigerian banker.

She also said Nigeria faces a threat from increasing radicalization because quality-of-life factors in the country like literacy and health care are deteriorating, and from resentment over widespread corruption.

“The corruption is unbelievable,” said Clinton. “And when I did a town hall in Abuja, people were just literally standing and shouting about what it was like to live in a country where you know the elite was so dominant, where corruption was so rampant, where criminality was so pervasive, and that is an opening for extremism that offers an alternative world view,” she said.

The Secretary of State, who visited Nigeria last August, said she pushes for human rights, good governance and anti-corruption action on her foreign travels not because they are American values, but because such reforms are “absolutely essential” to the survival of many of those governments.

As someone who works on a democracy and governance project in Mali, this was music to my ears. Security and development are inseparable, as are sustainable development and good governance. Unfortunately, corruption and governance are the hardest part of the equation. Too many development projects ignore the governance side of the equation, under the assumption that if they can improve education, infrastructure, health and other “technical” components of development, the dirty details of governance will sort themselves.

The problem with this alchemy is that none of the aforementioned “technical” aspects of development are apolitical, and none are immune to corruption or ineffective governance. Unless transparent, participatory mechanisms are incorporated into project design, most development projects are unlikely to succeed.

Mali’s tourist season mirrors its cold season, meaning that visitors start arriving in October, with December, January and February constituting the “peak season”. The conventional wisdom in Mali is that security concerns, combined with the global financial crisis, have hurt the tourism industry. Several countries, including the United States, discourage their citizens from travelling to northern Mali, which includes the fabled city of Timbuktu. Additionally, the famous Festival in the Desert, held every year in the remote location of Essakane, was moved to Timbuktu this year due to security concerns.

This morning, however, I was surprised to learn that Africa bucked the global tourism trend in 2009, reporting a 5 percent increase in tourism, whereas tourism was down 4 percent globally. Analysts expect this trend to increase, for two reasons, both of which I support: Barack Obama and the FIFA World Cup. From the BBC:

The “Obama effect” of a US president with African heritage and the 2010 World Cup are boosting tourism in Africa, industry experts say.

“The World Cup is certainly the most exciting thing to happen to Africa, not just southern Africa, all Africans are very proud that it’s going to be there,” the ATTA’s head, Nigel Vere Nicoll, told the AFP news agency.

“There has been a shift in the way people look at Africa,” says the head of the UN World Tourism Organisation.

“Africa is now considered a very serious destination for travellers from the major generating markets,” Taleb Rifai told a conference in Madrid.

Last week UNWTO said Africa had “bucked the global trend” in tourism in 2009.

It was the only continent to see a rise in the number of international tourist arrivals last year – with travellers increasing by 5%.

That compared to fall of 4% worldwide, attributed to the economic crisis and the swine flu pandemic.

However Mr Rifai said Africa’s share of the tourist market was still only 5% – or around 50 million tourists from a total of nearly 900 million.

Kenya’s tourist board says that the fact that President Obama’s father was from Kenya has led to an increase in Americans visiting the country.

Meanwhile the African Travel and Tourism Association (ATTA) says this year’s World Cup, which takes place in South Africa, will have an “enormous effect”.

USA vs. England, June 12, 2010, Royal Bafokeng (Rustenburg), South Africa. Be ready.

Haiti is obviously out of the purview of this blog, but it came up the other day when Senegalese President Abdallaye Wade offered free land to Hatian citizens and proposed the creation of a new country in West Africa for Hatian refugees.

I dismissed the idea because it just seemed so infeasible. Over at Aid Watch, however, Michael Clemens from the Center for Global Development proposes lifting Haitians out of poverty by lifting them out of Haiti. He writes:

The earthquake two weeks ago hit Haiti hard because Haiti is poor. The rich U.S. had similar earthquakes with far less carnage. So, what would do the most to lift Haitians out of poverty?

Start here: What has done the most, to date, to lift Haitians out of poverty? That answer is easy. Leaving Haiti brought more Haitians out of poverty than anything else that has ever been tried: any aid project in Haiti, or any trade preference for Haiti. See my note and video posted the day before Haiti’s catastrophe.

Of all the Haitians who live either in the United States or Haiti, and who live on more than $10 per day—at U.S. prices, adjusted for the fact that things are cheaper in Haiti—how many live in the U.S.? (That’s a barebones poverty standard, just one third of the U.S. “poverty line” for a single adult.)

82 Percent of Haitians above this poverty line are here in the United States. (I calculate this with Lant Pritchett here, ungated version here.) Only the top 1.4 percent of people in Haiti had that living standard even before the quake, and there is no evidence that Haitian emigrants come primarily from the extreme tip-top of the income distribution. So for most of Haitians who left, leaving Haiti was the cause of leaving poverty.

***

The best thing the United States could do for Haitians would be to let them in, either temporarily or permanently. We are now accepting about 21,000 permanent Haitian immigrants per year, and just a few hundred temporary workers per year. If we really wanted to raise Haitians out of destitution, we could absorb many times more than this. To say that we shouldn’t because it wouldn’t be the end-all solution is like saying that a lifeboat shouldn’t fill its ten empty seats just because there are 100 people in the water.

Interesting analysis. I guess it depends on whether the goal is to lift the people who live in Haiti (Hatians) out of poverty, or to lift the entity that is the nation state of Haiti out of poverty. I think just about everyone would concede that the most desirable policies would find ways to both help Haitians get out of Haiti and help Haiti become a more effective state entity. That said, two very different strategies correspond to each outcome and over emphasizing one goal is sure to undermine the other.

It’s been tough to keep score for the international community (ECOWAS in particular) of late. The week started with a major breakthrough, as Guinea’s military leader, Moussa Dadis Camara, agreed to a transitional government and elections within six months. Even more encouraging, an interim Prime Minister from an opposition party was named to head the transitional government .    

Unfortunately, the interim Prime Minister is not a huge fan of the the terms “interim” or “timetable”. On Friday, he argued that he is not necessarily bound by the transitional government deal:

It took less than one week for the hope surrounding Guinea’s transitional government to turn to doubt with the new interim prime minister saying he will not rule out running for president himself.

Veteran politician Jean Marie Dore was appointed prime minister this week by acting military leader General Sekouba Konate as part of a deal reached with the regional mediator – Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore – and Guinea’s injured military leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.

That deal states that all members of the 101-member transitional government and the existing ruling military council are barred from running in elections planned for June.

But Prime Minister Dore says he has agreed to nothing.

Mr. Dore says the proposal of President Compaore is not an agreement, it is just a proposal. These proposals were given to both Guinea’s civil society leaders and the country’s ruling military council. And civil society leaders did not agree with its terms. He says President Compaore, General Konate, and Captain Camara signed what they call the Ouagadougou Accord. But that is not correct. it is nonsense.

Mr. Dore says he does not know the terms of the agreement between the Burkinabe leader and Guinea’s military. They can give their own opinion. But civil society groups were not present during last week’s talks in Burkina Faso. So, for them, it is not an accord until all parties agree.

He says mediators should only sign settlements as a witness once everyone agrees. Because Guinea’s civil society has not yet agreed, Mr. Dore says, it is a bit bizarre that President Compaore is calling this an accord.

The prime minister says he will not answer the question of his potential candidacy until he meets further with General Konate and other members of the transitional government once they are appointed.

Mr. Dore’s rival for the post of interim prime minister, labor leader Rabiatou Serah Diallo, says a politician should not have been chosen to help lead the transitional authority because it will raise questions about the impartiality of the elections to follow.

She says union leaders are ready to support Mr. Dore to get Guinea out of its political crisis but will, in her words, be “very vigilant” about watching his neutrality.

The international donors, fully aware of the challenges that come with organizing elections in a country as poor as Guinea, are set to meet with Prime Minister Dore to ensure that elections are ready within six months. Mr. Dore, however, finds little value in setting a timetable:

Mr. Dore says the transition could be one month or it could be three years, depending on what has already been done with voter registration.  While he says the transitional government will work to meet the six-month deadline, everything does not depend on the government.

Mr. Dore says the success of the election will depend on its organization.  And if there is not enough money to organize it properly, he says Guinea will continue to struggle.

The U.N. Secretary Generals’ special representative for West Africa Said Djinnit says the six-month timetable can be met, but only if things are done quickly with proper support.

“This is a window of opportunity that should be seized by national stake-holders but also by international stake-holders to ensure that this time around we can help the country exit from the crisis and return to constitutional order,” he said.

Guinea has been under military rule since a December 2008 coup that brought to power Captain Moussa Dadis Camara.  He was shot last month by the former head of the presidential guard who says Captain Camara was trying to blame him for the killing of at least 157 opposition protesters in September.

While Captain Camara continues to recover from those wounds in Burkina Faso, Defense Minister Sekouba Konate is Guinea’s acting military ruler.  He and the interim prime minister  will oversee the 101-member transitional authority.

Djinnit met with General Konate and Mr. Dore before the electoral commission meeting.

“I believe that all are keen to go through the shortest transition possible that will allow for preparing for the election as soon as possible, but also giving some time for some socio-economic support because I think it is very important that before the people of Guinea go to elections that the people could see the dividends of reconciliation in terms of resuming support by the international community, by the international financial institutions, and the key bilateral partners of Guinea to make sure that all efforts will converge towards making this opportunity a reality and returning quickly to democratic rule,” he said.

Djinnit was joined in Conakry by the head of the Economic Community of West African States Commission, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, and by African Union representative Ibrahim Fall.

Mr. Dore’s opinion regarding the danger of elections absent preparation is completely valid. I would prefer, however, that he at least  publicly commit to the timetables stipulated in the “accord”, as opposed to insinuating that preparations could take as much as three years depending on voter registration. Additionally, Dore could add some instant legitimacy to the process and save everyone a lot of time if he were less ambiguous about his own political aspirations.

As part of the weekend-long “Voix de Bamako” series, I saw Amadou and Mariam live at a concert just under Bamako’s old bridge. A couple of things made last night’s concert particularly enjoyable. It was free, meaning that Malians who lack any disposable income could attend. It was also very well organized, with an excellent sound system (in stark contrast to the Sean Paul fiasco). Most of all, it was Amadou and Mariam, meaning the music was phenomenal.

Amadou and Mariam are arguably the most well-known musicians out of Mali. The music speaks for itself, but their story adds to what makes them such a special live act. They are a blind couple, who met at a school for the blind. Their parents disapproved of their relatinoship and their chosen careers as musicians. In the face of all of these odds, they’ve been trotting the globe spreading a message of peace and solidarity and recording some amazing records in the process (click here for their website, and here for their bio from rfi musique.).

Here are some photos from last night. Both Amadou and Mariam are up front, to the right of the spotlight. Mariam is wearing a yellow and green outfit with a matching headress while Amadou is playing the guitar next to her.

Amadou and Mariam on stage

view from the old bridge

Here is a performance off of their new album:

On Sunday, Senegalese President Abdallaye Wade offered free land and “repatriation” to Haitians effected by the earthquake:

“Senegal is ready to offer them parcels of land – even an entire region. It all depends on how many Haitians come,” Mr Bemba Ndiaye said.

“If it’s just a few individuals, then we will likely offer them housing or small pieces of land. If they come en masse we are ready to give them a region.”

The spokesman emphasised that if a region was given, it would be in a fertile part of the country rather than in its parched deserts, the Associated Press news agency reported.

On Monday, Wade took the idea one step further, proposing the creation of a new African state for Haitians, drawing comparisons to the creation of Israel:

Seizing on an outpouring of African pity for the plight of tens of thousands of Haitians still awaiting aid, President Abdoulaye Wade said their history as the descendants of slaves gave them the right to a new life on the continent.

“All we are saying is that the Haitians didn’t take themselves over there. They are there because of slavery, five centuries of slavery,” Wade told Reuters TV on Monday.

“We have to offer them the chance to come to Africa, that is my idea. They have as much right to Africa as I have,” he said of his proposal, which became public over the weekend and is now due to be submitted to the 53-nation African Union.

Wade has long profiled himself as a defender of the poor on the world stage. Critics say he has a populist streak and his schemes do not always materialise, but the 83-year-old leader brushed off the doubters.

“Israel was created like that,” he said of the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine following World War Two and the mass extermination of Europe’s Jews in Nazi death camps.

“You can’t tell me it’s not possible. It’s all possible if the Haitians seek it,” said Wade, who was speaking on the margins of a conference in the Senegalese capital Dakar.

Senegal is due to submit a resolution to the African Union urging the creation for Haitians of “their own state on African territory, the land of their ancestors”, according to the text of the resolution published in local newspapers.

Wade said Senegal and other African states should naturalise any Haitians who sought new nationality, and he urged a mass adoption programme across the continent for orphans of Tuesday’s quake, feared to have killed as many as 200,000.

I will file this in the “well-meaning bad ideas” cabinet. Your thoughts?

In a stunning development, the leader of Guinea’s military junta, Moussa Dadis Camera, has agreed to a transitional government and to remain in exile in Burkina Faso. Voice of America reports:

Guinean junta chief Captain Camara signs a pact on 15 Jan 2010 in Ouagadougou during a meeting with interim junta chief General Sekouba Konate and Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore

Guinea’s military leader has agreed to a transitional government leading to elections within six months.

Captain Moussa Dadis Camara has agreed to remain outside the country, continuing his recovery from being shot more than one month ago while a transitional government takes charge in Guinea to organize new elections.

Captain Camara and interim leader Defense Minister Sekouba Konate agreed to the deal during talks in the Burkinabe capital with regional mediator President Blaise Compaore.

Captain Camara will remain in Burkina Faso for the time being, easing concerns that his imminent return to Conakry could jeopardize an interim government and lead to further violence.

General Konate threatened to resign Thursday during a confrontation with members of Guinea’s ruling council who were pushing for Captain Camara’s immediate return.

The United States and France both believe a transitional authority is more likely to successfully organize elections if Captain Camara does not return to Guinea.

He was shot in the head more than one month ago by the former chief of the presidential guard who says Captain Camara was trying to blame him for the killing of more than 157 protestors in September.

The United Nations says there are sufficient grounds for presuming direct criminal responsibility by Captain Camara for that killing.

Friday’s agreement says Captain Camara will remain available to help the players in the transition while he continues his convalescence in Burkina Faso. President Compaore says Captain Camara has shown a great willingness to help the process.

President Compaore says a period of convalescence for Captain Camara will be useful as he has put his trust in General Konate to lead the transition to an interim authority.

The deal calls for a transitional government organized by the opposition coalition of political parties, trade unions, and civil society groups to organize presidential elections within six months. Members of that government and the current ruling military council will not be allowed to run in that vote.

The deal calls for the revision of Guinea’s electoral roles, the reorganization of its security forces, and the deployment of regional civilian and military observers.
 

This is a huge victory for the international community, particularly ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), Blaise Campoare, the United States and France. Few thought that Camara would ever agree to any outcome that required him to exit the political arena.

(For a concise primer on recent developments in Guinea, check out the International Crisis Group’s report linked here).

I love free jazz. The problem: very few other people do and it is always a tricky matter when trying to explain why I think “The New Thing” is so beautifull. To this day, I am yet to find a way to preach the gospels of Ornette and Albert without coming across as a complete snob, which is fine, I guess, but like any true evangelist, it is exhausting to always be on the defensive.

When an art historian explains Jackson Pollack by providing historical context, it is usually well received. People tend to appreciate their informed commentary and view the works with a new perspective. But start discribing how Ornette Coleman’s work in the late 1950s was tantamount to throwing down the musical gauntlet and you can expect some eye rolls. Why?

I had the good fortune to see some excellent free jazz at the Centre Culturel Francais last Friday evening. The irony is that I was talked into going. When I first read that the CCF was going to have jazz on the patio, I was skeptical. I pictured middle-aged french tourists wearing khaki pants and velcro footwear snapping along to a barely swung, half-tempo version of ‘Take the ‘A’ Train”.

The group playing, however, was a far cry from Harry Connick Jr. They were called Maak’s Spirit (previously not on my radar screen) and were absolutely sensational. They started the set off pretty “out there” and after about two minutes, I whispered to my friend, “ I am the only one who is going to enjoy this’.

I was right, as I found myself sitting alone for the last 20 minutes. Standing ovations tend be less powerful when the auditorium only has thirty people in it. Either way, we managed to coax an encore out of the improvisational quintet.

What should have been a celebratory week in an anticipation of the 2010 African Cup was tragically preempted last week when a bus carrying the Togolese national team to Angola was attacked by Congolese rebels.

The Togolese team – which includes Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Aston Villa midfielder Moustapha Salifou – were shot at by a group of gunmen as they travelled by bus from the Republic of Congo into Cabinda, which is separated from Angola by a strip of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The small jungle province is home to much of Angola’s offshore petroleum activity and has been at the centre of a long-running independence fight led by various splinter groups of Flec (the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda).

Despite a so-called peace deal in 2006, low-level insurgency has continued and there have been sporadic reports of attacks on members of the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and some on Chinese and Brazilian nationals working in the province.

Notoriously dangerous

Flec had made some veiled threats that it might attack during the Cup of Nations – when it knew the world’s media would be watching – but the Angolan government gave assurances security was in place and there would be no trouble.

Speaking ahead of the tournament, Antonio Bento Bembe, a former Flec leader who was made a government minister as part of the 2006 Memorandum of Understanding, said: “Cabinda is safe and security there is guaranteed.

“The Cup of Nations is an opportunity for Cabinda to receive visitors and it will bring money and investment to the province,” he added.

Later, responding to the shooting, the minister said he had made the statements in good faith and added: “I am really sad to think that our African brothers came to Angola to take part in the Cup of Nations and this has happened.”

An investigation has been launched into what happened, but questions are also being asked about why Togo chose to drive through a notoriously dangerous part of the province, a known location for insurgents, instead of flying to Cabinda city directly, according to the Confederation of African Football regulations.

“The mistake is that the team travelled by road, they had obviously done no serious risk assessment of the area,” said Alex Vines, of London-based think tank Chatham House.

“This is the Mayombe rainforest and where radical Flec separatists have operated for decades.

“They number just several hundred but they can be disruptive, despite the large number of Angolan military and security deployed in the province, and international companies in the zones have been targeted with abductions and killings.”

Vanished optimism

Few such attacks reach the headlines because of an ongoing clampdown on media activities in the province of Cabinda and the government’s refusal to acknowledge Flec’s actions.

With Togo having pulled out of the tournament, the organising committee is pledging tighter security but trying to play down the incident. On Saturday, it issued a statement repeating that the competition would go ahead as planned.

Angola has reportedly spent $1bn preparing for the biannual tournament to be played in the four host cities of Luanda, Lubango, Benguela and Cabinda.

As well as four brand new Chinese-built stadiums, there are new airports, roads, hotels and upgraded hospital facilities.

Hype has been building in the country for weeks and the streets of Luanda have been a sea of red, black and gold Angolan flags and people in team shirts and caps.

One woman selling mangoes outside Luanda’s 50,000-seat stadium said: “We are happy about the Cup of Nations because it will bring tourists to Angola, and they will see that the war is over and that the people are peaceful.”

After the incident involving the Togo team, this type of optimism may now be hard to find.

Mali had the misfortune of drawing Angola  for the first match of the tournement. The hosts built an impressive 4 – 0 lead, and seemed to have the upper hand in every facet of the game. In 78^th minute, FC Barcelona star Seydou Keita scored Mali’s first goal and set the scene for one of the most thrilling comebacks in international soccer history.

Ten minutes later, Frederic Kanoute cut the deficit in half with a well placed header in the 88^th minute. In the 92^nd minute, Keita brought Mali to within one with his second goal of the game. It was not until the 95^th minute, however, that Mustapha Yattabare’s improbable equalizer set Bamako ablaze and sent Luanda into a coma.

Check out the highlights below:

Allez les Aigles!

I remember the first minutes of 2009 with clarity. I had just finished celebrating Christmas by hiking Dogon country with fellow PCVs and I was sick for the first time in Mali. I spent December 31^st watching my fever spike to 103, and and was not certain whether I could make it back to Gao before I had to go to In-Service Training (IST) in Bamako. Having barely eaten in two days, I scarfed down some wijila, drank a cold Coca Cola, and pitched my tent for the evening.

The party continued around me and eventually moved to a local dive bar in Douentza. I couldn’t fall asleep. My entire body shivered and my head felt like it was in a vice. When the clock struck midnight and 2008 became 2009, I was wide awake and began recounting what a long, strange year it had been.

At the start of 2008, I was in Connecticut, living with my parents in an active adult community, having just finished graduate school. Twelve months later, I was living on the edge of the Sahara, with a family who farmed just above subsistence level.

It was an amazing year, but in many ways, an unremarkable one for a Peace Corps Volunteer. Every PCV undergoes the experience of leaving home for a far away place and learning to live like others do. The journey from the suburbs to the Sahara was long and daunting, but it was a completely physical one, measured in units like kilometers and days. My most vivid memories are of 2008 are of tangible things like eating with my hands, bucket bathing and living without plumbing.

By these metrics, one might conclude that 2009 was a comparatively normal year. Personally, however, it is hard to imagine a more formative 12 months. It is not that my 2008 memories have lost significance; they just seem less relevant in hindsight. The physical journey of 2008 was important not because of the huge changes that took place, but because it set the foundation for a much more rewarding, metaphysical journey.

It has been a year of fresh perspectives and new insights, which have blossomed into new challenges and aspirations, and amidst all of this, it is hard to sum up the last year in a few words. A common theme that runs through every special moment over the last year is learning to appreciate companionship in all its complex forms.

We tend to think that the essence of being a Peace Corps Volunteer is making a very long, lonely, personal journey that is ultimately enriching and rewarding. This is true to a certain extent, because 2009 was a long, often lonely, personal journey and was enriching and rewarding. But few experiences from the last year would have any meaning or value had they not been shared with someone along the way, whether it be a close friend or a stranger on the road.  

Cheers!

Over the last week I have enjoyed a much needed “staycation”. I am housesitting for an American family (an unbelievable treat) and most of my friends who are PCVs are out of town. The resulting calm and comfort have allowed me to catch up on reading, explore Bamako, and make new friends. Additionally, I have benefitted from the generosity of several Americans in the neighborhood who have gone out of their way to include me in their Christmas festivities.

That said, there is no substitute for family and loved ones during the holidays. So for those of you reading, I hope you are having an amazing holiday season and look forward to seeing you soon, wherever it may be.

Last week I went to Le Stade Modibo Keita to see Sean Paul. Let me repeat that. I went to see Sean Paul… in Bamko, Republic of Mali. The concert was pretty bad. The sound was terrible, Sean Paul came on several hours late, and he faithully adhered to the time honored hip-hop/rap tradition of having fifty people on stage each with their own microphone (this never works).

That said, it was a cultural event, and worth checking out if only to see Malians in their best hip-hop threads. 2 Pac, Snoop and DMX were all very well represented on t-shirts, fake Converse and Air Jordans abound, and the amount of fake jewelry was astounding. By the time the concert ended, it was a full scale riot with chairs being thrown and cops partaking in amateur crowd control. Luckily, I had bolted before then.

Bamako is always a hectic place. The roads are packed with ancient taxis, green baches (hollowed out mini-vans packed with twenty-plus passengers), and oversized SUVs driven by diplomats, kleptocrats and ex-pats. What little space is left on the road is filled by swarms of mopeds, whose drivers seem impervious to traffic laws.

On days off from work, I make a concerted effort to walk around town and explore the city. Though I usually want to leave within five minutes of arrival, something always draws me to the grand marche. The crush of humanity consumes the market, and though it first appears chaotic, it is far from disorganized. Amidst the jostling, squawking, spitting and bargaining come something orderly. Something that cold never be planned, and can only be the result of thousands of tiny battles and compromises refought and renegotiated daily.

Bamako may be a dingy city in a poor country, but it is teaming with life. In late November into December it was a little livelier than usual. The Muslim holiday of Eid ul—Adha (known locally as Tabaski or Cipsi) took place, and celebrating this holiday in an urban setting was drastically different from last year in Gao. The celebration seemed less communal and more of a formality. In Gao, people saved for months in order to purchase a sheep for slaughter. In Bamako, where people tend to have more money and an adequate diet, such luxuries are taken for granted.

Bamako also had a little more pep in its step because last month marked the 8^th Biennial Bamako Encounters (Rencontres de Bamako) photography exhibition. This year’s theme was Borders, with the following definition:

“Perceived as territories of demarcation, enclosure or transit, they can just as well be places for transformation and exchange, territories – whether real or imaginary – of opening, opportunity or expansion.”

The exhibition, on the whole, was incredibly well done, and the standout works were those that addressed issues of oil/mineral extraction, illegal immigration, urbanization, and the African immigrant experience in Europe. These were the strongest because they grappled with what I consider one of the more fascinating paradoxes of our world today. That is, a global system in which goods and information flow freely in a seemingly borderless world, but people are systematically regulated and compartmentalized by arbitrary borders.

Check out the official website, here.

Lastly, there was a huge party thrown at a converted brick factory, with photo-portrait installation and live music.. The tres cool vibe was a little too “Williamsburg” for me, but it was a welcome reprieve from the normal bars and clubs in Bamako. Entry was a measly 1.500 CFA (about 3 dollars) and beer was an entirely reasonable 1.000 CFA. The musical acts were varied, and consisted of a Congolese band, Malian rappers and Angolan/Portuguese DJs.

The rappers were great (not that I could understand a word) and the DJs kept the party going until about 4am. Posh Corps.

As reported in the New York Times:

Federal prosecutors on Friday charged three West Africans with plotting to transport tons of cocaine across Africa in concert with Al Qaeda, using for the first time against that group a 2006 law aimed at drug trafficking that aids terrorism.

Federal officials say the case promises to peel back what they contend are increasing ties between drug traffickers and Al Qaeda as the terrorist group seeks to finance its operations in Africa and elsewhere. The case focused on a criminal organization in Ghana and elsewhere in West Africa that investigators believe worked with Al Qaeda, moving drugs to North Africa and on to Europe.

The case was based in some measure on the work of two informants, paid by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, who posed as representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a Colombian rebel group that has taken advantage of lax enforcement and corruption to use Africa as a significant transshipment route to Europe. As part of the investigation, one of the informants approached the defendants, according to the complaint, saying he was seeking help in setting up a network to smuggle cocaine across the continent.

Over the course of the four-month investigation, federal drug agents secretly recorded and videotaped the three West African men, who said they were associated with Al Qaeda and had transported drugs and provided support to the group in the past. Federal law enforcement officials, however, said the inquiry had uncovered no independent evidence that corroborated their statements.

The three men believed that they were helping the informants set up the trafficking network to move what they thought was FARC’s cocaine from Ghana to the deserts of North Africa to Spain, the drugs’ ultimate destination, according to the complaint.

“Today’s allegations reflect the emergence of a worrisome alliance between Al Qaeda and transnational narcotics traffickers,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement announcing the arrests. “As terrorists diversify into drugs, however, they provide us with more opportunities to incapacitate them and cut off the funding for future acts of terror.”

The three defendants, all from Mali and believed to be in their 30s, were taken into custody in Ghana on Wednesday and flown to the United States on Thursday night, officials said.

Identified as Oumar Issa, Harouna Touré and Idriss Abelrahman, they were charged with conspiracy to commit narcoterrorism and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist groups: Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the FARC.

The complaint said that the men were members of what prosecutors described as “a criminal organization operating in the West African countries of Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Mali” and that they worked with Al Qaeda groups in the region which would provide security for the North African leg of the journey.

Mr. Touré initially cited a transportation price of $2,000 per kilogram of cocaine, as the men discussed shipments of 500 to 1,000 kilograms (about 1,100 to 2,200 pounds), the complaint said. But he later increased the price to $10,000 a kilo, citing his own costs and expenses, including paying people along the route. While the informants initially balked, they eventually agreed, according to the complaint, sworn to by Special Agent Daria Lupacchino of the D.E.A.

Describing his strong relationship with the Qaeda groups that control areas of North Africa, Mr. Touré said he had worked with Al Qaeda to transport one to two tons of hashish to Tunisia, according to the complaint. He also said his organization had worked with Al Qaeda to smuggle people into Spain, including Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Indians. Mr. Touré promised that Al Qaeda would protect the shipment route.

Mr. Touré said he also supported Al Qaeda with gasoline and food and “collects taxes from many rich Malian people throughout the region on Al Qaeda’s behalf,” according to the complaint. It said he “commented that without him” Al Qaeda “could not eat.”

Michele M. Leonhart, the acting Drug Enforcement Administration administrator, said the case underscored “the direct link between dangerous terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda, and international drug trafficking which fuels their violent activities.”

Mr. Touré and the two other men were led into United States District Court in Lower Manhattan late Friday afternoon for a brief appearance before Magistrate Judge James C. Francis IV. Mr. Issa, a slim man, wore a long, flowing gold-colored robe, while Mr. Touré was dressed in a similar robe in royal blue. Mr. Abelrahman, who appeared older than the others, wore a dark jacket and rust-colored pants.

Two interpreters translated the proceedings into French for the three men as Jeffrey A. Brown, an assistant United States attorney, asked that they be detained. Mr. Brown, who is handling the case with Christian R. Everdell, said the defendants might flee if released and called them a danger to the community.

The men leaned close to the interpreters as the judge spoke, and, at one point, Mr. Abelrahman nodded vigorously.

Lawyers for the men agreed to postpone any bail arguments until early next year.

After the hearing, Mr. Abelrahman’s lawyer, Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma, cited the open judicial process and said the defendants would enjoy “the full panoply” of legal rights.

“Because we’re in court in the United States, we’re going to make sure their rights are respected,” he said.

Julia M. Gatto, who represents Mr. Issa, said he seemed like a simple man. Mr. Touré’s lawyer, James M. Roth, declined to comment.

The three men were charged under statutes passed in 2006 that gave federal drug agents the authority to pursue narcotics and terrorism crimes committed anywhere in the world if a link between a drug offense and a specified act of terrorism or terrorist group could be established.

Also, click here to see a map of the alleged drug route.