Dobet Gnahoré

Dobet Gnahoré was born on June 17, 1982 in a small village in Côte d'Ivoire. Her father, Boni Gnahoré, is a master percussionist who founded a sort of artists' community in which Gnahoré grew up. She dropped out of school at age 12, determined to become a musician, and by her mid-teens, she had become a touring musician and dancer. By her early 20s, she hit the international music scene. She sings in more than eight different languages, and her lyrics speak to the issues of women in Africa, as well as multiple social issues. More. Watch her perform "Djigenue":

The blog turns one!

Has it been a year already? Learning about this beautiful continent, its interesting culture, peoples and politics has given me much joy. Over and over again, I have been enthralled by its natural beauty, horrified by its cruel practices and intrigued by all the diversity and richness it has to present.

All year I have felt a deep wanderlust, a yearning to travel the length and breadth of Mama Afrika. Much to my dismay, I have had to experience some disappointment in my attempts to get closer to Africa - Last year, I missed an Amadou and Mariam concert by 30 minutes (I had never heard of them), today, as FdAf turns one, my husband is off on a two week trip to South Africa, Zambia and Botswana (unfortunately, my schedule does not permit me to join him) and finally, I have to skip a Kidjo concert in two weeks (I bought tickets six months ago) because I have a mid-term early the next morning. But these are very minor things. Africa is all around you, no matter where you are.

I am eager and hopeful for that moment, when I set foot on African soil. I leave you with a beautiful number from Vusi Mahlasela, Basimanyana which I hope you will enjoy. Here's to year one!

ECOWAS

This acronym puzzled me for months (Echoas, Echoise, Eckowass, I tried them all). Today's a day to say "Aha!". From Wikipedia:

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen West African countries, founded on May 28, 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos. Its mission is to promote economic integration. In 1976 Cape Verde joined ECOWAS, and in December 2000 Mauritania withdrew, having announced its intention to do so in December 1999.

It was founded to achieve "collective self-sufficiency" for the member states by means of economic and monetary union creating a single large trading bloc. The very slow progress towards this aim meant that the treaty was revised in Cotonou on July 24, 1993, towards a looser collaboration. The ECOWAS Secretariat and the Fund for Cooperation, Compensation and Development are its two main institutions to implement policies. The ECOWAS Fund was transformed into the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development in 2001. ECOWAS is one of the pillars of the African Economic Community (AEC).
The current President of the Commission is James Victor Gbeho. The current chairman is acting President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria.
It operates officially in three coequal languages (English, French, and Portuguese).

Official Website.

Forgiveness in Liberia

Liberia was set up by citizens of the United States as a colony for former African-American slaves. There is only one other state in the world that is started by citizens of a political power as a settlement for former slaves from the same political power: Sierra Leone, begun for that same purpose by Britain. (From Wiki).

This inspiring speech gives you an insight into life in Liberia post civil-war: