Afro-Catalyst

Artists push us to question and engage with the world around us, but their art and their creative process are frequently met with skepticism. African artists know this dynamic all too well. “This no be art” (Ghanaian pidgin for “this is not art”) is a phrase all too often heard at exhibitions and galleries. But a growing number of artists and curators have set out to change that. From ArtxLagos to 1:54 Contemporary Art Fair, new platforms presenting the best and brightest of today’s African artists are rapidly emerging. A young generation, a large diaspora, and rising recognition of the cultural and economic value of African art are fueling a growing collector base. And Essé Dabla-Attikpo is helping consumers and creatives capitalise on this moment. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak to Essé Dabla-Attikpo, a Togolese-Beninese art consultant, cultural producer, and curator about her efforts to make art accessible to all through her platform This No Be Art.

Ògógóró, also known as kai kai, akpuru-achia or Sapele water, is an indigenous spirit made from distilled palm wine once banned during British colonial times. But after decades of suppression, the once-taboo drink is back in fashion, consumed by tastemakers and business leaders across Africa and the diaspora. But how did a drink once seen as provincial become the darling of the continent’s trendsetters? Micro-distilled in small batches and handcrafted in Nigeria, Pedro’s began in the tropics of Delta State and was meticulously refined and perfected in Lagos by a renowned master distiller. Pedro’s fuses natural distillation techniques with a new African narrative to reinvent the original spirit of the continent. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak to entrepreneur Chibu Akukwe, co-founder of Pedro’s, about how he and co-founder Lola Pedro are building a proudly Nigerian brand using indigenous ingredients. Since launching in 2017, the brand is now stocked from London to Lagos, Nairobi and soon New York.

Once a neglected area of health, the prevalence of mental health conditions is on the rise. In Africa, the issue is particularly acute: 85% of individuals have no access to effective treatment and there are only 1.4 mental health workers per 100,000 people, compared with a global average of 9.0 per 100,000. In the face of this scarcity, there must be innovation – and a recognition of the unique social contexts that shape both the origin and treatment of mental illness. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak to clinical psychologist Crick Lund, a professor at King’s College London and an expert on mental health in low-income countries. Lund breaks down sobering statistics about Africa’s mental crisis while highlighting creative interventions. We learn about everything from how grandmas are intervening to provide talk therapy in Zimbabwe to how clinics and healers in rural Nigeria and Ghana are partnering to refer patients to receive the care they need.

Africa’s vast expanse is home to 54 countries, full of 1.2 billion people — and 1.2 billion stories. In the last few years, we’ve seen an expansion of interest and excitement as those stories cross borders. From traditional wedding ceremonies in Nigeria to a boat ride down the Zambezi, books have helped hundreds of millions of readers explore the continent at a time when travel remains long and expensive and visa requirements frustrate efforts at regional movement. Creatives—writers, filmmakers, playwrights and more—have used stories to bridge divides and bring faraway places closer.  In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak with Nancy Adimora, publishing industry veteran and founder of AFREADA, a literary platform that highlights stories across Africa, about why we need more stories and how we can enable more vivid tales from across the continent to be told.

The conversation about Africa and its foreign partners is often boiled down to beneficiaries vs. donors. This black-and-white picture fails to capture the unique economic and political contexts that shape how African countries develop their foreign policy agendas. International policy circles often neglect this Africanist perspective because the region’s countries often lack adequate representation in the rooms where critical international political decisions are made–even in instances when the discussions held focus on the continent. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak to Hannah Ryder, CEO of Development Reimagined (DR) about why and how this dynamic is shifting as African governments join forces to grow their international influence.

More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Plato told the story of the civilization of Atlantis, which sank into the sea after a barrage of fire and earthquake. Its treasures were lost in the deep forever.  While this story is more myth than reality, it is a reminder of the realities of climate change—and what we stand to lose from inaction. Natural and cultural heritage sites have enormous cultural, ecological, social, and economic value, but climate change is increasingly putting them at risk, especially in Africa. Researcher Salma Sabour studies why the region’s precious wetlands, sanctuaries, and reservoirs are exposed to phenomena like rising sea levels and erosion and how we can take steps to better protect them.  In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak to Sabour about the challenges facing extraordinary landscapes that make up Africa’s 800+ natural heritage sites from the Serengeti to the Cliff of Bandiagara.

Across Africa, football fits somewhere neatly between passion and obsession. As the region’s most popular sport, it is a mirror for the region’s hopes and aspirations -- a reflection of the wealth of talent on the continent, as well as the challenges  that even the brightest stars often face in gaining the respect and accolades they deserve in global fora. But despite the odds, many African-born players —from Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o to Liberian President George Weah — have made their mark on Europe’s premier soccer leagues. And more sons of its diaspora from the UK’s Reuben Agboola to French-born Senegalese ’s Edouard Mendy are returning home to be a part of the continent’s rise in football prominence. These players build on the legacy established by early pioneers like Anthony Baffoe, Ghanaian football legend and former Deputy General Secretary of the Confederation of African Football, who was the first diaspora-born footballer to play for Ghana’s national team, the Black Stars. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak to Baffoe about his journey to the heights of the sport, his work to improve Africa’s football infrastructure and his  efforts to combat racism on the pitch.

Gone are the days of Africa’s single story. In large part, due to social media. Hundreds of millions of users across the continent have turned to tools like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to re-shape their narrative on their own terms. Brands have started to take notice and are increasingly expanding their marketing spend beyond traditional channels like radio or television to tap into opportunities to engage consumers online directly. Among the pioneers shaping how brands connect with consumers is Yanfo Hackman, an entrepreneur who has his finger on the pulse of digital advertising, marketing and communications in Ghana. Over the past decade, his agency Social Ghana has developed some of the most forward-thinking, digitally savvy campaigns in the country. One of his most celebrated recent projects includes the launch of @TwitterGhana. As millions of Ghanaians partook in the #DettyDecember revelry,  Social Ghana kicked off a campaign spotlighting hilarious tweets addressing the realities of everyday life in Ghana. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak to Hackman about this landmark campaign as well as the changing behaviour of African consumers online and how Ghanaians are curating trending conversations not only at home but across the Black diaspora.

Consumers are used to getting what they want when they want it; no questions asked. But COVID-19 has exposed the complex realities of the trillion-dollar logistics industry–and how we’re all at its mercy, whether we like it or not. The pandemic has also accelerated the push to digitize this shockingly manual sector. In Africa, home to the highest shipping costs in the world, these shifts are long overdue. And one woman, Miishe Addy, is determined to shape the trajectory of the supply chain revolution at this historic inflexion point. Her company Jetstream Africa enables people doing business in the fastest-growing economies in the world to see and control their cross-border supply chains. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst, we speak to Addy about the historic drivers of supply chain inefficiencies in Africa, how the pandemic has impacted the cost of doing business and consumer prices as well as the steps governments are taking to help stakeholders weather the storm.

Mali, Guinea, Sudan, Niger. The steady uptick in coups across Africa in the last year has raised alarm bells in the international community. After nearly two decades of progress and peace, recent gains seem to be eroding. What forces are driving the rise of these grasps for power? These aren’t your grandfather’s coups, after all. With knowledge of social media and growing transnational ties to autocratic regimes with deep pockets, today’s coup leaders have a different set of tools at their disposal. In this episode of Afro-Catalyst featuring Remi Adekoya, a political analyst and Associate Lecturer at York University, we unpack the dangers of states’ failure to deliver development, the psychology of powerful elites as well as how to renew faith in democracy in the world’s youngest, fastest-growing population.

Constraint breeds innovation. Africa's development challenges have catapulted the region to become the global leader in financial technology. Now those constraints are leading the continent to become a pioneer in the future of education. Over the last 15 years, Ghanaian-born education entrepreneur has launched the African Leadership Group (ALG), a formidable set of institutions from the renowned African Leadership Academy (ALA) to the African Leadership University (ALU). But when the pandemic halted ALG's momentum, Swaniker was forced to pivot and re-imagine the organizational structure entirely. Within months, his team unveiled a bold new business model to better support its mission of creating the next generation of African leaders. In this episode, the former McKinsey executive, who has been listed among Time’s Most Influential People, opens up about ALG's unique approach to education. Not only has it helped graduates to land jobs with some of the world’s top companies, but it’s also attracted global attention for its practical approach to learning and leadership that turns traditional education on its head. Swaniker also shares personal lessons in navigating risk and why Africa must “think global” in order not to get left behind.