Episodes
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Across Africa: Ivorian vinyl head's heritage hunt
This week in Across Africa: Ivorian music lover Cédric Kouamé is on a mission to restore 20th-century African vinyl and bring old-school sounds back to modern playlists. Also, 10 years after Cameroon's worst railway disaster, families are still fighting for justice for the 79 people killed....
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Across Africa: Marie Lora-Mungai & the essential business handbook for the continent's creatives
African creatives have global clout, but talent is only part of the picture, and in reality the starving artist is not a romantic figure but an unsupported one. No more. Georja speaks to one of the biggest advocates for the development of the continent's artistic industries – Marie Lora Mungai's...
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Across Africa: Wined Up - A continent uncorked
As one of the biggest events in the global wine scene wraps up in Paris, Georja is joined by Nigerian vine virtuoso, Chinedu Rita Rosa. The French industry is struggling but Africa's growing young, cosmopolitan middle class is the perfect terroir for producers hoping to cultivate new markets.
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Across Africa: 'Mothers of Chibok', a story of sadness and strength
Emmy Award-winning Nigerian director Joel Kachi Benson is Georja Calvin-Smith's guest this week. He is still journeying alongside the families marked by the horrifying abduction of their daughters 12 years ago by Boko Haram. The violation has faded from international headlines, but Benson has…
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Across Africa : Flexing continent's specific perspective for 'The General History of Africa'
A weekly round-up of stories from across the continent with Georja Calvin-Smith. African scholars update a monumental book that sets out the continent's global contribution across thousands of years. Also, South Africa's household help sector is in a mess. About 400,000 jobs have disappeared in…
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Across Africa: UN chief shocked by global indifference and impunity of Sudan's war
In this edition: The UN's humanitarian chief says he is shocked by the world’s indifference to the devastating toll of the war in Sudan, after visiting the ravaged region of Darfur. Also, in Madagascar, authorities have unveiled an enormous 300-kilogram emerald reportedly found inside the palace…
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Nigerian nut ban slammed as shea madness
Nigerian communities that rely on sales of shea nuts are worried that a six-month export ban aimed at encouraging local use of the crop will leave a worrying crack in the $6 billion global market. Also, Benin's entrepreneurs take on the prickly problem of breakdowns in the pineapple production...
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The Cavemen. & Peace Hyde on seeking African creative clout
In this special edition we take a look at cutting-edge African culture. Peace Hyde, producer of three-season Netflix runaway success "Young, Famous & African" speaks to Georja about tackling myopic views about Africa by tapping into the diaspora to focus on the continent’s innumerably…
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Afrikaners ‘free’ to become refugees in US, South Africa's deputy president says
South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile, in an interview with FRANCE 24’s Georja Calvin-Smith, denied President Donald Trump’s claims of a “white genocide” in South Africa. Responding to Trump’s scheme to welcome white South Africans to the US as refugees, Mashatile said, “If they want to…
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Not just numbers: Quantifying development as metrology hits 150-year milestone
If you can measure it, you can manage it. One of Kenya's metrology heavyweights speaks to Georja Calvin-Smith about how there is might in monitoring. There were no African signatories when 17 countries came together 150 years ago to set measurement standards for time, distance and weight, but as...
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Trump administration talking to African countries about taking in US expelled migrants
The US says that it's in talks with several African countries that might agree to take in migrants expelled by Washington. FRANCE 24's Fraser Jackson speaks to the State Department about those plans and progress on the Washington-brokered DR Congo peace plans.
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ACROSS AFRICA | The historical fissures of DR Congo's M23 Crisis
Join Georja Calvin-Smith for a weekly look at stories from across the continent. This week she's joined by journalist, Michaela Wrong to discuss some of the historical relationships between DR Congo and its neighbours that have fed into the current scramble to respond to wins by the M23 insurgency.
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DR Congo: Blasts kill 11 at rally in eastern city of Bukavu
In this week's Across Africa: At least 11 people are killed and dozens injured in explosions at a rally called by M23 rebels in the captured eastern Congolese city of Bukavu. Also, Ghana's defence capabilities are being boosted by a €50 million EU military package. Plus, people working for...
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Africa and artificial intelligence: Tailoring AI to the continent's needs
In this week's Across Africa: Tech innovators tailoring artificial intelligence to the continent's context head to Paris for a global summit on the tech's next steps. A parallel event spotlights the regional push to develop AI in Africa's own image. Dr Shikoh Gitau of digital transformation lab...
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Across Africa | Vodun music revival in Benin
In this week's Across Africa: Vodun believers in Benin marry traditional faith with contemporary creativity to spread their heritage. Also, the African manatee has come under pressure over the decades from poaching and shrinking habitats, but one Cameroonian biologist has been working to improve...
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Zimbabwe and Zambia grapple with their energy futures
Clarisse Fortuné brings you a round-up of society, culture and hot topics from across the continent. This week on Across Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia are running on empty as drought dries up their shared hydroelectric dam. Now they must grapple with how to ensure their energy futures. On the other...
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Mo Ibrahim on African governance and grief over Sudan's war
In this week's Across Africa, Georja Calvin-Smith speaks to Sudanese businessman Mo Ibrahim about the 2024 Ibrahim Index of African Governance and his immense sadness at the international community's failure to do more to protect Sudanese civilians caught up in one of the world's worst wars.
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DR Congo's dawn of digital sovereignty
FRANCE 24's Georja Calvin-Smith brings you a round-up of society, culture and hot topics from the continent. This week sees a big step for DR Congo's digital sovereignty as it inaugurates its first-ever data centre. Plus, an oil refinery in Nigeria could be a game changer for the continent's...
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Making me dizzy: South Africa straightens up rebel motor of spinning
FRANCE 24's Georja Calvin-Smith brings you a round-up of society, culture and hot topics from the continent. This week, the race to rebuild the Libyan city of Derna continues, and South Africa is in a spin over the potential professionalisation of previously outlawed motorsports.
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Sport and development: Africa’s game plan for its transformation
Africa’s sporting elite have been showcasing their prowess at The Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. But sport is about more than performance and can have a huge social impact. For the first Across Africa after the summer break, Georja Calvin-Smith speaks to Remy Rioux, head of France’s...
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WTO head Okonjo-Iweala on Africa's trade and development roadmap
In an interview with FRANCE 24 in Geneva, the head of the World Trade Organization, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, speaks to Georja Calvin-Smith about her take on the vital components of Africa's trade and development roadmap.
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Zanzibar commemorates abolition of slavery for first time
Since a fragile 2022 peace deal ended Ethiopia's two-year war between Tigrayan fighters and federal forces, there are signs of recovery in the capital of Tigray. Also, Zanzibar commemorates the abolition of slavery. The island was a key stopping-off point for Arab slavers across East Africa for...
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Afro-descendants offered Beninese citizenship
Benin encourages members of the African diaspora to call its shores home by offering citizenship to descendants of those who left the continent far in the past. Also, the Olympic flame symbolises the light of spirit, knowledge and life. Oumar Diemé, a Senegalese Olympic torch bearer and a former...
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Support and sniping for South African universal healthcare law
This week, a new law paving the way for the introduction of universal healthcare in South Africa both excites and divides. Also, ed tech has the potential to close education gaps in DR Congo. One digital learning portal is going down well with kids, but is struggling to attract the investment it...
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Nigeria's rural vigilante patrols aim to protect local communities
Northern Nigerian communities who have lost faith in the struggling security forces' ability to protect them are increasingly setting up vigilante groups to battle insurgents themselves. Also, rap is gaining ground in Egypt and although the scene is still overwhelmingly dominated by men, women…
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Nigeria hit by snaking queues at the pumps amidst petrol crisis
Motorists in Nigeria face huge queues at petrol stations across major cities as frustration grows over the multi-headed crises dragging on the country's economy. Also, known locally as the Mendzang, the xylophone has a small but dedicated following in Cameroon. And we head out on the road with…
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