Mtandao creates, aggregates and disseminates information and resources to facilitate Social Work and Development Work in Africa.
For decades, the idea of an African Renaissance has stood as an intellectual framework calling for a continent that reclaims its cultural heritage, secures political self determination and reduces its dependence on the global financial system. For a long time, a gap has remained between this framework and everyday practice. The philosophy has largely lived…
The Dangote framework is a blueprint for African industrialisation, developed by Aliko Dangote. The framework holds that Africa’s path to prosperity lies in self-sufficiency, large-scale local production and the removal of regional barriers. In Dangote’ own words “We need to understand that we are the only people that can make Africa great. Nobody will do…
Read More “The Dangote framework for Africa’s development” »
In April 2026, Robert Dussey, speaking on behalf of the African Union, announced that Togo is preparing a United Nations resolution to replace the widely used Mercator projection with a more accurate alternative. At the centre of this proposal is the adoption of the Equal Earth projection, which better represents the true size of continents,…
Read More “Togo challenges the world map: why this is practical decolonisation” »
Debates about Country as teacher often draw on Indigenous scholarship from Australia and North America. African Indigenous societies also contribute to this discussion. Communities such as the San, Khoikhoi, Hadza, Sandawe, Mbenga, Mbuti and Twa show how knowledge can develop through sustained engagement with land, ecosystems and community life. These societies provide examples of learning…
I write this reflection as a South African Black social worker, as Babe Kazi, the woman-father, the aunt whose responsibility in the family is not only to nurture, but also to question, to correct, to warn, and to speak uncomfortable truths for the good of the collective. In African families, Babe Kazi does not remain…
Africa, your soil shaped futures beyond your handYet your voice remains too seldom namedHarambee calls, Ubuntu waitsTo guide justice through open gates When social work and development workers visit Africa for conferences, they must remember the continent’s layered history and its present realities. Africa was once valued for slaves and territory. The challenge is that…
Read More “When the world visits Africa: a reflection for social work and development” »
Malaria remains one of Africa’s deadliest diseases, killing hundreds of thousands each year, particularly children under five. Despite progress in treatment and prevention, the continent still carries the heaviest burden of malaria worldwide. The suspension of the Target Malaria project in Burkina Faso has sparked wide debate about who controls research and whose interests are…
Read More “Mosquitoes, mistrust and the marginalisation of African researchers” »
A comprehensive, pan-African list of rulers, thinkers, warriors, and reformers. West Africa North Africa East Africa Central Africa Southern Africa Women leaders Expand or revise the list Do you have others to add on the list, please use the comments boxes below.
A brief history of the song Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika Lord, bless Africa is an English adaptation of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, a hymn composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga in isiXhosa. Enoch was a teacher under colonial education and religion, and this influenced the meanings he could entrench into the song. It became a powerful liberation…
Read More “Questioning Faith and Power in the Struggle Song ‘Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika’” »
Following the meeting at the White House where Africa was humiliated by the Americans led by President Trump on 21 May, our readers may be wondering what is the correct position. My own position is that the USA, Trump, Musk and their supporters, including AfriForum are wrong about ‘genocide’ and land. Below are some reliable…
Read More “The USA, Trump and Musk are wrong about land and ‘genocide’ in South Africa” »
The feautured picture above shows Cudjo and Abache who were forcibly taken to Alabama by cotton farmer Timothy Meaher and ship captain William Foster together with 108 others from Benin the Kingdom of Dahomey in Africa, in 1860. Their slave ship, Clotida is the last known ship to travel with slaves to America. A view…
The image shows the intersection of African religion and Abrahamic religion. Can you pick some examples? The round-headed spiritual stick is found in African religion, so is the animal skin head gear. The while robes are characteristic of Islamic and Christian practices. In colonial religion, all African artefacts, symbols, languages, songs, dances, stories, ancestries and…
Meanings Karma is a concept found in many Eastern religions and philosophies, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It means that a person’s actions, whether good or bad, will eventually come back to impact them. Essentially, it’s the idea that actions have consequences. In a broader sense, karma helps us understand how what we do…
When aid bulldozes the cultures, philosophies, dignity and aspirations of others in society, this is unjust, disempowering, bullying and colonising. From the White House, the United States Aid (USAID) has been described as an ‘insane, abusive, wasteful, unaccountable that has funded ridiculous and malicious programs’. These are the words of its own people, President and…
Read More “USAID dead aid: list of charges by its own people” »
In our profession of social work and development, justice is revered as a key value. Is justice the same for all races? Are other injustices, for example, land injustice ignorable? Decolonisation is also valued in in social work and development. Is land return and decolonisation valued, for all races? Are property rights for all races?…
Read More “Julius Sello Malema on land return and decolonisation” »
In the context of the United States of America (USA)’s aid cuts to force deals with other countries and to achieve political, social and racial goals, it is important to revisit Dambisa Moyo’s theory of dead aid. The Trump administration has stopped funding to the United Nations institutions such as the World Health Organisation (WHO),…
Read More “Weaponisation of aid: revisiting Moyo’s Dead Aid Theory” »
Case study 2 – mass murder in Uganda In Uganda, in the year 2000, a Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God motivated by Mary of the Bible set 500 people on fire until they died Kanungu District, and about 400 other bodies were found buried at different locations killed by stabbing…
Read More “The dangers of foreign religions in Africa: 3 Christian case studies” »
The Olympics games held in Paris, France have come and gone. Two articles provide more light about the Olympics. The first one by Aimée-Noël Mbiyozois is about Eurocentric views of femininity. The second one by Francois Cleophas is about ‘the disturbing story of two 1904 marathon runners’ who were the first Africans at the Olympics. Titled,…
The Ghana Parliament passed a bill early this year to promote sexual activities that align with African culture and values. It is called Bill to provide for human sexual rights and family values. Whether the Bill ends up being signed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo or not, it reflects the thinking of people of…
To understand who contributes to the topic of sexuality in Africa, authorship in The Conversation Africa, an Australian online media outlet was systematically reviewed. Methodology The review covered articles published in The Conversation Africa up to 26 May 2024 that included the words LGBT and Africa. Results showed 51 articles published in English between 2023…
In the USA, thousands of books were banned in 20231 (and before) for misinforming their society, especially children. Parents, community leaders,academics and politicians have initiated and supported these bans. Most of the books have characters who are homosexual (gay or lesbian) or in Global North terminology, they are LGBT (meaning lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual)….
