A55 Podcast: The Pulse of Africa

Thirty years ago, a young Reggie Rockstone, having been involved in the hip hop movement for years, returned to Ghana to start a new movement he named hiplife - a fusion of hip hop and Ghanaian highlife music. From the mid 1990s to mid 2000s, hiplife music dominated the Ghanaian music scene. Even as the sound continues to evolve, it's having to compete with newer sounds from Nigeria and South Afri...

As concerns about the fate of democracy especially in the West, continues to increase, we dedicate this special episode of the podcast to talking about democracy in Africa. Nearly 20 countries on the continent are scheduled to hold elections this year but two countries, Burkina Faso and Mali, have indefinitely postponed theirs even as pressure mounts on their military leaders to do so. Dr. Lassane...

South Africa holds it seventh general elections on May 29, 2024. Since the country's first democratic elections in 1994, which saw Nelson Mandela elected president, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has consistently won the majority in parliament thus getting to form a government. But 30 years on, the party has been criticized for failing to deliver on its promises to improve the lives of...

Sylvia Arthur grew up in England. During her years working in Europe, she bought and read books - over 1,000 of them. When Sylvia packed up her life in Europe and moved to Ghana, she opened up her personal book collection to the public. Her move was inspired partly by what she said was the lack of books by Ghanaian and other African authors in bookstores in the country. Sylvia Arthur's personal co...

As a young man growing up in Togo, Bamazi Talle discovered he had a talent for art so he learned all he could from his uncle. In the mid 1990s, an invitation to the United States set him on a path to learn more about art. Today, he's a renowned artist whose work has been featured on PBS and in other art magazines and new media. He is also the founder of KIACA , a gallery in Columbus, Ohio, that he...

After years of reading comic books by non-African writers, Olufikayo (Ziki) Adeola, Toluwalakin (Tolu) Olowofoyeku and Hamid Ibrahim set up Kugali Media to create their own African comic books. In a 2018 interview with the BBC, Hamid called out arguably the world's top animation company, Disney. Today, Kugali Media and Walt Disney Animation have partnered to create an African sci-fi miniseries Iwá...

There's been a surge in demand for art by African artist in recent years. 2023 was a particularly good year for African artists whose works according to research firm ArtTactic exceeded a combined annual auction worth of $72 million. Gameli Hamel , a Writer and Art & Culture Journalist, summed up the record setting year for African artist in this article for ARTnews . Gameli joined us to expla...

Thousands of Africans leave home each year to pursue higher education abroad. They embark on these journeys with their own dreams and often with high expectations from families and friends. Arthur Musah captures the challenges and daily struggles faced by four young Africans on their quest for world class education at the renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States in his m...

Senegal was billed to hold an historic presidential election on February 25, 2024. Then on February 3, the incumbent president, Macky Sall, postponed it citing a dispute over candidate list. Mr. Sall has promised he will step down on April 2, 2024, when his term ends. But where does that leave Senegal? Dr. Rama Salla Dieng , a lecturer of African Studies and International Development at the Univer...

After months of preparation and research, we're ready to launch the a55 Podcast on March 1, 2024. Mark the days on your calendar. Join every other Friday after March 1 for brand new episodes! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to the a55 Podcast! Africa is a continent with a rich and complex history. But over the centuries, its story has been told through a myriad of lenses, many, not African. The result is an outdated perception of the continent. From this March 2024, the a55 podcast will strive to tell the story of a contemporary Africa and its place in the modern world by engaging experts and Africa...