The First African Prayer: Please, Please, Don’t Embarrass Us!
Whenever major international events take place in Africa, the first—and most earnest—prayer from much of the continent is usually, “Please, please, don’t embarrass us again.” This stems from a long history of mishaps (the world arrives at a venue that isn’t ready, or the electricity fails!). If the event goes very well, it’s a significant bonus. Over the past 30 years, there have been a few sporting moments of nail-biting tension that, fortunately, ended happily:
1. Rugby World Cup (1995, South Africa). This was the first time the tournament was held in Africa and the first to be hosted entirely by one country. It went smoothly and marked a historic post-apartheid moment, serving as South Africa’s global debut. Mzansi earned bonus points.
2. FIFA Confederations Cup (2009, South Africa). Embarrassment avoided. Bonus points secured.
3. FIFA World Cup (2010, South Africa)⚽️. This was South Africa at its peak, its finest hour. The event also spurred Africa’s fibre optic connection to the world. Major bonus points.
4. Netball World Cup (2023, South Africa). A passing grade achieved.
5. Ongoing International Cycling Union (UCI) Road World Championships (2025, Kigali, Rwanda). Rwanda has clearly excelled, and like South Africa in 2010, it is reaping significant rewards🚴🏿♀️. If Rwanda can address its pollution challenges, this event could position it as a global hub for extreme cycling training (those gruelling 1.3 km Côte de Kimihurura cobbles!😳).
6. Next up, Morocco will co-host the FIFA World Cup in 2030, alongside Spain and Portugal. Morocco is making moves that suggest it will succeed.
ENQUETE - Fraude amoureuse, blanchiment d'argent, vol de voitures : un réseau de criminels africains a développé ses activités au Québec, en arrivant comme faux étudiants au Canada #polqc#polcan
https://t.co/BYiWMWrMD4
La poliomyélite attaque le système nerveux et peut entraîner une paralysie à vie. Malheureusement, un enfant infecté peut en contaminer d'autres.
C'est pourquoi il est important de rappeler aux parents que la seule arme efficace pour les protéger, est le vaccin! 💙
@gouvbenin
The best times to take a walk:
1. In the morning with the sun on your face
2. After a meal to improve digestion and blood sugar
3. In the evening to prepare your body for a great night of sleep
Throwback: @Ijeletheatre’s dramatization of Chinua Achebe’s “Arrow of God” during the first edition of @UmuofiaBookFest in 2023. An amazing performance!!!
🔥 🇨🇮 Cette jeune ivoirienne va parcourir 8000km à vélo d'Abidjan jusqu'à Cape town !
🚴🏽♀️🚨 Ma chère petite sœur et cycliste Yasmine Diawara se lance ce nouveau défi de vie après avoir fait les exploits suivants:
- Pédaler de Abidjan à Accra (~528 Km)
- Pédaler de Danané à Dakar (~1757 km)
🌍 Ce sera la première femme africaine noire vivant en Afrique à parcourir le continent à vélo !
📢 Sponsors et partenaires, vous pouvez la soutenir en associant votre image à son aventure palpitante qui démarre ce 21 juin !
☎️ Contact: +225 0101002730
👩🏾💻 Internautes, vous pourrez la suivre en livestream sur ses réseaux sociaux en cliquant ici 👉 https://t.co/11D4mhLjyU
🇵🇸 Jean-Pierre Filiu a passé un mois dans l'enclave palestinienne entre les mois de décembre 2024 et janvier 2025. Il témoigne de l'ampleur des destructions, et veut interpeller les consciences sur la déshumanisation produite par la guerre.
https://t.co/HpunOnfmJ8
Good morning! Just dropping by to share my second publication of 2025. 😊✨️
This essay examines Netflix's influence in Africa focusing on Ghana and Nigeria. I focus my analysis on the representation politics of films like Azali and Lionheart.
More here
https://t.co/6H1IB0IWwi
🇧🇯 #CarnetNoir || Nous apprenons à l'instant le décès par accident du Ministre des Enseignements Secondaires, Techniques et de la Formation Professionnelle, Kouaro Yves CHABI. Son véhicule est entré en collision avec un Titan sur l'axe Parakou Tchaourou.
Arnaud Zohou, philosophe, essayiste, auteur de "Les histoires de Tassi Hangbé", Mèdéssè Nathalie Sagbo, autrice de la BD Tassi Hangbé, l’amazone reine du Danxomè et @Diamacoune ns parlent de cette reine du #Bénin.
@humanitelles
Any young man or girl that thinks stealing to make money is the best way out of poverty, is living on a fast lane.
Most of you will not survive beyond 50 years of age.
Depression, drugs and frustration will shorten your lives.
If you like, compare yourselves with politicians. Politicians are different from you.
Many of them built careers and have been employers of labor way before they joined politics.
And most will not be politicians for long. Elections or change of governments can remove them.
And they'll go back to their careers or private lives. Whatever they have stolen, will also not go to the grave with them.
And there will be consequences too.
But for you, 18, 19, 20, 21.... 25 year old young men. You don't even know what you're doing to yourselves.
You Jettison your education, opportunities to grow in a career or skill, for fraud.
And you think that you're doing anything good for yourselves? Even in the politics that you're talking about, what qualities or qualifications do you have to be appointed or elected?
Can you speak to the public? Can enlighten the public on why they should vote for you, so that you can go and steal like them?
Graduate, you did not graduate.
Even if you managed to graduate, you're not even employable because you wasted your time bribing your ways through school and "bombing".
Most of you have nothing tangible to show for committing fraud, other than cheap cars and iPhones.
Cars that would not last and phones that will be outdated.
Those of you that manage to acquire other assets will end up selling them off or losing them under very strange circumstances.
When you get to that stage in life, what next would be your fate? Depression, regrets, frustration and drugs.
Till you lose your lives at a very young age. If you like, call me a hater.
It's only a fool & a lazy one that will be envious of your stolen crumbs. This is what many of you will experience.
Change your ways and make yourself useful to yourself, the society and your unborn children.
What you're doing is nonsense and destructive to your future. And if your parents are in support of what you are doing, they have failed you and failed God.
End.
In the late 1940s, nearly 80% of Americans said they belonged to a church, synagogue, mosque or temple, according to Gallup. Today, just 45% say the same, the analytics company noted, and only 32% say that they worship God in a house of prayer once a week. https://t.co/TgJfpz4E0y
We are devastated by the shocking and tragic news of Dada Masilo’s passing. An artist like no other, gone too soon. We wish her family, friends and colleagues our deepest sympathies, our hearts are all heavy in this terrible loss. RIP @dadamasilo
Last Christmas, this Christmas, yesterday night and today at the mass, it's heartbreaking to witness police guarding the churches, in France.
At the beginning of the Jubilee of Hope, I wish peace and dialogue in this war-torn world.
The 50-year dictatorship of the Assad family in Syria, has ended in bombs, gunfire and flight. Muammar Gaddafi’s 42-year rule ended with NATO bombs and revolutionary mobs impaling him on a stick. Syria might descended in the Libyan hell, but the moral of the story for Africa’s incumbent and aspiring authoritarian familiocracies should be clear: Dynasty, corruption, and dictatorship usually end very painfully. Out of selfish interest, save yourself before the remaining small opening in the window closes.