Afropreneurs: How These Coworking Spaces Navigate Ghana’s Startup Ecosystem (OkayAfrica)

OkayAfrica's theme for April is "Hustle." My latest piece for their Afropreneurs series takes a look at the people who hustle to help grow Ghana's start-up ecosystem. You can find it via the Okayafrica website, and preview a short excerpt below. 

Co-working, a trend pioneered by companies like WeWork, is a trend common in major American cities in New York or San Francisco. Across Africa it remains a new concept. However, as investment across the continent picks up steam, more startups are taking advantages of collaborative workplaces. According to data firm Social Workplaces, in 2013, there were only 24 coworking spaces across the continent. By 2015, the number grew up to 250. In Accra, there are over five today. They range from collaborative workspaces like Workshed to more full-fledged hubs and incubators with an even more expansive range of services.

Muslim Schoolchildren Bullied By Fellow Students And Teachers (NPR)

I wrote this piece for National Public Radio (NPR) on recent increases in bullying of Muslim schoolchildren. 

"Muslim children are more likely to be bullied in school than children of other faiths. A new survey by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) reveals that 42 percent of Muslims with children in K–12 schools report bullying of their children because of their faith, compared with 23 percent of Jewish and 20 percent of Protestant parents."

You can find the full piece here on NPR's website. 

Jessica O. Matthews is the Tech Maven Bringing Renewable Energy to Nigeria and Beyond (OkayAfrica)

I'm proud to have contributed to OkayAfrica's inaugural list—“OkayAfrica’s 100 Women”— which takes a look at the women making an impact on the African continent and in the diaspora. I profiled Jessica O. Matthews of Uncharted Play, the company bringing solar powered devices to Nigeria and beyond. Take a look at the full profile here. 

Minority Advocacy Groups Feel Left Out of National Efforts, Funding (NPR)

I wrote this piece for National Public Radio (NPR) on funding and support for minority advocacy groups in the Trump era. You can find the full piece here on NPR's website. 

The Illusion of Inclusion: Xenophobia in South Africa (Harvard Africa Policy Journal)

Months and years of research go into dissertations and theses only for most of them to lie on a shelf collecting dust... so I decided to make use of my undergraduate thesis on South Africa's migration policy, and turn it into a Harvard Africa Policy Journal blog post.

I once heard a very depressing statistic that 40 percent of World Bank reports have been downloaded fewer than 100 times, so hoping for better results with this article. If you're interested in reading the larger work, give me a shout here.

Abstract of the full-length thesis: 

During the Apartheid era, the mobility of black Africans, both those native to South Africa and those from other countries, was strictly regulated.  Citizenship was defined as white citizenship against black “others.”  Since independence from white-majority rule, South Africa, a country, which has built its modern democracy on inclusivity, has witnessed a rise in xenophobia and violence against migrants. In examining the dynamics of xenophobia towards Zimbabweans, the country’s largest migrant group, this paper argues that the persecution of migrants is tied to the persistent legacy of apartheid, rampant economic inequality, and the international relations of the African National Congress.

"We Were Made For These Times"

This website is primarily a compilation of different stories and projects I'm worked on, but every so often I like to share the words that inspire me. Today, here's an excerpt of "We Were Made For These Times" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. The full version is available here. 

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good.

What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing. We know that it does not take everyone on Earth to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others; both are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.

Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it. I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.

The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours. They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for."