African Mothers and Aunts! Traditional matching agency!

It’s an acknowledged truth that all African moms and aunts operate a matching agency that runs into high gear once their daughter or niece turns 25.  The pressures to get marry increases ten-folds at the quarter century landmark; as one of my uncle nicely stated, my marketability is only good for two more years. 

He must have been kidding, right? Because I’m not a grocery product with an expiration date that’s thrust to the front of the line as my shelf life comes to an end. I recognize that as women we have a ticking biological clock, however, not every African woman desires to be a mother. My male counterparts are seldom tactlessly pressured to present a future daughter-in-law to the family. I’m an only child, so I can’t compare my experiences with my phantom brother, fortunately I have an endless supply of male cousins.

For the most part, marriage-crazed relatives have not besieged them, instead they are advised to pursue higher education, find a stable job, then consider settling down. And truth be told, all my relatives – including the marketability uncle – are more concerned about me attaining my master’s degree than meeting their future son-in-law. At least they understand the necessity of a higher education and the path to financial independence.

Unfortunately, it appears that I lucked out compare to a majority of Ivorian women. As of 2010 the literacy rate for women age 15 and over was only 46.6% compare to 65.5% to men (which is still a dismal statistic). It’s often the case that in a large family, when funds are scarce, the family will opt to continue paying the boy’s schooling at the expense of his sisters. The warped theory is that an investment in the boy’s education will yield more for the family than that of his sister. At the end of the day she will be married off into another family, whereas the boy will bring someone into his and maintain his responsibilities to the nuclear and extended family.

This usually leaves the girl working in odd end jobs (housekeeper, market vendor, waitress) and searching for an older, not necessarily rich husband, just someone who can provide some financial support. They’re ingrained with this notion that since they are not pursuing an education, there’s no other option but to get married and be dependent on someone else.

As a society we need to halt circulating the idea that as a woman, my life is incomplete until I have “Mrs.” in front on my name. We should be searching for means to allow these girls to further their education, encouraging ventures that will support them and not demean their worth.

By Ahoua Koné

Happy Independence...I guess - Ivory Coast

If I were a drinking woman, I would devour a sweet yet bitter cocktail that could capture my frustration and tattered expectations in honor of August 7^th, Ivorian Independence Day.

A little dated but there was this huge fan-fare about 50 years of independence. 

I never endured the denigration of colonialism, I was born 27 years after its symbolic end, instead I hopped and skipped around its close cousin neo-colonialism.  I don’t know what it feels like to be subjected to second-class citizenry in my own country; I can openly embrace and display my culture without fearing someone’s attempt to de-legitimatize and supplant it. And for that I am eternally grateful. But sovereignty encompasses more than cultural freedom, and I have to question the status of our economic autonomy.

Today, Côte d’Ivoire celebrates its 52^nd independence from France. Fifty-two years of independence and what do we have to show for it? One coup d’état, one civil war, a per capita GDP of $1,600, a literacy rate of 46.6% for females age 15 and over, and the list seems to go on. We can blame the allocation of resources and arbitrary borders that were constructed with little regard to ethnic tensions during the Berlin Conference, that topic alone warrants its own series on this blog. I know when it comes to African development, historical context is important, but just for a moment lets set it aside.

Like so many exasperated Africans, I have a hard time comprehending the conundrum African countries find themselves in, especially with regard to debt. Then again, I don’t when I see the ostentatious mansions our politicians own. Since independence Côte d’Ivoire has accrued a debt of $12.9 billion, not bad compared to the current US debt of $17.5 trillion, but we have a GDP of  $36.5 billion. They were spending nearly one-third of their revenue paying off debts. However, under the Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) Initiative through the IMF and World Bank, nearly $7.7 billion of that debt has been forgiven. Attaining loans from the IMF and World Bank is comparable to signing a pact with the devil, then to have them and other loaning agencies forgive your debts sounds too good to be true. I was hopeful this would give the government an opportunity to assess the reckless actions that lead to the original debt crisis. And once again, my dreams were shattered.  Two weeks after the debt cancellation, it was announced that China would be loaning $100 million for road construction. All in the name of development, right?

Nearly 43% of the population lives below the poverty line, and I’m sure the civil war and 10 years of stagnation contributed to that dismal statistic. I appreciate President Ouattara’s effort to eventually rebrand Côte d’Ivoire as an emerging market, but he’s been in the political game since independence along with a majority of his cabinet members. It’s the same story across the continent. A change of guards is overdue, one that can end the heavy reliance of loans and reduce the cyclical nature of borrowing.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a white paper ready...yet.  We can continue to blame all the –isms, conferences and other countries simple greed, but eventually that has to stop. Yes, they were looking out for their self-interest at our expense, it’s been acknowledged and disseminated countless times. Maybe it’s time for our politicians to prioritize the entire population’s best interest, instead of co-signing quick solutions with no long-term sustainability.  There comes a point where we have to relinquish our past and dismantle the culture  of victimhood in order to face the encounters of the present.

So today, I raise my imaginary glass to Côte d’Ivoire and other African countries, and I toast to your future emancipation. Cheers! 

  By Ahoua Koné

The complexity of looking African

Being a Halfrican living in the US always leads to unique interactions with people. My name is Kulpana, and I'm half Nigerian and half Indian.

So, what does it mean to look African? After all the effort people put into the phrase "Africa is not a country; It's a continent", someone of said continent, whether by birth or blood, professing, "You don't look African," to a fellow brother or sister, really throws a wrench into things.

While attending university, I joined a student African dance troupe. We performed on and off campus at various cultural shows. After one performance, someone, who turned out to be Nigerian, approached me and asked where I learned to dance like that...." ...you don't look African". It's always amazing to hear an African not taking into account that the land mass is made of over 50 different countries, meaning a more than high probability that not all habitants look similar.

At first, I was surprised at this comment because many people tag me habesha (how Ethiopian and Eritreans refer to themselves). I do look different from the “standard African” image, but I ponder how and why so many people still so easily question someone’s authenticity.

Djimon Hounsou, Beninese actor

Jean Ping, Gabonese diplomate and politician 

By many people's deductions, our stereotypical African image tends to come from the west coast of the continent. It's a dark-skinned person, usually male, with a broad flattened nose and high cheek bones. (Do a quick search using Google images on just the term "African", and see the first picture that's listed.)  If we truly analyze what an African looks like, it's like trying to describe what an American looks like. That's near impossible. And try saying that someone doesn’t look American. What does an American look like? The US is a mixture of cultures and ethnicities to the point that there is no standard American when it comes to facial recognition. Since Africa is made up of countries and not states like the US, it should even further solidify that "looking like an African" leaves out a big part of the population.

There is an image of conformity to what an “African” looks like, but there is no true picture


By Kulpana Akpan