African Stream

by African Stream

News Commentary Politics

Season 1

We React. | Stop Blaming Colonialism

There's a new wave of people of African descent being given platforms to say stuff some White people want to say but won’t, for fear of being called racist. And here’s a perfect example. Senegal-born entrepreneur, Magatte Wade, reckons Africans should stop blaming their economic struggles on their colonial past. And she was happy to make her case to right-wing commentator Jordan Peterson who just nods in agreement. Excuse me? How can our colonial and neo-colonial history be completely ignored? We break down the stupidity of her argument and highlight a new worrying trend.

Kenyan Crowd For Hire Make Fools Of Themselves

Kenya's plan to deploy police officers to Haiti does not enjoy support among ordinary people. So, you can imagine African Stream's surprise at seeing a group of Kenyans donning 'Africa4Haiti' T-shirts at a 24 January event dubbed 'Hands Off Haiti.' The group's inability to articulate reasons for supporting the Haiti mission confirmed our suspicion that they were a crowd-for-hire lot. The phenomenon is not unique to Kenya, as African Stream Assistant Operations Manager Clinton Nzala attests from his experience in Zambia. The lobby group's 'Chief Inspiration Officer' later presented his case on a popular Nairobi-based radio programme. We got a good laugh out of that. Watch our reaction to this experience and join the conversation by leaving us with a comment.

Pan-African Attitude Ep.1 - Kenya High Court Ruling On Haiti

With the Kenyan High Court ruling Kenya's deployment of police to Haiti as unconstitutional and the president's insistence that the mission must happen, African Stream hosted two community organizer's to delve into the topic. The two were also part of Hands Off Haiti, an event that took place in opposition to the deployment. We dissect the origins of Haiti's crisis, the current state, the actors involved and more. Please have a watch and we'd love for you to get into the conversation.

The Real Gang in Haiti

The United Nations Security Council vote on 2 October has opened a new era of occupation in Haiti. Popular debates have sprung up, speculating whether or not the latest "peacekeeping" mission, spearheaded by Kenya and funded by the United States, will be effective. However, African Stream host Salifu Mack says history shows US interests in Haiti have always resulted in the exact opposite of "peace." For more information about the history of occupation in Haiti, check out the many resources made available by the @blackallianceforpeace. Let us know your thoughts on the UNSC vote to occupy Haiti.

African Stream Reaction to Tucker Carlson Lies

Since the return of Donald Trump to the White House in January, there has been an upsurge in right-wing propaganda against the government of South Africa - from claims that Pretoria is discriminating against White people to allegations it’s perpetrating a 'genocide' against them. The Trump administration has not been an innocent bystander: the president himself and his sidekick, Elon Musk, have been leading the attack from the front. South Africa-based right-wing organisations such as AfriForum and Solidarity have also played a central role in this campaign against the country they call their home. In this video, we react to an interview with Ernst Roets, the deputy leader of AfriForum, by US right-wing podcaster Tucker Carlson - and expose the misinformation the pair peddle

Showdown: Nigeria's Dangote Vs Global Oil Giants

There is a pretty straight line from colonial exploitation to modern-day neocolonialism. Few African countries process their own raw materials - rather, the value is added elsewhere, and the finished products reimported, much to the benefit of foreign-owned companies. Multinational companies hold enormous economic and political power in post-independence African countries, a colonial hangover that’s seen them take part in illicit capital flight, pay low royalties and low rates of tax, provide little in the way of local employment and spur the destruction of local industries. When Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, announced that Nigeria would be moving up the value chain and that he would be building a 20-billion dollar, 650,000-barrels-a-day refinery that would meet domestic needs and export to the rest of Africa, ending the country’s age-old reliance on global oil giants, local importers and state regulators - who for decades have lived comfortably in those giants’ pockets - lost it. Efforts to sabotage the project, the largest single-train refinery in the world, which began operations in January of 2023, got underway. The Dangote refinery, which represents a threat to the West’s lucrative refinery-products market share, has been struggling to acquire enough feedstock of Nigerian crude. Some of Europe’s largest refineries, like Shell and TotalEnergies, are owned by International Oil Companies (IOCs), and have for decades had a stranglehold on Nigeria’s oil industry. They essentially refused to sell crude to the Dangote refinery, insisting on a $6 premium above market price - forcing it to source crude from Brazil and the United States at a higher price. It appears the objective is to ensure the Dangote refinery fails, guaranteeing that Nigeria continues to export raw crude and import refined products, making it dependent on IOCs, as it has been for decades. African Stream’s Erick Gavala takes a deep dive into this high-stakes showdown. Your reactions in the comments are appreciated.

We React | Talk TV Propaganda Channel For Race Riots

Britain’s racist underbelly was revealed to the world two weeks ago, when far-right riots spread across England and Northern Ireland - in response to misinformation about the identity of a triple child murder suspect, falsely claimed to be a Muslim asylum seeker. This led to over a week of racially-motivated violence, arson, looting and attacks on mosques and refugee hotels. In this video, we react to those events - discussing some of the problems with how parts of the media covered them, and arguing that only a strong Africa will ensure safety for the diaspora. Listen in and feel free to join the convo in the comments.

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