Fatmata Kanneh, 42, has spent her entire life in Mbomi, a small village located just before the Jendema border crossing in southern Sierra Leone. About 25 miles from Jendema, the main gateway linking Sierra Leone and Liberia, Mbomi lies near the Moa River, which forms part of the natural boundary between the two countries. Mbomi,…
Clare Majambere is a baker and an example of the benefits the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has brought to small-scale traders in Africa. “I left my home in Rwanda at midnight and got to Kenya at 8 am. Once you get to the Ugandan border, they conduct a security check to know…
Click to read in French As more young Malagasy women leave home in search of opportunity, their stories often go unheard. One woman’s journey offers a window into the motivations, sacrifices, and aspirations driving this quiet wave of female migration. Between Libreville and Antananarivo, between advocacy and motherhood, Fanja Raholiarisoa embodies a generation of Malagasy…
Cooper Complex stretch, Kampala Click to read in French Along the bustling Cooper Complex stretch in downtown Kampala, Lingala music plays. On a chilly morning, Mrs. Bongo Honoring, 40, prepares to braid one of her clients’ hair. It’s a joyful mood at her salon as customers await their turn. From a childhood marked by war…
Click to read in French On a warm October morning in Nairobi, Chimwemwe Chiduleni stepped off a bus clutching a plastic bag filled with documents, a change of clothes, and a quiet determination to survive. Two years after being diagnosed with cervical cancer in Malawi, a country with no radiotherapy services at the time,…
Click to read in French Standing at any high point in Lesotho, you can almost always see South Africa. It feels like one can simply walk over there and start a new life. No borders, no fences, no visible guards, just plain South African plains. How can one want a better future for their children…
Click to read in French Nyasha Melissa Chisoko remembers the moment her first sale came through. She was in her small apartment in Johannesburg, nursing her newborn and watching online pre-orders trickle in for the very first time. “I cried,” she says. “Not because it was a huge amount of money, but because someone believed…
“I do not just make clothes, I create East African stories. Every fabric I use has crossed a border, carrying culture, craft, and connection,” she remarks as she receives a shipment of earthy Ugandan bark cloth just hours after the arrival of a consignment of vibrant Tanzanian khanga fabrics. Mary Wamboi, a designer with…
In a continent where borders often define limitations, a new generation of African content creators is challenging these constraints, weaving narratives that transcend lines on a map. One of them is Nigerian travel storyteller Esther Okorougo, whose bold lens and heartfelt narratives are carving a space for African women to imagine mobility differently. Her…
On the slopes of Mount Elgon, where Uganda borders Kenya, bamboo forests nurture an indigenous delicacy known as Malewa—a smoky, earthy dish made from dried bamboo shoots. Once a ritual food of the Bagisu people, Malewa has transformed into a cultural ambassador, crossing borders and gaining popularity across East Africa and beyond. Its…
Faith’s hands are calloused, her nails stained with soil and ore. But when she smiles, there’s something golden about it, something earned. Each scar on her fingers tells a story: not just of digging for survival, but of learning, adapting, and rising. A few years ago, she crossed into Zimbabwe from Mozambique with nothing…
Kisumu Governor Peter Anyang’ Ny’ong’o (in suit) and Mr Godfrey Emoja, the Managing Director of Talent Industry Limited (far left), alongside other participants during the 2024 Poetic Hour Battle in Kisumu, Kenya. Photo Credit: Courtesy. Finding Her Voice, Crossing Borders “Art chose me, and in art I found myself,” says Ugandan poet Destiny Gladys,…
