Africa Daily

Mahmood Mattan was born in 1923 and was a young man when he left his home in Hargeisa, in what later became Somaliland, to live in Cardiff in Wales. He settled in a community called Tiger Bay, worked as a seaman, got married and had three children. In 1952 he was accused of murdering Lily Volpert, a local businesswoman. He was found guilty and executed by hanging in prison.

For years Mahmood Mattan’s family maintained his innocence and his conviction was quashed in 1998. Last week, 70 years after Mahmood Mattan’s execution, South Wales police apologised and admitted the prosecution was "flawed".

In today’s Africa Daily, Victoria Uwonkunda has been finding out more about the life and death of Mahmood Mattan from Danielle Fahiya, the presenter/producer of a new BBC podcast called Mattan: Injustice of a Hanged Man.

With a population of 15 million, Lagos is the biggest city on the continent. But by the end of the century, it’s predicted to become the most populous city in the world. And it isn’t the only rapidly growing city in Africa. It’s predicted that by the turn of the century, Africa will be home to 13 out of the 20 biggest cities. And many of these will be megacities - urban centres with a population of more than 10 million people. But what will life be like in these places? And can we cope with such rapid urban growth?

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The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years.

In Kenya the situation is forcing children to drop out of school to help their parents look for food and water.

Kenyan President William Ruto recently told the COP27 summit in Egypt that this year alone, 2.5 million livestock, worth over $1 billion have died.

In Somalia, charity CARE International says women, who are the breadwinners and heads of families, are now doing everything to ensure their husbands and children eat first, including sacrificing their health.

So what is the human cost of climate change in Africa?

Alan Kasujja has been speaking to Benson Meoli, a pastoralist and local tour guide at Kenya’s Amboseli national park and two CARE International workers, Pamela Agum and Abdikadir Ore.

“The future now doesn’t look so bright for us.”

Thousands of Zimbabweans – many who’ve lived in South Africa for the last decade – are facing mass deportation when the government ends a special permit scheme at the end of this year.

Nearly 180,000 people are legally working or studying in the country thanks to their Zimbabwe Exemption Permits.

But the documents are now being terminated – with migrants having to prove they possess critical skills that are needed in the country before they are allowed to stay.

For Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja speaks to some of the people who are now facing an uncertain future, in this first podcast of two on the subject.

Presenter: Alan Kasujja (@kasujja)

The economic aftershocks from the covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine are being felt by economies around the world. Many countries have seen their currencies lose their value and a rapid rise in inflation. This is being felt acutely in many African countries where the falling value of many currencies is causing economic hardship because money isn’t buying as much as it did at the beginning of the year. Africa Daily’s Ferdinand Omondi has been looking at the cause and solutions to this economic turmoil.