When Danai Gurira returned to the United States (U.S.) at the age of 19 from Zimbabwe, she was acutely aware that something was lacking in the way African stories were being told.



“This built up an outrage in me, so to speak, because I couldn’t see the African narrative told, in the United States, in a way that I felt portrayed us, in a way that was truthful, complex, full and humane… I saw that being allowed for the Western perspective, but not for our perspective,” she says.



Fast forward to 2024… It’s well after lunch in bustling New York City in the U.S. as Gurira logs on to Zoom for the interview, to reflect on her “strange geographical timeline”.



Born in the U.S., Gurira and her family moved back to Zimbabwe when she was fi ve years old. She then returned to attend school at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota’s capital city.



“When there was a perspective given for the African story, it was very much stereotyped; very one- to two-dimensional, and [it] fi lled me with more outrage,” Gurira tells FORBES AFRICA.



Her iconic role as General Okoye of the Dora Milaje in Marvel’s Academy Award-winning Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as well as her roles in Avengers: Infi nity War and Avengers: Endgame had a notable impact on the topic of representation of Africa in cinema.



Gurira recalls moments during the fi lming of the massive blockbuster, Black Panther, where everyone involved wanted to ensure they brought in “as much ‘African’ ” as possible to the entire production.



From language to consumption, everything was about “authentic representation”.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="683" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-1829750201-3-683x1024.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-63017" style="width:543px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-1829750201-3-683x1024.jpeg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-1829750201-3-200x300.jpeg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-1829750201-3-768x1152.jpeg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-1829750201-3-1024x1536.jpeg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-1829750201-3-1366x2048.jpeg 1366w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-1829750201-3-scaled.jpeg 1707w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


“The pressure was there inside of ourselves because, if you get a platform that big, you have to bring your authenticity to it. The irony is, some people would say – who I disagree with – ‘if you get a platform that big, make sure that it is palatable to everybody’. And I say, ‘if you get a platform that big, get as specifi c in your authenticity as possible because then people will have to celebrate the fact that this is a story we’ve never seen, and why aren’t we seeing more of them?’ ”



Crossing the cultural bridge continued into the second part of the Black Panther franchise, even as the cast and crew mourned the loss of cast member and “leader”, Chadwick Boseman, who passed away in 2020 after a four-year battle with colon cancer.



“We had the most horrible tragedy in losing Chadwick,” Gurira says. “There was pressure in that we wanted to make sure we were honoring him, and we were honoring the legacy that he had left in terms of how he so beautifully and brilliantly led us through the first one.



“But it was also about a lot of processing and grieving that we had to walk through together.” 



Before her work with Marvel, earlier on in her career, Gurira had learned the power of saying ‘no’, something she encourages emerging African artists to do as well.



After finishing her graduate training, Gurira was approached to do playwright workshops in New York.



In a 2012 interview with Marin Theatre, Gurira said that playwriting became “a necessity, being the mother of invention type thing” as she wanted to see and perform stories that reflect her people.



The workshops in The Big Apple were an opportunity for her, as an actor, to help other playwrights. But again, she noted that the portrayal of Africans was being done in an “infantile way”.



“I remember I was just really furious, and I had a school-mate who was at a play workshop with me, and he said, ‘you have to start saying no’.”



However, for Gurira, this meant fighting for the portrayal of Africans and African-Americans to be accurate and genuine, no matter the medium. During her time as a play-wright, Eclipsed was reportedly the first Broadway play to have an all-female cast, writer and director. To further the perspectives of African women in mainstream theater, her stage plays – which also include In the Continuum and The Convert – give a voice to the untold narratives.



As a writer, Gurira’s focus and mandate is clear, even when she is adapting books – it needs to be about creating a vision and authentically telling a story that advocates for Africa.



Some individuals have openly identified the problematic theme surrounding stories about the continent in that they either perpetuate stereotypical and harmful narratives about Africa or come across as inaccurate.



In a 2023 academic article by Stellenbosch University’s Rebecca Pointer, she states that while some studies have suggested that the stereotypical Western mainstream media narratives about Africa may be shifting, there are still some platforms where these stereotypes continue to repeated.



“Behind these stereotypes is the assumption that Africans are poor, lack agency, and they frequently experience famine, such that only interventions from Western development agencies can help turn things around,” Pointer wrote in her study titled Beyond western Afro-pessimism: The African narrative in African and non-western countries. “While the [current] data are discouraging, there are pockets of hope on digital media (including social media), where women and youth are taking back the proverbial pen using storytelling and humour to show that Africa is neither monolithic, nor all doom and gloom,” Pointer adds.



“I created my first play (In The Continuum) because I was tired of the statistics around African women and HIV,” Gurira explains.



“It, sort of, was taking us away from being our fullest and just being individuals. We were statistics. And I was like, ‘let’s create a character that is telling a story where the audience can’t ignore her reality, her real human’.”



Gurira carried this passion into her work on film.



Notably, and recently, she has received a nomination by the Black Reel Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series, for the fourth episode of the limited series The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which is a spin-off to the popular horror-drama series, The Walking Dead.



The series reunites her character Michonne with co-star Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grime, to continue the journey and their love story in six episodes. Although Gurira’s final season was in 2020, she, Lincoln, and writer Scott M. Gimple had always hoped to return and continue Michonne’s story.



“So this was us finally fulfilling that promise to the fan-base,” Gurira says.



“Did I plan to be in this massive television franchise back in 2012 when I got that job? No, I had no idea that was coming to me. But it then became a thing where I’m part of something global and extremely popular. “[And then coming back] the power of that, as an African woman, is that I was now in a very, very powerful position in this very well-known franchise as a co-creator, executive producer, writer, and the star of the show. And that then allowed me a certain degree of power and connection to a process that I didn’t have 12 years ago when I got the job.”



While the world celebrates the strides that Africa has taken, especially from the lucrative creative economy, Gurira believes that Africans need to take ownership of their stories.



“I think I’m more concerned with us seeing us than what the West decides about us. If we are unapologetic in who we are and how we tell our stories, they’ll have to pay attention. But I think that, at the end of the day, we have to not make them our first concern. Our first concern is our pursuit of excellence and our pursuit of our narratives.” Off screen, as an ambassador for Irish singer-songwriter and activist Paul David Hewson’s Bono ONE campaign, as the co-founder of Almasi Arts Alliance, which supports African drama artists, and as the founder of Love Our Girls, Gurira is dedicated to furthering gender equality and policy change. “Don’t dilute yourself, even if people have to spend two hours reading subtitles – don’t dilute yourself. Tell it from a truthful, authentic place. And it might take a long time to find the right partners who see your vision, but they will come and you will be proud of what you’ve done,” concludes the artist who has done Africa proud.

Screenshot 2024-09-05 at 12.29.44

Zimbabwean-American Actor-Playwright Danai Gurira: ‘Our First Concern Is The Pursuit Of Excellence And Our Narratives’

From Tems to Tyla, African music has had a great year thus far, especially for female artists across the continent. The success of artists like Ayra Starr or Fave has been one that Afropop queen, Yemi Alade, has inadvert- tently had a lot to do with.



“Sometimes I feel like there are no expectations of the female artist, that is the problem,” the Nigerian singer and song- writer tells FORBES AFRICA. “I think that all the expecta- tions are on male artists and none for females… For the guys, even when they don’t do their best, they are applauded, it’s a worldwide celebration. There isn’t much we can do about that, because whether we like it or not, it’s a man’s world. But guess what? Women created the world.”



Alade released her highly-anticipated sixth studio al- bum and tenth project overall, Rebel Queen (which also features five-time Grammy award-winning artist Angélique Kidjo) in July. The Grammy and Latin GRAMMY Award-winning artist says that this album signifies Alade’s “boundless, un- apologetic love” for her African heritage and her “commitment to charting her own path in the music industry”.



“It signifies a lot to me and my journey so far,” says Alade. “The one thing that I honestly wanted to do with this album was to go back to the music that I grew up listening to as a kid, when my parents took me to family parties. [I just wanted to make] nostalgic music, go back to the core of Afrobeats as I remember it. I wanted to give my take on that musically and my own rendition, as well as some of my experiences, my opinions, and just share that with the world.”



Known to the world for her feature on global icon Beyonce’s The Power, Alade was the first African female Afropop artist to hit over a hundred million views on YouTube and VEVO with her hit single Johnny, which is also one of the most- viewed music videos from Africa and among Afrobeats’ biggest songs of all time.



“I always tell my people [who are aspiring artists] is you need to be true to yourself if you have chosen to follow a dream. A dream is a big deal. A dream is what you see when you’re asleep. A dream is what no one else can see but you. It’s a physical and spiritual journey. If that is something that you truly want to chase in your real life, you must under- stand that it is not going to be easy, and it will come with its obstacles and hurdles. What’s important is that you maintain [your] vision.”

Yemi Alade 002 (1)

‘Going Back To The Music I Grew Up Listening To’: The Afropop Rebel Queen With A Dream

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



A pair of listeria outbreaks in the U.S. in recent weeks have led stores and brands—including Boar’s Head, Wiers Farm and Freshire Farms—to recall products like deli meat in 23 states, as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s0828-listeria-outbreak-deli-meats.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">officials</a>&nbsp;say five more people died in relation to one outbreak.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Key Facts</h2>



A listeria outbreak in deli meats was first reported last month, and as of Wednesday, it has been linked to 57 cases across 18 states, with all of those cases resulting in hospitalization,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s0808-listeria-deli-meats.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according to</a>&nbsp;the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



Those cases include eight deaths: one in Florida, Tennessee, New Mexico, Virginia, Illinois and New Jersey, and two in South Carolina, the CDC said Wednesday.



During the investigation into the outbreak, Boar&#8217;s Head recalled a number of deli meats and the United States Department of Agriculture&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/07/26/listeria-outbreak-deli-meat-liverwurst/8b245002-4b5d-11ef-9149-c75da5dd9201_story.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;it was conducting testing to determine if those products were connected to the outbreak.



In early August, Boar’s Head&nbsp;<a href="https://www.inquirer.com/health/boards-hed-deli-lunch-meats-listeria-outbreak-20240731.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">recalled</a>&nbsp;7 million pounds of deli meats—significantly more than the initial 200,000-pound recall—and added 71 products made over the course of six weeks to its list, including pre-packaged meat and poultry products for the first time.



The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/boars-head-provisions-co--recalls-ready-eat-liverwurst-and-other-deli-meat-products" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Department of Agriculture</a>&nbsp;also said in early August more than a dozen pre-packaged and bulk summer vegetables were being recalled due to possible listeria contamination, though no illnesses have been reported in association with that recall—the two do not appear to be related.



<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/faq.html#:~:text=Listeria%20can%20sometimes%20infect%20other,1%20in%206%20people%20die." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Listeria</a>&nbsp;is a foodborne illness most often contracted by eating improperly processed deli meats (listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands and food, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/prevention.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">CDC says</a>) and unpasteurized milk products, and the hearty bacteria can survive refrigeration and even freezing.



Most healthy people rarely become ill from listeria infection, but it does disproportionately impact people older than 65, newborns and pregnant women, who may themselves experience only mild symptoms, but babies in utero can die from Listeria.



Almost all cases (87%) require hospitalization and one in six people die from the illness,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/faq.html#:~:text=Listeria%20can%20sometimes%20infect%20other,1%20in%206%20people%20die." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">according to</a>&nbsp;the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Where Have People Gotten Sick From Listeria In Deli Meat?</h2>



The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/delimeats-7-24/map.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">18 states</a>&nbsp;where cases have been recorded, according to the CDC, include: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin. New York and Maryland have reported the most cases, with 17 and eight, respectively.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What Deli Meats Have Been Recalled For Listeria?</h2>



Boar’s Head Provisions Co. recalled liverwurst after a sample of the product in a Maryland store tested positive for listeria, and the company has also recalled meats sliced on the same day on the same line as the liverwurst at a Virginia plant. Those include Virginia old fashioned ham, Italian Cappy style ham, extra hot Italian Cappy style ham, bologna, beef salami, steakhouse roasted bacon ham and garlic bologna with an Aug. 10 sell-by date. Boar&#8217;s Head second recall, announced last week, includes 71 different products made between May 10 and July 29. More specifics can be found on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls-alerts/boars-head-provisions-co--recalls-ready-eat-liverwurst-and-other-deli-meat-products" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">USDA&nbsp;</a>website. The outbreak has been linked to meat sliced at deli counters, not prepackaged meats.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">How Does Listeria Spread Among Deli Meats?</h2>



The listeria bacteria&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/listeria-infection/symptoms-causes/syc-20355269" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">can be found</a>&nbsp;in soil, water, animal feces and raw materials.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/prevention.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The CDC says</a>&nbsp;cold cuts, cheeses and other deli products are at particular risk of listeria because of how easy it is for the bacteria to spread among deli equipment and surfaces. While meats are kept refrigerated, refrigeration does not kill listeria, and it can be a tough bacteria to eliminate. When meats are prepared at a facility where listeria persists, the bacteria can spread on surfaces, hands and through the food itself. One person died and 16 were sickened due to a listeria outbreak among deli meats and cheeses in six states in 2022, and a similar outbreak killed one and sickened another 12 in four states in 2020.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What Stores Have Recalled Produce For Listeria, And In What States?</h2>



Walmart has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/wiers-farm-inc-expands-voluntary-recall-whole-and-salad-cucumbers-due-possible-contamination" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">recalled</a>&nbsp;bagged and bulk produce in Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Aldi locations in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia have done the same. Other stores, including Save-a-Lot, Kroger, Shop &#8216;n Save, have also recalled products in the states listed above and Maine, Missouri, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Tennessee.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What Vegetables Have Been Recalled For Listeria?</h2>



Bagged poblanos, cubanelle peppers, green beans, salad cucumbers, serranos, organic bell peppers, cucumbers, yellow squash and zucchini from the Wiers Farm have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/wiers-farm-inc-expands-voluntary-recall-whole-and-salad-cucumbers-due-possible-contamination" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">recalled</a>, as have bagged green beans and jalapenos from Freshire Farms. Bulk Anaheim peppers, clinanto, cubanelle peppers, cucumbers, green beans, green bell peppers, habanero peppers, hungarian wax peppers, jalapeno peppers, mustard greens, pickling cucumbers, parsley, poblanos, serranos and tomatillos have also been recalled, though no specific brand names were mentioned. The barcodes for each recalled product can be found on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts/wiers-farm-inc-expands-voluntary-recall-whole-and-salad-cucumbers-due-possible-contamination" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">FDA&#8217;s website</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Surprising Fact</h2>



A Missouri couple&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lawsuit-filed-against-boars-head-on-behalf-of-missouri-woman-hospitalized-in-listeria-outbreak-linked-to-deli-meats-302207602.html#:~:text=MINNEAPOLIS%2C%20July%2026%2C%202024%20%2F,St.%20Louis%20County%20Circuit%20Court." rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">has sued</a>&nbsp;Boar&#8217;s Head and Schnucks Markets after they purchased contaminated liverwurst in June. Sue Fleming, 88, became &#8220;deathly ill&#8221; and was hospitalized with a listeria infection, according to her lawyer. She did recover from the illness after a long stay in a hospital, followed by a stay at a rehabilitation facility. The couple is<a href="https://nypost.com/2024/07/27/us-news/boars-heads-sued-over-multistate-listeria-outbreak/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">&nbsp;now suing</a>&nbsp;for $25,000 in damages and claims the illness caused “loss of enjoyment of life” and “damage to the marital relationship.&#8221;

Houston Chronicle

Everything To Know About The Listeria Outbreaks—As More Deaths, Hospitalizations Reported

It’s no secret that, along with South Africa and Nigeria, Kenya is right up there as one of the biggest producers of content in Africa’s entertainment and media landscape. As stated in the PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook 2023-2027 report, Kenya’s entertainment industry (including cinema, OTT, TV etc) revenue grew 9.8% in 2022 and is worth over $2 billion.



“I would say the film space in Kenya has really grown. Even if you look at TV, we have a lot of different shows,” says Kenyan actor Sarah Hassan.



“Looking at what there is, is a testament to the growth of the industry… We still have a long way to go, but we are moving in the right direction.”



This is especially true with the continued reinforce- ment of local post-production facilities and expanding financing. However, the sustainability of the film industry requires the formation of local ecosystems rather than relying on external support.



According to Tanzanian filmmaker Amil Shivji, factors such as limited infrastructure, low government support at times, and limited exposure to the global film world, is what has prevented the rise of the industry in East Africa.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="682" height="1024" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IMG_2734-682x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-62889" style="width:449px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IMG_2734-682x1024.jpg 682w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IMG_2734-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IMG_2734-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IMG_2734-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/IMG_2734.jpg 1333w" sizes="(max-width: 682px) 100vw, 682px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">(Image Supplied)</figcaption></figure></div>


“Unlike our fellows in Nigeria, South Africa or in North Africa, I think East Africa hasn’t really had an in- dustry as such. There has been a lot of volume of films; Tanzania makes close to 2,000 films a year but none of those films travel. Those films don’t cross borders. And I think we are relegated to choosing between two or three platforms for distribution,” Shivji adds.



However, as a writer, director and producer who has also lobbied for better film policies, Shivji says there are opportunities that come with not being so visible as an industry.



“The exciting thing about not having the formal struc- tures of an industry is that we get to pave our own path and redefine what an industry can look like. We can look towards Hollywood, Bollywood and Nollywood and see



the things that we like and don’t like… Make them make sense for us in Tanzania. I think that’s the advantage of not having things structured in stone yet and, for us, as Tanzanian filmmakers, to play around with and devise our own stance of an industry.”



“We have everything needed to make a good industry,” Rwandan actor Eliane Umuhire tells FORBES AFRICA. “But the only thing missing is the means, not only from the government, but also from the private sector.”



Filmmakers in East Africa are now able to live on online revenue gen- erated from their work. This is more prevalent in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya, according to a 2021 UNESCO report. Furthermore, the report shows that in countries like Kenya and Rwanda, female representation has increased by 30%, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. “In Rwanda, we are a country that has 62% of women in parliament. So, having women represented [in the film industry] has never been a question. Also, growing up and choosing to be an actress, I’ve never felt the need to fight to prove that I can be an artist as a woman because even the people who taught me, who took me under their wings to train me as an actress, were women,” adds Umuhire.



This is also evident in storytelling.



In 2016, David Oyelowo starred alongside Kenyan actor Lupita Nyong’o in the Disney drama, Queen of Katwe. The movie depicts the life of a young girl, Phiona (portrayed by Madina Nalwanga), battling the odds in Uganda until she becomes a leading chess player under the guid- ance of Robert Katende (played by Oyelowo).


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-613632918-1-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-62891" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-613632918-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-613632918-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-613632918-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-613632918-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/GettyImages-613632918-1-2048x1366.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> Lupita Nyong&#8217;o and David Oyelowo attend the gala screening of &#8216;Queen Of Katwe&#8217; (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)</figcaption></figure></div>


Oyelowo recalls how “there was pressure from people” who attempt- ed to make his character the lead in the story. But he and director Mira Nair pushed to making Phiona the main protagonist.



“Then that story becomes universal because little girls are looking at this girl in the story become the hero and aspire to be that,” Oyelowo adds. “Hollywood is looking to Africa because they are doing prequels and sequels and everything, and we have fresh stories coming out of Af- rica.” “My dream is to see our artists live out their arts as any other person would in any other country, and seeing more of our stories on our TV screens,” Umuhire says. “Our children need that. They deserve to see their culture celebrated. They deserve to see themselves represented, so that they can dream that for themselves.”

BTS T-Junctionn (2017) (1)

East Africa’s Tinseltown Boasts Its Own Creative Narrative

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



Netflix tallied its first all-time high share price in nearly three years, capping a lengthy return to glory for the entertainment giant amid password crackdowns and a successful ad-supported subscription—a recovery that has evaded other streamers.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



Netflix shares closed at $698.54, topping the prior high of $691.69 set Nov. 17, 2021.



Spurring Tuesday’s 1.5% rally was the company’s&nbsp;<a href="https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-closes-successful-upfront-and-expands-advertiser-capabilities" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">announcement</a>&nbsp;it secured a 150% year-over-year increase in upfront advertising commitments, an encouraging sign for its fledgling ad-supported subscription tier.



Now up more than 300% from its May 2022 nadir, Netflix stock is the only major publicly traded streamer to recapture the all-time high share prices achieved during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, when investors grew enamored with sky high subscriber growth amid stay-at-home orders.



Shares of other streamers have all fallen from their 2021 highs: Disney+ parent Disney (down 56%) Max parent Warner Bros. Discovery (down 90%) and Paramount+ parent Paramount (down 89%).



Peacock parent Comcast (down 35%) and music streamer Spotify (down 11%) are also well off of their 2021 highs, though they two don’t make for easy comparison with Netflix since Comcast makes most of its money from its internet services and Spotify is an audio company.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contra">Contra</h2>



Netflix stock holds major bragging rights over its media peers, but it has still underperformed the broader market, as the S&amp;P 500 has returned 25% since Nov. 17, 2021, as Netflix gained 1% as it climbed back to the mountaintop.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">Big Number</h2>



$300 billion. That was Netflix’s market capitalization at Tuesday’s close, more than the combined valuations of Disney, Paramount, Spotify and Warner Bros. Discovery.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



Netflix’s 2022 selloff <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2022/04/19/netflix-shares-plunge-over-20-after-company-says-it-lost-subscribers-for-the-first-time-in-10-years/">coincided</a> with the company’s first quarterly subscriber losses since 2011, with the company losing half of its market value just in April 2022. That was also the year of Netflix’s first year-over-year profit decrease since 2012 in 2022, while a broader tech stock selloff as interest rates rose furthered the damage. Steady subscriber growth, following a password sharing crackdown and the rollout of its ad-supported tier, have caused investors to buy back into Netflix, which just reported record quarterly revenues of nearly $10 billion with an all-time high 278 million global subscribers.<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/"></a>

Stay at home and watch TV

Netflix Stock Hits Record High—First Since 2021—After Ads, Password Crackdown

Mia le Roux made history on Women’s Day last week when she took home the crown as the first deaf woman to win Miss South Africa.



“It was such a big pinch-me-moment; almost too big to comprehend. It was such a big dream, and then my brain had to take it all in at once,” Le Roux, born in Sasolburg in South Africa’s Free State province, tells FORBES AFRICA in an interview a few days after the contest.



The 28-year-old, who is deaf and wears a cochlear implant, is the first differently-abled finalist in the history of the Miss South Africa pageant, and she competed against nine other contestants on August 9, at the SunBet Arena at Time Square, in the nation&#8217;s capital Pretoria.



Currently pursuing a part-time bachelor’s degree in commerce and marketing at the University of South Africa (UNISA), she has also worked full-time as a marketing manager with a startup business.



Having wowed South Africa with her stage presence, it was ultimately her stance on inclusivity that had most of the arena loudly rooting for her.



“I am a proudly South African deaf woman and I know what it feels like to be excluded,” Le Roux said on stage on Saturday.



Currently based in Rosebank, Cape Town, Le Roux was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at the age of one. When she was only two, her community, friends, family, and even strangers, helped raise funds so they could gift her a cochlear implant. This operation was what Le Roux called “a life-changing opportunity” that allowed her to hear; an opportunity that would give her the courage to take part in Miss South Africa and subsequently win.



“I did definitely have fear [coming into the competition],” she says. “But also, my challenges were like a fuel and fire beneath me. It really has been what has driven me, because I was just telling myself I cannot continue to go through life with all these barriers and all these challenges, when I know I am capable, I am intelligent and that I can achieve my dreams. But I just needed to break some barriers in order to get there, because we do deserve to have a similar baseline to work from.”



Stephanie Weil, the CEO of the Miss South Africa pageant, said that Le Roux embodies the ethos of the organization fully: “Our ethos being that if you can dream it, you can achieve it. She also embraces and personifies the organization’s four pillars – duty, championship, empowerment and beauty, so I can think of no-one more fitting to wear the crown and we can’t wait to see what she achieves during her reign.”



“We are leaving way too many South Africans behind,” Le Roux said in her final answer before taking home the &#8216;Mowana&#8217; crown. “I am here to teach the included how to be inclusive towards the excluded and empower the excluded with tools so they can reach their full potential. Because [we are at our] strongest when unified.”



The run-up to the Miss South Africa pageant had been met with social media buzz as another contestant in the race to the crown, 23-year-old law student, Chidimma Adetshina, stepped down from the pageant earlier last week. Her entry came under fire when questions arose regarding her nationality, owing to her father and mother being of Nigerian and Mozambican descent.



In the wake of this issue, the Miss South Africa organization stated that they celebrate South Africa’s rich, inclusive culture and diversity.



“We uphold the spirit of Ubuntu-Botho and are committed to contributing to the self-belief, self-confidence, and fulfillment of the aspirations of all girls and women in Africa and worldwide,” the organization said in a statement.



According to reports, Adetshina’s pageant career does not end with the Miss South Africa debacle as she has now been extended an invitation for the upcoming Miss Universe Nigeria 2024 competition.



Le Roux, on the other hand, will be competing for the Miss Universe crown in Mexico in November.



“I really do hope that I will be able to break barriers there as well,” she tells FORBES AFRICA.



“I do believe that [fighting for inclusivity] is my life&#8217;s calling. It’s what I was meant to do here, and I will always have that passion. A passion is not something you can just get, it&#8217;s something that is born within you and also grows because of your life&#8217;s experiences. And I have had my entire life to create this passion within me. So, I definitely will be taking that with me [to Miss Universe].”

Miss South Africa 2024 At Sunbet Arena.

The Sounds Of Success: As A Deaf Contestant, How Miss South Africa 2024 Broke Real Barriers

David Oyelowo has just returned to London to prepare for rehearsals.



The eldest of three boys, Oyelowo moved to the United Kingdom with his parents – who were both academics – as immigrants. Reflecting on his illustrious career, which spans over two decades, he pauses over a Zoom call with FORBES AFRICA to consider what inspired him to become a storyteller. During his school days, he had been interested in theater and performing but had never thought of it as a means to earn a living. It was one teacher, in particular, who noticed the young talent and encouraged him to pursue acting.



“I think my mother just thought this would be a weird thing that I would grow out of,” chuckles Oyelowo recalling the memory. 



“A large part of why I didn’t think this would or should be a passion was because my parents had not seen me or anyone like them refl ected on the screen.” The closest Oyelowo’s mother got to seeing this was with the late Sidney Poitier, a Bahamian-American actor, producer and film director, famous for the 1967 British drama film, To Sir, With Love. 



Years later, a critically-acclaimed and award-winning Oyelowo states that he was aware of just how underrepresented he himself was, when his career kick-started. distinct memory comes to mind of a time when he moved back to Lagos at the age of six.


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“I grew up, especially when I was in Lagos, always surrounded by uncles and men who I did not see represented on our screens… I did know that I was entering an industry where I would either be part of he problem or the solution.” 



When he graduated from the London Academy of Music &amp; Dramatic Art, he knew the kind of roles he wanted to portray.



“I graduated saying ‘no’ to jobs that did not feel like a good fit for me, which probably frustrated a lot of people,” Oyelowo explains. “But you have to know that all of those ‘no’s’ are creating a bullseye of a ‘yes’ for something ground-breaking.”



From portraying a visionary civil rights lea er in Selma (2014) to playing Cecil Gaines’s son in The Butler (2013) and a Ugandan chess coach in Queen of Katwe (2016), Oyelowo is known, globally, for bringing ground-breaking reality to his roles. It is also something he takes into consideration when choosing projects.



“I am doing this as a love I have for telling authentic stories,” he says.



Playing prominent roles that give impetus not only to the African and African-American story, Oyelowo points out that a large part of what he does has to do with ensuring that emerging artists take control of their narrative.



Further to this, he is a Co-founder of Mansa, a streaming service that offers a curated selection of films and television series that celebrate Black culture from around the globe. Oyelowo also launched the platform this year as an ad-supported streaming TV station on The Roku Channel as a way to ensure that people of color start benefi ting from the content they create. 



According to a 2023 Statista report, there were 415 million smartphone subscriptions in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022. That number is expected to reach 689 million by 2028. For Oyelowo, this means that more and more people can have access to content created on the continent. But Africans need to take control of their narrative and start to tell the African story.



“I always get confused when people say Black and Brown people are the minority,” he says. “We cannot afford to be culturally colonized. We are the culture because we have the global majority…. It is crucial [that we tell our own stories], otherwise it will be watered down. Africa is the cradle of creation.”


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IN THE SPOTLIGHT-Actor David Oyelowo: ‘Africa Is The Cradle Of Creation’

Stellenbosch FC’s Junior sides are consistently among the best in South Africa.



It has only been getting better and better for Stellenbosch FC, slowly building a club of huge potential on the back of realistic ambition, patient approach, and all on a tight budget.



The club’s ultimate ownership lies with South African investment holding company Remgro, and the green light to buy the franchise more than a decade ago came from South African billionaire Johann Rupert. But it is run as its own business entity. The Stellenbosch Academy of Sports, who own the club, run a tight ship and has invested in player identification and an expansive youth policy.



Stellenbosch’s success lies on a bedrock of realistic goals and clever player purchases. They also showed restraint and calm when results at first did not go as planned, keeping faith in coach and former football player Steve Barker. This is now paying off as he has been in charge from virtually the start of the project a decade ago and led the club to promotion to the top flight in 2019.



It has meant a special synergy with the players too.



“I don’t think enough credit is given to these players,” says Barker, whose team won their first silverware this season for the Carling Knockout Cup in December.



Many of the players are homegrown products, particularly from Ida’s Valley and Stellenbosch and these areas have mined such rich talent.



Their junior sides are consistently among the best in the country, and they have not been scared to use youngsters into their first team, in contrast to the approach of many other South African clubs who are hesitant to put too much faith in the youth. “The youngsters are all maturing. It’s good to see that the hard work we’ve put in with them for many years is reaping rewards and I see many of them making their mark this season in the league,” adds the coach in discussion with FORBES AFRICA.



One Ida’s Valley graduate is Ashley du Preez, who, reportedly, earned the club over R10 million ($540,300) in a transfer fee when he moved to Kaizer Chiefs in 2022.



Recruitment has also been a success for Stellenbosch with a specialized department searching for players from around the world and making some eccentric signings.



Coach and footballer Ryan Hunt proved so good at identifying players who fit Stellenbosch’s ambitions, profile and pocket, that he was hired away by big-spending Mamelodi Sundowns. One of those was the Argentine Junior Mendieta, who was playing second division football in his country before arriving in South Africa after two seasons at Stellenbosch and was sold to Sundowns for an estimated R15 million ($811,000).



Stellenbosch have kept up their consistent search for players, using sophisticated statistics and data, and continue to unearth gems.



“I’ve been asked a lot about why we’ve done so well and I think it’s just consistency in selection and consistency in performance. And with that, obviously the belief and the confidence that’s grown within the team,” adds Barker.



“I think everybody’s contributed at some stage in the season. The team is in a happy space.”

image

‘Team In Happy Space’: The South African Football Club On The Rise

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">Topline</h2>



A contentious fight over who should—and shouldn’t—be allowed to compete in women’s sports has materialized during the Paris Olympics amid criticism over the participation of Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who was disqualified from last year’s World Boxing Championships over a controversial gender eligibility test.&nbsp;(UPDATE: Khelif&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/08/09/boxer-imane-khelif-fights-for-gold-today-as-olympic-gender-debate-rages/">won a gold medal</a>&nbsp;Friday.)



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">Key Facts</h2>



Khelif unanimously defeated Chinese boxer Yang Liu for the gold Friday, after a unanimous decision victory in the women’s 145-pound semifinals Tuesday.



Khelif also defeated Hungarian boxer Anna Luca Hamori by unanimous decision in the quarterfinal round—the Hungarian Boxing Association&nbsp;<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/imane-khelifs-olympic-participation-decried-letter-opponents-boxing-112508936" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said</a>&nbsp;prior to the bout it would send letters of protest to the International Olympic Committee and Hungary&#8217;s Olympic committee criticizing Khelif&#8217;s ability to participate at the Olympics.



The protest from the Hungarians came two days after Khelif’s first opponent, Angela Carini, withdrew from their match after a punch to the nose.



Carini cried after the match and she would not pass judgment on the matter of her opponent’s eligibility, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-boxing-gender-4b6eb881cce9c34484d30c68ad979127" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Associated Press</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/01/angela-carini-abandons-fight-after-46-seconds-against-imane-khelif" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">told reporters</a>&nbsp;she had never felt a punch like one of the strikes she sustained from Khelif.



Carini&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/articles/c2j3jg51rg4o" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">later said</a>&nbsp;she wished she could go back and change how she handled the moments after the fight and &#8220;wants to apologize&#8221; for not shaking Khelif’s hand after the match.



Khelif’s participation at the Olympics has been a subject of intense scrutiny after she was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-imane-khelif-boxing-paris-2eb07d442ffb29a61e09911884dcdaa9" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">disqualified during</a>&nbsp;the 2023 International Boxing Association’s World Boxing Championships for allegedly failing to meet eligibility requirements for the women’s competition, though the International Olympic Committee has defended her right to compete in the Paris games and called the IBA&#8217;s decision arbitrary.



IBA president Umar Kremlev told reporters this week the test administered on Khelif showed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-boxing-imane-khelif-iba-a26248f5285889dae13743f535ef9ed3" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">elevated testosterone levels</a>—a statement that appeared to contradict a July 31 IBA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.iba.sport/news/statement-made-by-the-international-boxing-association-regarding-athletes-disqualifications-in-world-boxing-championships-2023/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement</a>&nbsp;stating Khelif was not subject to a testosterone exam for the World Boxing Championships and was instead put through a separate test that found she had competitive advantages over other women athletes.



The IBA, which is not recognized by the IOC over&nbsp;<a href="https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/News/2023/06/2023-06-IOC-Comprehensive-Report-IBA.pdf?_ga=2.204982870.732664871.1685948118-11722081.1652867343" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">transparency issues</a>, has said the specifics of the test are confidential—though Kremlev alleged to Russian news agency TASS last year Khelif&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/sports/olympics/boxing-two-boxers-who-failed-gender-tests-world-championships-cleared-games-2024-07-29/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">had XY chromosomes</a>—a pair of chromosomes typically possessed by men (Kremlev did not disclose testing details or evidence for the claim).



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">Key Background</h2>



The outcome of the match with Carini, and Khelif’s background, provoked criticism against the Algerian boxer, including scrutiny from Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who said “athletes who have male genetic characteristics should not be admitted to women&#8217;s competitions,&#8221; according to&nbsp;<a href="https://news.sky.com/story/paris-2024-boxer-who-failed-gender-eligibility-test-at-world-championships-wins-olympic-bout-in-46-seconds-after-opponent-quits-13188674" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Sky News</a>, noting the prohibition should be done not to discriminate against anyone, “but to protect the right of female athletes to be able to compete on equal terms.&#8221; Khelif is legally a female and is identified as such on her passport, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2024-paris-olympics-gender-boxing-d06c6e06017a535c02a2fd15cacd2e51" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">multiple</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/01/world/olympics/boxer-quits-gender-angela-carini-imane-khelif.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">outlets</a>. Mark Adams, the International Olympic Committee’s chief spokesman, told The New York Times that Khelif is not a transgender athlete, and Adams noted everyone competing in the Olympics’ women’s category has complied with competition eligibility rules. Khelif appealed and called her disqualification from the IBA’s World Boxing Championships last year a “big conspiracy,” according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/boxers-olympics-imane-khelif-lin-yu-ting-gender-eligibility-rcna164257" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">NBC News</a>. The IBA said its decision to disqualify Khelif was “extremely important and necessary to uphold the level of fairness and utmost integrity of the competition.” Khelif later withdrew her appeal. The Algerian fighter has competed as a woman throughout her career and also participated in the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, losing in the quarterfinals against Irish boxer Kellie Harrington in a unanimous decision. Boxing at the Olympics is just the latest women’s sport to become a battleground over gender identity issues, as some critics have argued participation should be limited to people whose biological sex is female at birth.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/01/world/olympics/boxer-quits-gender-angela-carini-imane-khelif.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported that intersex athletes, or those with some biologically male characteristics and some female, have also been a focal point of the debate.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">Surprising Fact</h2>



The last time the IBA organized an Olympic boxing competition was during the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics. The IOC has criticized the association’s lack of financial transparency, the credibility of its boxing competitions and its governance. Some observers have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/08/01/imane-khelif-algerian-boxer-gender-paris-olympics/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">also questioned</a>&nbsp;the timing of Khelif&#8217;s disqualification, which reportedly took place several days after Khelif had defeated a Russian boxer in the middle of the IBA&#8217;s 2023 competition. Kremlev—a Russia native—is widely described as a Putin acquaintance, and the IBA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/sports/olympics/olympic-boxing-gender-controversy-russia-1e5bacf8" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">has ties to Russia</a>, though there&#8217;s no direct evidence those factors are linked to the IBA&#8217;s decision.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">Tangent</h2>



Khelif is not the only female Olympic boxer to have stirred up controversy in Paris. Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting was also disqualified from last year’s World Championships over a disputed gender test. She will fight in the women’s 125-pound semifinals Wednesday and has already clinched a bronze medal. Her first victory in the Paris Olympics was met with cheers and boos from the audience, The Washington Post&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2024/08/02/imane-khelif-lin-yu-ting-paris-olympics/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">reported</a>, and prompted USA Boxing Executive Director Mike McAtee to speak up in her defense.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contra">Contra</h2>



The IOC stood by Khelif’s inclusion, saying in a&nbsp;<a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/joint-paris-2024-boxing-unit-ioc-statement" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">statement&nbsp;</a>that did not explicitly name the boxer that “two athletes were the victims of a sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA,” likely referencing Khelif and Yu-ting. Algerian national team soccer player ​​Ismaël Bennacer expressed support for Khelif in a&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/IsmaelBennacer/status/1818724354748039246?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1818724354748039246%7Ctwgr%5E0c1cca9f1d0316aafee013fcd8966406b5701ebb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fiframe.nbcnews.com%2FA7AcODk%3F_showcaption%3Dtrueapp%3D1" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">tweet</a>, saying she is “suffering a wave of unjustified hatred” and that her “presence at the Olympic Games is simply the result of her talent and hard work.” IOC president Thomas Bach has said there have never been any doubts about Khelif and Yu-ting being women and said the Olympics would “not take part in a sometimes politically motivated, cultural war.” Boxer Amy Broadhurst, who beat Khelif in the 2022 IBA World Championships, has supported her former opponent. “Personally I don&#8217;t think she has done anything to &#8216;cheat,&#8217;” Broadhurst&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/amybroadhurst12/status/1818687351582789680" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">wrote on X</a>, formerly known as Twitter. “I (think) it&#8217;s the way she was born &amp; that&#8217;s out of her control.” Marissa Williamson Pohlman of Australia, also a fellow boxer,&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1819007216214573268" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">said she did notice</a>&nbsp;that Khelif felt particularly strong, &#8220;but you just keep fighting, though, don’t you? It’s just a part of the sport.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">Further Reading</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/antoniopequenoiv/2024/08/03/olympics-chief-again-defends-imane-khelif-and-blasts-cultural-war-as-boxer-prepares-for-next-fight/">Imane Khelif Wins Again—Clinches Medal—After Olympics Chief Defends Her</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-boxing-imane-khelif-iba-a26248f5285889dae13743f535ef9ed3" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Boxing group answers some questions but raises many more about tests on Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting</a>&nbsp;(AP)

Olympic Games Paris 2024 – Boxing

What To Know About Olympics Gender Debate As Imane Khelif Wins Women’s Boxing Final

Africa’s medal haul at the Paris Olympics was 39, spread across 12 countries, with a concerning curtailing of the continent’s dominance of the middle distance events in athletics and a lack of an impact in boxing.



Kenya, as is custom, led the African medal table with 11 medals, including four golds.



It is one more than in Tokyo but five down on the record 16-medal haul for the Kenyans at the 2008 Beijing Games.



Kenya did again provide some standout athletics performances, led by Faith Kipyegon, who secured her third Olympic gold in the 1,500 meters. Beatrice Chebet also shone, winning gold in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters, while David Wanyonyi claimed victory in the men&#8217;s 800 meters.



But in the 3,000m steeplechase, where Kenya had won nine successive golds, it was Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali, who retained his title from Tokyo.



Arguably, Africa’s biggest moment came when Letsile Tebogo won the 200m, beating Noah Lyles in a poignant victory just months after the death of the mother of the Botswana sprinter.



Tebogo added a silver as he anchored his country’s 4x400m relay team to second place behind the United States. They were Botswana’s first-ever medals.



Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegi upgraded his 10,000m silver from Tokyo to gold this time round but then did not defend his 5,000m crown.



There was not a single men’s medal in the field events, although unheralded Jo-Ane van Dyk from South Africa took javelin silver on the last day of the program.



Ethiopia’s single gold came from Tamirat Tola in the women’s marathon, as they are also down on previous Games’ performances while Ghana and Nigeria failed to win a single medal.



“As we go back home, we must do everything to prevent future occurrence of the Paris disaster and if this will entail the review of how people are elected to lead our sporting Federations, it will be done,” warned Nigeria’s Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh.



The island nation of Cape Verde celebrated its first-ever medal, with David de Pina bringing home bronze in the men’s 51kg boxing division.



&#8220;They say I&#8217;m the hero because I give them one thing they never had before,&#8221; he told reporters.



&#8220;I put the name of the country around the world. They might think we don&#8217;t have the strength to win a medal, but we showed them that it’s possible.”

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Africa At The Paris Olympics: Kenya Leads Medals Tally While Nigeria And Ghana Return Home Empty-Handed

With over 25 years of experience as a medical practitioner, Maureen Allem is witness to all the cosmetic changes in the beauty business.



After a decade of running a medical ward in a provincial hospital, Dr Maureen Allem decided in the early 2000s that it was time for a change.



“I saw the opportunity for something different than just working in a hospital,” Allem tells FORBES AFRICA. “And I thought I&#8217;d given enough time back to the community, medical-wise, and I wanted to be able to do so much more in making a difference in people&#8217;s lives, which I did at the hospital. But now I wanted to do it in a completely different way.”



At home with her sisters, she came across a magazine article on Botox and medical aesthetics, which had not yet taken off in popularity then as it has now. Allem and her sisters consulted with a plastic surgeon and that is when it dawned on her that it could be her calling too.



Allem thought: “I can do this! Compared to what I had to do in the hospital, this could be a great new path for me to follow.”



Twenty years later, Allem’s Skin Renewal brand is successful, with 20 clinics across South Africa and over seven million treatments dispensed.



In recent years, it has become evident that Botox injections (which use botulinum toxin) have rapidly become one of the most popular non-surgical cosmetic procedures. In 2022, according to <a href="https://www.spamedica.com/blog/botox-usage-statistics-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">SpaMedica</a>, there was a 26.1% increase in Botox treatments globally with over nine million treatments done that year alone.



“And do not get me wrong, there were many times we&#8217;ve made losses; we&#8217;ve put the branch in the wrong area, and then we&#8217;d have to close the branch down because the area changes and it declines. And then you realize, you&#8217;re never going to make it 100% successful for every branch. You just have to keep on going.”



However, for Allem, it has also been about educating patients about the misconceptions about Botox.



“Many people out there are very nervous about lasers and aesthetic treatments because they look on Botched and they look on social media, and they see all the mess-ups. The foundation of our business is education and ongoing research. Not only for the patient but also for us. If I don’t know something, I will research it,” she says.



When reflecting on her journey, Allem recalls how she had almost put her career aspirations on hold with two young children and a medical degree to finish. But her tenacity drove her to be part of an industry providing cutting-edge skincare solutions as also foster an environment celebrating and uplifting women.



“It&#8217;s so important to celebrate women, especially working women, who have to manage to build a career, look after the kids, and work twice as hard to be successful,” Allem says.



“I remember I had once asked one of my patients, ‘how do you manage with a job and everything you have got going on?’ and she said to me, and I will never forget, ‘you know what, I don&#8217;t think any man has ever been asked, how do you cope with having a family and having this job?’



“So, women really do have to work twice as hard, but that&#8217;s why I celebrate all working women.”

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Survivors & Thrivers: From Botox To Beauty, The South African Doctor With An Aesthetic Sense    

There is a certain hard-nosed resilience that comes with being a female entrepreneur in the medical space. Dr Esperance Luvindao had many hurdles and naysayers in her journey but is working to ensure quality healthcare actually reaches everyone.



“Well, I am no longer under 30,” Dr Esperance Luvindao laughs on the Zoom call with FORBES AFRICA.



For years, even before she made the FORBES AFRICA 30 Under 30 list in 2022, this Namibian medical professional has been working on solutions aimed at assisting patients throughout Africa’s semi-rural areas and suburbs to gain access to prescribed medication without having to travel long distances or suffer out-of-pocket health costs through conventional modes.



The <a href="https://healthpolicy-watch.news/only-half-of-africans-have-access-to-health-care/#:~:text=Less%20than%20half%20of%20Africa's,women%20and%20girls%20are%20unmet." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Health Policy Watch</a> estimated in 2021 that just over 50% (about 615 million) of people on the continent have access to the healthcare they need. The report further noted that “the continent’s quality of health services is generally poor and the family planning needs of half the continent’s women and girls are unmet”.



In a fact sheet released by the <a href="https://files.aho.afro.who.int/afahobckpcontainer/production/files/Health-for-all_Regional_Factsheet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Health Organization</a> (WHO), there were only 3,894 health training institutions in Africa in 2018, of which 2,128 (55%) were owned by the public sector, 1,351 (35%) by private for-profit sector entities and 415 (11%) by private not-for-profit entities. The sheet went on to state that there is still “much work” that needs to be done to get countries to a point where they achieve universal health coverage (UHC) and access to quality healthcare.


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This is why Luvindao plans to launch her innovation MENGA, a digital health solution.



With the idea of releasing the burden of state hospitals by reducing queues, her biggest challenge has been legislation. To fully release MENGA to the public in Namibia, Luvindao says there needs to be forward-thinking legislation on telemedicine in the country.



“On the patient end, you don&#8217;t need internet connectivity for this, which sets us (her health solution) apart,” Luvindao says.



“I think about two years ago, I did a TED Talk exactly on this model, and I said, ‘what if you could consult your doctor without even using the internet, [with] using a messaging system or USSD code’. We built this model around meeting people at their point of need because a lot of patients in informal settlements or semi-rural areas do not have access to the internet.”



What also inspired Luvindao to venture into digital healthcare was her experience with patients around their sexual reproductive health.



“Every single time, we went and did outreach for our copper IUCD (intrauterine contraceptive device) clinics, we had to use an interpreter to explain that a copper IUCD has a string or it does not have any hormones. And oftentimes, I figured that there&#8217;s no word for hormone or progesterone in a lot of these African languages.”



On the continent, according to WHO, contraceptive use is low – 2020 WHO data showed that only 56.3% of women living in a relationship or married used modern methods for family planning, compared to more than 75%, on average, in the rest of the world. Despite the increase in contraceptive use over the past 30 years, many women (43.7%) on the continent still do not have access to modern contraceptive methods.



“So, I said ‘this is where we have to start’,” Luvindao adds. “We need to start educating people in a language that they understand. Otherwise, we&#8217;re just trying to soothe ourselves again. So, we started translating our material into native languages.”



Although this has been a journey that has sometimes been challenging for the young doctor, her mission has remained steadfast and strong.



“It sounds clichéd but I believe in impact,” she says with a big smile. “There are things you can change and there are things you can&#8217;t change. But when I look at it, the impact is worth so much more… If I can change someone’s life, I will say to myself, ‘this is the reason why I&#8217;m doing it’. So, for me, that is a motivating factor.”

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Survivors & Thrivers: The Namibian Doctor Changing The Language Of Digital Healthcare  

As a multihyphenate, entertainer and entrepreneur, Nick Cannon joined the list of speakers for the Forbes Under 30 Africa Summit in Botswana in May. The American actor, rapper and television host, popularly known for his Wildstyle Battles on the comedic MTV-VH1 hit show Wild ‘n Out, spoke to FORBES AFRICA in the country’s capital Gaborone about how he is looking forward to contributing and being a part of the rapid rise of Africa’s creative economy.



Q. When we contrast the creative economy in the U.S. with that of Africa, there’s significant disparity. Given your extensive expe-rience in the industry and lessons learned, what message would you give the youth to further develop the sector in Africa?



A. To know that there are no limits. The world, [because of] technol-ogy, is truly at your fingertips. Something can go viral from Botswana just as quickly as something can go viral from New York City. And that’s true equality and equity right there. To know that the beauty of everything right now, from business to entertainment, is that it’s an even playing field. Because one, there’s so much more opportunity here in Africa, there are so many more people, there’s so much more energy, and then realizing that the world feeds off that. So, I truly believe this is the place everyone needs to be and should desire to be. 



Q. You’re a businessman and creative at the same time. Are you looking to invest in Africa?



A. Yeah truly, I mean, being here in itself is investing my time. But just to know what to invest in, and to know that there are so many opportunities. There are already some great conversations, there are some intricate business dealings [that] hopefully [get] turned into some true business. 



Q. What are your thoughts on Africa’s music scene?



A. There’s no real movement that’s as electric as the movement go-ing on here in the continent. Some of the biggest songs and biggest artists right now are from Africa. There are so many different styles, obviously, there are various countries that have their own vibes, their own flow, and to know that it’s all coming together, is actually really exciting.



Q. Are we going to see a collaboration of yours with African artists?



A. I hope so. I’ve actually done a few records that we are yet to put out; songs with some pretty high-profile people. But I’ve always struggled with even dedicating myself to being an artist because I like being behind-the-scenes of the music industry a little bit more than actually being in the front and it’s probably just my insecurities being a musical performer, but I’m excited about some of the things that I do have coming up.

Ilan Godfrey for Forbes_U30AFRICA_2024__T1A5786

‘Excited About What I Have Coming Up With African Artists’

Jerry Jones paid $150 million for the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. Just the team’s brand is now worth $1.73 billion, the most in sports. 



The Dallas Cowboys were a dying brand when Jerry Jones paid $150 million for the NFL team and the operating rights to its stadium in 1989. Three Super Bowls—1992, 1993, 1995—a new stadium, a ton of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news/jerry-jones-dallas-peter-king-rumors-ccontroversy-bad-news-publicity-billion" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">publicity</a>&nbsp;over the course of 35 years and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.samford.edu/sports-analytics/fans/2022/Die-Hard-or-Fair-Weather-Fans-Ranking-All-32-NFL-Fan-Bases" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">largest fan base</a>&nbsp;in the NFL has the Cowboys valued at $9 billion and the name of the team alone worth $1.73 billion—the most in team sports. It’s been a long time since the Cowboys played for the Lombardi Trophy, but Jones&nbsp;<a href="https://www.managingip.com/article/2a5ch91g842powa8owiyo/jerry-jones-dallas-cowboys-the-business-of-branding" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">created the template</a>&nbsp;for branding in sports.



Can you quantify the value of a sports team brand? We think our proprietary model gets pretty close, or at least provides a reasonable way to measure brands on in an equal, mathematical way. Our team brand values measure the portion of the team’s enterprise value not attributable to the size or demographics of the team’s market, the venue or league-shared revenue. In essence, Forbes’ proprietary formula of team brand values quantifies how much of its worth is over-and-above what the typical team in the same league and similar market is worth (as derived from a multiple of revenue).



Take stadium sponsorships and advertising, for example. The Cowboys rake in over $260 million from these sources during 2022 at AT&amp;T Stadium versus an average of about $65 million for other big market teams that control their stadiums like the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans. Our brand calculation counts roughly $130 million of the Cowboys sponsorship and advertising revenue towards the value of its brand.



In basketball, the Los Angeles Lakers brand take the top spot with a brand value of $1 billion. The Lakers generated over $160 million from their local media rights during the 2022-23 season, some $20 million more than the New York Knicks and more than double what the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls earned. The Lakers local media rights are worth $20 million in brand value.



Winning Champions League trophies is what Real Madrid is<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCWX_C66Udo" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">&nbsp;all about</a>, and a big reason the Spanish side, which recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/kylian-mbappe-real-madrid-shirt-number-b2555695.html" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">signed</a>&nbsp;superstar Kylian Mbappe, are the world’s most valuable brand among soccer teams. One big payoff for the team’s brand is having the most valuable kit and front-of-jersey deals in soccer, worth a combined average of $207 million per season. Of that $207 million, our formula applies $52 million to Real Madrid’s brand value.



To get the most valuable sports team brands we culled our data base of MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA and soccer teams based on our most recent team valuations for each league. The ten most valuable brands, listed in the table below, is dominated by soccer, which comprises four teams. That is not hard to understand given soccer is the most global team sport in the world. No NHL or MLS teams made our top 10 list because their revenue, and thus by extension brand values, are too low.

Jamal Murray Attends Melbourne NBA Store Opening

The World’s Most Valuable Sports Team Brands

On a bright summer day in March in South Africa, Oleksandra Romantsova is at Vilakazi Street in Johannesburg’s sprawling Soweto township. She now has a connection with this historic street that has produced two Nobel Peace Prize laureates – Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.



In 2022, the Center for Civil Liberties, where she is Executive Director in Ukraine, also won the Nobel Peace Prize for its advocacy and work documenting war crimes as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.



Romantsova is wearing blue nail polish and a big smile, as she speaks about education, children, women and peace. The Sakhumzi restaurant where we are is vibrant with chatter, color, and South African culinary specialties, and Romantsova has a full view of the street, from one end to another, marveling at the houses where Tutu and Mandela lived.



She harks back to that emotional moment when she received news, on the phone, of the Nobel Peace Prize win in 2022.



“[When] they called, I was startled. After they told me, all my English left my head,” Romantsova laughs. “I think in the end, I cried.”



Romantsova started working at the Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv, Ukraine, a decade ago. The human rights activist subsequently became Executive Director and is currently documenting the ongoing war. “I’ve been going to each village, to see how many people have been killed. I have seen torture and damaged schools and hospitals. I have seen the streets and nice places absolutely destroyed. That’s why often, when we speak about justice, nobody reacts normally. Nobody reacts enough to stop them. When you don’t have justice, evil always wins.”



Part of her work is traveling with her colleagues to expound on regional security, children’s rights, and nuclear security. The young democracy of South Africa intrigues her, as she sees how young people have become heavily involved with human rights justice.



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“Because we need a lot that needs to be built, and started earlier,” Romantsova explains. “We need children from school to know about their rights… democracy is not only what you can get, but democracy is also what you’re responsible for.”



The Center for Civil Liberties joins a coalition of Ukrainian human rights organizations whose aim is to bring to justice any and all perpetrators responsible for war crimes in Ukraine, and have reportedly registered more than 33,000 potential violations, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, crimes of aggression and genocide.



Part of Romantsova’s work is to also support women.



She says there are as many as 60,000 women on the frontline in Ukraine. The “Soviet Union tradition” dictated that women could not take up jobs as professional snipers, but could be translators, kitchen staff or medicine workers.



“Now that we have fought to have women [there], we have had to [overhaul] the whole system. For example, now volunteers support women by having [special bulletproof vests] for them because the one for men will not work for women.”



Romantsova sees South Africa’s freedom movement as a template for Ukraine.



“South Africa’s solidarity movement is something that is absolutely impressive,” she says. “It’s not only about the history of the freedom for Africans, but I see a lot of



reflection, and a lot of connection with topics for women’s rights, children’s rights and all our common responsibilities for working and organizing this as a common mechanism to support people. “The solidarity movement of South Africa is a great example for us and we really want to collaborate with this true human spirit, which is exactly what I feel during all my trips to South Africa.”

Author: Chanel Retief

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA