[/media-credit] Portugal’s Renato Sanches jumps on teammates after Eder scoresl
This week’s most important headlines out of and about Africa
In this week’s news, we look at the questions raised by European teams being dominated by Africans, and we find out why African entrepreneurship is booming.
African Footballers in the Diaspora Facing a Dilemma of Loyalty
Whether it’s in the United States, Europe or in other parts of the world, many Africans are divided in their loyalty between their native country and their new home.
For Portugal and France, two European countries with colonial ties to the African continent, the severity of the issue of home and country is seen when one looks at the composition of their national soccer teams.
Portugal may have defeated France in the Euro 2016 Finals July 10, but the fact remains many players on both sides with African ancestry say they are often caught in a situation of tough decision-making, a situation which reveals where their true loyalty lies. While these players bring flavor to the teams, their presence is an issue of discussion around many political quarters in Europe.
The increasing statistics of people of African descent within the ranks of major European soccer teams may not be sitting well with members of the Far Right National Party in France, says Ed Aarons, writing for The Guardian.
“But it is not just in France that the presence of so many African players has become an issue,” Aarons said.
African Entrepreneurship Is Booming. But why?
If you still sitting on the sidelines and wondering what’s up with entrepreneurship in Africa, doubt no more. Today the question has changed. We no longer wonder if or whether people on the continent are entrepreneurs. The real question is: Why is African entrepreneurship booming?
Writing for the Harvard Business Review, Ndubuisi Ekekwe who is founder of Owerri, Nigeria-based African Institution of Technology states that:
“My experience is typical in the continent these days. As one travels from Nairobi to Lagos and from Dakar to Kigali, a feeling of optimistic exuberance emerges because African-inspired institutions are forming. The collapse of the commodity boom has pushed countries and their citizens to invent other ways to survive because benefits like unbridled imports are no longer sustainable. “
Entrepreneurs are looking for alternative ways to do their own thing, to transfer the economies if their countries, Ekekwe said. The way they are doing this is to utilize the power of the cloud, open sources software, and other available avenues, things that are “redesigning Africa.”
All this came about because of a collapse in the prices of commodities. Ekwekwe writes that the great recession in the U.S. forced lots of African in the diaspora, the U.S. especially, to return to their native countries where they’re using their skills for entrepreneurship.
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