FRANCE 24's Georja Calvin-Smith brings you a round-up of society, culture and hot topics from the continent. This week, the race to rebuild the Libyan city of Derna continues, and South Africa is in a spin over the potential professionalisation of previously outlawed motorsports.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thanks for staying with us. It's time now for Across Africa, a weekly look at stories
00:07from across the continent. I'm Georgia Kelvin-Smith and this week, a year on since a dam collapse
00:12caused devastating flooding that swept away thousands of lives and wiped out about a quarter
00:17of the Libyan city of Derna, the race to rebuild continues. Also, South Africa's culture ministry
00:23is hoping that spinning can drive the motorsports sector forward. The once banned pastime involves
00:30skillfully skidding cars in circles at dizzying speeds. And worth the cost of a pricey ticket,
00:39Madagascar's pristine waters make it one of the best kite surfing spots in the world
00:44and locals want more fans of the sport to know it.
00:48But first, it's been a year since deadly floods overwhelmed the eastern Libyan city of Derna.
00:56Thousands died, many more are still missing and the city is still coming to turns with the
01:01devastation. Belgesem Haftar, the son of General Khalifa Haftar, who runs that part of the city,
01:07is overseeing the race to rebuild. Results have so far been mixed, as our team found out.
01:12The sounds of building have echoed throughout the eastern Libyan city of Derna for months now,
01:17the result of 155 reconstruction projects financed by a special 1.9 billion euro fund.
01:24Derna was devastated by floods on September 11, 2023, but restoration has made progress
01:30and reconstruction of landmarks like the Al-Sahaba mosque is almost complete.
01:42We are trying to ensure that it is rebuilt as new while preserving its authenticity. The
01:50urgency lies in the fact that it is very important that the people of Derna find their place of prayer.
01:59There are some concerns about the lack of transparency over how reconstruction
02:02contracts have been awarded. Authorities want results and fast. Housing is a priority.
02:082,000 apartments have been built for victims deemed to be most in need.
02:12Others can apply for financial aid to repair their homes. This woman, still overwhelmed by
02:16uncertainty, didn't want to share her name, but said that she and her son received about
02:2010,000 euros in help. The money allowed me to redo the floor and doors a little, that's all.
02:29It was really chaos when I got home. Halal, my son, was there during the flood. He called me to
02:35tell me that he was on the roof, that nothing was working, that the car was underwater.
02:39Today, luckily, things are starting to get better.
02:46Some have blamed politicians and military officials for the disaster. An official
02:50inquiry still has not been launched. NGOs are trying to care for the displaced,
02:54and the dead are still being counted.
02:58We are still finding bodies. During construction, some were uncovered as the debris was cleared.
03:03We hand over the remains each time to the agency, searching for the missing,
03:06so that it can identify them.
03:084,500 people were killed in the flooding. Unidentified victims have been assigned
03:13numbers in the hope that DNA tests can perhaps someday offer closure to grieving families.
03:19Now, not being able to read can stop people in literate societies from having access to
03:24opportunities that others may take for granted. In Cote d'Ivoire, only about 13% of women can't
03:29read, many of them in rural areas. One group of teachers is trying to close the gap.
03:35Our correspondents report.
03:37There are no classrooms here, but there is learning. Paul Marie moves between the
03:42stalls to help these traders to read, write, and count. This method is based on a mobile
03:47phone application called Alphati.
04:00Since 2017, UNESCO has trained some 2,500 women under this program.
04:13When you go to buy in bulk, you have to calculate the price. You're told that it's such and such
04:17a number, and you have to work out the total so you can then make the payments.
04:21If you don't know how to calculate, you have to ask someone to do it for you.
04:25UNESCO says 90% of children whose mothers can read and write will also be able to read and write.
04:34Charlotte, who has completed the training,
04:35hopes that this new skill will be useful for her daughter too.
04:43As it's the end of the holidays, every morning when I go out,
04:46I give her exercises to do, to learn to read and write.
04:50It's very important to me. It's very, very important.
04:54It's what motivated me the most to follow the courses.
04:58In Ivory Coast, 47% of the population is illiterate. Two-thirds of this number is made up of women.
05:10Ivory Coast has a large rural population,
05:13so access to education can be difficult because there aren't enough local schools.
05:18And there's a lack of qualified instructors.
05:20That's to say, a lack of teachers who have specialized training in literacy.
05:28To address these challenges, the Ivorian authorities have allocated a fund to promote literacy
05:33and have recently dedicated a ministry to the issue.
05:39People in Lagos spend an average of 30 hours in traffic every week.
05:42Congestion is an unwelcome part of life in the vibrant city.
05:46But where there's a will, there's a way.
05:48And that way is sometimes the waterways.
05:51Clem Valla tells us more.
05:55What was once often a three-hour nightmare drive to work with a pre-dawn start and dense traffic
06:02has become a half-hour sprint across the waters of the Lagos Lagoon by boat.
06:07For Ivy Genade, who works on one of the islands off the coast, the ferry has changed her life.
06:13You actually get out of bed when you need to.
06:16You have breakfast at home, strut in here, strut into the boat,
06:21and 30 minutes across the water, you're on the other side.
06:24It's way easier.
06:26Flanked by the lagoon and the Atlantic Ocean,
06:28Lagos has long used its waterways as an alternative to the megacity's chaotic roads.
06:34However, with over 21 million inhabitants,
06:37the city is set to become the world's largest by the end of the century.
06:41Hence the urgent need to adapt to the river traffic.
06:44Over the next three years, a project partially funded by France and the EU
06:49aims to develop 15 ferry routes as well as upgrade the jetty system and the dredge routes.
06:55The state ministry of transportation is now developing very actively
06:59the rail and the water transportation services.
07:02We believe very strongly that this will boost
07:06the current percentage of water transportation from about 2% to almost about 10%.
07:11For experts, the Lagos government will have to take important measures
07:15in order to make the water traffic environmentally and financially sustainable.
07:20Nigeria is currently facing its worst cost of living crisis in decades,
07:24with inflation at more than 30% and fuel costs tripling over the last 18 months.
07:33Well, South Africa's new minister of sport and culture
07:36wants to literally fast-track his sector's development.
07:40The loud, exhilarating, dangerous, flamboyant motorsport of spinning
07:46is in line to be taken up again.
07:47Originally born in poorer townships in the country,
07:50the scene is set to go mainstream.
07:52Our team has more.
07:55It's called spinning.
07:59The drivers look like stuntmen.
08:02Spinning started during apartheid when gang members would spin tyres to honour fallen members.
08:08But nowadays, it has become a family-friendly sport.
08:17For this motor enthusiast who organises competitions across the country,
08:21it's time to make the sport professional.
08:24It's been growing and growing and just been snowboarding so fast.
08:28We would like to see more corporates get involved to back,
08:31because the sport does cost a lot of money.
08:33You're using actual vehicles that you need to build,
08:35like any race car, any race competition.
08:39Amateurs believe that legalising these competitions
08:42will enable them to help vulnerable young people.
08:46This is something that we were supposed to do years ago.
08:49At least our kids will now be off drugs and off the street and busy with drag racing.
08:55And there'll be so much for the youth to look up to, so much for the youth to do.
09:01Spinners are gaining traction on social networks.
09:04The French TV network Canal Plus even came to South Africa to make a series about them.
09:09The new Minister for Sport and Culture, who himself has a past as a gang member,
09:13said he was proud to see the international spotlight on a South African sport.
09:18I'm going to make it a national sport.
09:20We've already been doing it.
09:22I'm going to make it a national sport.
09:24We've already budgeted money for it.
09:26The Federation has already been registered.
09:29It's going to be one of our exports.
09:31According to the minister,
09:33this motorsport will be officially recognised before the end of the year.
09:38Madagascar's pristine waters make it one of the best kite surfing spots in the world.
09:43And locals want more fans of the sport to know it.
09:46Seaside communities are banking on the promotion of their watersports
09:49credentials to boost the local economy.
09:51Gaël Bourgeois went along to take a look.
09:55Sakalava Bay has everything a kite surfer could dream of.
09:59Winds that average 25 knots almost all year round,
10:03beautiful reef breaks and a flat shallow lagoon.
10:06Despite these uniquely perfect conditions,
10:08the site is little known among practitioners of the sport.
10:12Today, two of kite surfing's biggest stars
10:15have been invited to promote Sakalava Bay in a bid to draw more visitors.
10:19I would compare Sakalava Bay to Brazil or Hawaii or Gran Canaria.
10:28And I think it's also almost better than those world-class spots.
10:31It's amazing here.
10:32You've got flat water and beautiful waves, wind every day.
10:35So definitely one of my top.
10:38There are just a few hundred kite surfers who take to the waves here each year,
10:42most of whom are residents.
10:44Better known destinations like Brazil
10:46attract some 320,000 kite surfers annually.
10:51Despite this, the 20-odd kite surfing schools in the bay
10:54have proved a valuable source of income and inspiration for the local village.
11:03My aim is to represent Madagascar in international competitions.
11:10We watch videos of champions like Stig Hoffnagel,
11:13Kohan Van Dijk and Jamie Overbeek.
11:16We improve by imitating their style.
11:22Madagascar won't be sending kite surfers to the Olympics anytime soon.
11:26Its national federation doesn't even organize competitions.
11:29In 2022, three Malagasy instructors took it upon themselves
11:33to create the country's first annual kite surf contest in a bid to drive up tourism.
11:39But they hit a major obstacle, the price of plane tickets.
11:43When people see that getting here costs 2,000 euros
11:46while going to Morocco costs 300 or 400 euros,
11:48of course they go to Morocco.
11:51We would be able to improve things if the plane tickets were less expensive.
11:58A 10-hour training course here costs some 2,500 euros per person,
12:03including flights from Paris and accommodation.
12:06For some kite surfers, the perfect conditions and chance to kite surf
12:09in a lagoon with no one else around is well worth the price.