Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a computer operating system created by billionaire & "first African in space" Mark Shuttleworth. 

Ubuntu simply means "humanity" in Nguni languages (compare with "ubulwane" meaning "animal-like cruelty") but it has been stolen & twisted to become a cult ideal embraced by celebrities & influencers as some sort of virgin African mentality. It's the belief that is verbatim stated as "I am because you are" by certain influencers. For me, this concept is just asking to be ridiculed. Personally, I would find it more sensible if ubuntu meant civilization because Africa had some precolonial civilizations as you may or may not know. Civilization in the dictionary is stated as; "An organized culture encompassing many communities, often on the scale of a nation or a people; a stage or system of social, political or technical development." By this, I think we could call the iron smelting, stone wall building, stone calendar making, gold & bronze artifact making Bantu agripastoralists - a civilization. The Bantu Civilization being called called Ubuntu would make more sense to me than the vague vitriol I've heard. 

"I am because you are" is virtually black Nazism & could lead to ethnic genocide. For the sake of all logical Africans, I think we should rebrand this word called "Ubuntu" because it will lead to othering disenfranchised people not indoctrinated into another person's idea of "ubuntu" as not being "abantu" (people/humans). We mustn't forget that these so-called ubuntu preachers can be ubulwane practitioners when no one can see. 

Ubuntu bethu: Our civilisation. 

The Bantu region, as by anthropologists, in Africa. 

Ubuntu should simply mean "humanity" or the Bantu Civilization. Nothing more.

The lost art of being a black conservative.

Most black people grew up around "conservative" black people. For many black people, their parents seemed conservative. The English dictionary definition of the word "conservative" states; "One who seeks to promote or preserve traditional values or institutions." Black conservatives are just black traditionalists. 

At some point in a black individual's life, they have been conservative about something & liberal about other things, this is why sticking to one political label is so complex, people seem stuck on leftism or rightism as labels when they are more a spectrum across various differing matters. One person may be conservative on immigration matters & at the same time liberal on economic matters, the vice versa is also true. 

Black conservatives are usually seen as uptight, privileged & often unreasonable when it comes to matters black people are faced with. Especially because being from a disenfranchised populace, being conservative comes off as siding with oppressors of an "un-black" system. This is why populism almost always wins against traditionalists in Africa, disenfranchised people want a man of action - they want someone in power that they can relate with. They want someone who looks familiar & seems like they walked the same streets in life as them & so, thinks like them. 

Conservatism, in it's nature comes with siding with old orders i. e. 'old models of power' & ultimately power attracts power therefore there are black conservatives who end up siding with colonial oppressors in some fields (as do black liberals). This is where other black conservatives draw the line & become nationalists/populists because while African conservatives are about order, they are about black indigenous/African order. Again, you can't really box people into left & right, populists can be conservative. And it will always be counterculture to be a conservative popular leader of a disenfranchised people because either, your people thrive unstereotypically for a black nation in Africa or you become an oppressive dictator. 

While African politics is filled with popular leaders who you often see riding through streets upon streets of cheering followers & unpopular "conservative" dictators who are often pictured as very troubled & grumpy when leading a displeased populace, I believe conservatism can still succeed in Africa. We have old orders which many laymen recognise & still respect which could hold the key to the emancipation of Africa in future. 

N. B.: Old doesn't always mean outdated, old can also mean established or tried & tested through the centuries. 

African liberalism vs African traditionalism. 

I feel while African politics is often filled with charismatic politicians - I believe sensible, progressive brother-figures have a place in African leadership & tradition can still save us despite secular liberalism being the order of the day in modern Africa. 

For more, see: Kwatuism & Repartition Africa.

A case for professionalising indigenous African games.

I just watched a professional pillow fighting match on YouTube & realised that as Africans we really limit ourselves. Frankly, we often spread ourselves thin by wanting to participate in everything. Also, the most popular sports in the world are already crowded with such elite competition that it becomes near impossible for African teams & athletes to truly succeed or win titles. 

In combat sports, I'm a fan of MMA, some boxing, kickboxing & 5-on-5 MMA... I also occasionally watch slapfighting. Slapfighting & pillow fighting are real sports in 2026 where you can earn real money; why couldn't Laamb, stick fighting or even capoeira be made professional sports in Africa? We already have Indigenous Games tournaments in South Africa, why couldn't we professionalise these events & develop them with complete federations, rules, points systems & even punditry. I, genuinely, believe that stick fighting & Laamb could be national sports in both southern Africa & West Africa, respectively. 

If breakdancing can reach the Olympics, surely we could, at least, professionalise Laamb & Nguni stick fighting to make a new type of sports star in Africa. I'd like to see a famous Laamb wrestler & stickfighter making a living off their craft sooner rather than later. And would like to see a South African Nguni stickfighting Federation & a Senegalese Laamb Federation in future. We should make money from our own culture & be enterprising with what is ours, not for tourists but ourselves. 

• Nguni stickfighting 

• Laamb wrestling 

• Slapfighting 

• Professional pillow fighting 

• 5-a-side MMA 

• All-Africa Games

How can Africa win the FIFA World Cup?

Nigeria has already won the U17 FIFA World Cup five times, Ghana has won the U20 FIFA World Cup & Cameroon has won a gold medal for football at the Olympics before so could we win the main event? The Senior Men's FIFA World Cup? 

People are going to make comparisons between European & African domestic leagues. While that is the main difference, there's a bit more to it. In Africa, we simply don't have the culture of sanctifying our countries. We are not really serious about our countries (see previous blog on the mentality of African footballers), whether we get this from our leaders or we ourselves are ill-disciplined is a sociological & psychosocial matter. But let's put all this aside - how could we attempt to catch up to European football? Not only in football but perhaps for other sports. 

It all starts with the infrastructure: You need to build self-sustaining infrastructure (stadiums, academies & club funding models) so that once we get talented footballers they can earn a living when they reach professional ranks. This might mean the football federation of the land needs to make kit sponsorship deals (preferably, with a local kit manufacturer) certain television deals & make an exciting sport product that will be enjoyed by people in the land & outside the borders of the land which can only be created by development. 

Development: In Europe, they are more about efficiency in football & in South Africa, we are more about the style of play. The thing is because of such bad development, we find that some players don't really have good ball control or even proper tactical awareness. Ball control has always been the entertainment factor in football, so if you take that away - you'll get a very clumsy & dull game. Ball control simply brings fans. Personally, I believe ball control should be taught in schools, ball control is something that can be taught & a footballer can constantly improve in (it's really not difficult). Players should also be identified by which talents they possess so they can be further specialised into the roles they show the most potential in & I believe that for this a unified national playing style needs to be formulated. 

Old I. Y. iMpofana development video 

BRINGING SPECTATORS TO GAMES 

For example, exceptional players from 14 years onwards could be identified & sent to regional academies identified by the state & national football federation. As each player has unique talents, they could be categorised into which positions they could be best in. Goalkeepers could be selected by height or ability to stop shots & penalties, defenders could be selected by speed & ball-winning ability, midfielders could be selected by defensive ability, passing ability & all-round technical ability in play, forwards could be selected by speed, goalscoring ability & dribbling.  These are my ( I. Y. iMpofana ) preferences but I imagine many other academies & national federations could identify other talents & mental capabilities in a player. 

Once we have the above, it becomes a matter of limiting corruption & hiring the right people & (preferably local) technical staff. Then hopefully, in time, results will come. 

Lastly, the players need to want to be there. Their fans, family & government needs to want them to win. The players themselves need to believe that they can win the title. 

African spices.

Often when we're taught of the Dutch East India Company, we're taught that they went all over the world looking for cash crops & spices. These spices are said to be from Asia or South America but we never hear of spices that precolonial Africans used for their foods. Below is a list of select spices Africans used that are indigenous to Africa: 

• Grains of Paradise (Aframomum melegueta): Also known as Guinea grains, these peppery, citrusy seeds are indigenous to West Africa. They were a prized historical trade commodity used to flavor everything from wine to traditional stews. 

• Grains of Selim (Xylopia aethiopica): Also referred to as Uda pods or Guinea pepper, this West and Central African spice has a smoky flavor with herbal, nutmeg, and black pepper notes. The whole pods are often used to flavor soups, stews, and teas. 

• Calabash Nutmeg (Monodora myristica): Native to tropical Africa, this spice offers a warm, musky, and faintly vanilla flavor. It is a vital component in traditional pepper soups and local spice blends. 

• Peri-Peri (Capsicum frutescens): Originating in Southern and East Africa (particularly Mozambique), this fiery chili is the defining ingredient in many local marinades, hot sauces, and spice rubs across the continent. 

• Korarima (Aframomum corrorima): Often called Ethiopian cardamom, this plant is native to the Ethiopian highlands. It is essential for traditional Ethiopian spice blends like Berbere and Mitmita, as well as flavoring coffee and bread. 

• Aiden Fruit (Tetrapleura tetraptera): Commonly known as Prekese in Ghana or Urayi in Nigeria, this pod possesses a sweet, chocolatey, and aromatic profile. It is used to perfume soups and carries notable medicinal properties. 

• Frankincense is an aromatic resin harvested from the Boswellia tree, native to parts of Africa. 

African diet in 1500 B. C.

Across borders in Africa...

I just watched a YouTube video by a gentleman complaining about the paperwork required to travel within Africa. He made it very simple that his Schengen VISA was quickly processed yet you need to apply for individual VISAs for every African country you go to as an African. So, I went back to my dual African currencies concept & thought maybe if these single currency regions I mentioned in the blog would be accompanied with VISA-free travel similar to the VISA-free travel many European countries have amongst themselves. This could be to decrease the bureaucracy & perhaps fastrack the transfer of skills & knowledge amongst Africans. 

The truth is there are wealth class differences within Africa despite the world grouping us together. And there's a reason some countries are not included in Europe's own continental VISA-free travel  programme. We'd have to choose countries by economy & stability for our own African VISA-free travel system.

And in my system, a VISA-free travel model could be initially tried with: Seychelles, Mauritius, Gabon, Botswana, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, South Africa, Algeria, Namibia, Cape Verde, Tunisia, Eswatini, Djibouti, Morocco, Egypt, São Tomé & Príncipe, Côte d'Ivoire, Republic of Congo, Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia & Angola. 

I'm a part-time cartographer & often make myself & others maps to understand the world better. In the map below is another VISA-free travel system model we could use. 

Mainly; 

• the countries in green could get continent-wide VISA-free entry for up to a year. 

• The countries in yellow could get a vacation period VISA-free entry. 

• The countries in orange & red would apply for VISA or entry into country. 

Xenophobia vs Indigenization

Intro: This is me, a while back. I mention rejecting some foreigner's application to live in a country because I understand that some societies may be resentful of immigrants. And if your land has xenophobic individuals, I suggest there be an anti-xenophobia campaign or simply not allow immigrants to enter your country as a foreign policy. 

I am not very xenophobic, I just don't have the time. Sure, I believe that a country's resources can be strained by mass influx of immigrants but that's what refugee camps are for. I believe that a land should simply have refugee camps by borders & process foreigners on the borders, seas & airports. I do not believe that South Africa is bursting at the seams, brimful of foreigners & I wouldn't want it to be. If a country is suffering from an influx of foreigners, it simply means the border management systems are not up to scratch or they did not plan for the population growth they allowed. 

My solutions would be:

1) Constantly guarded & double-fenced (with barbed wire) borders. 

2) Large refugee camps for undocumented/illegal immigrants on the land's borders. 

3) Indigenization of naturalised citizens.

I believe that a country can plan for it's population by building high-rise flats & building infrastructure (by even using it's massive population as builders) for it's growing population. 

The reason we should indigenize naturalised citizens from foreign lands comes from the ancient African custom of unhostile foreigners being seen as a potential extension of a nation & them becoming part of a national heritage rather than being chased away from go. For example, Zulu people come from many places in Africa & came together to build a nation over the centuries & millenia. If we apply the same concept of indigenizing foreign names & allowing foreigners to learn the national language, we simply strengthen a nation (see blog on National Unity).

There are lands far more densely populated than South Africa but built systems to accommodate their population. I'd understand the complaint of strained resources if South Africa was one of the Top 10 most densely populated countries in the world but it is not. So, affordable high-rise flats, more educational institutions, more agricultural produce & strengthened border corps should more than accommodate a growing population as well as create jobs. We simply need some population planning strategies & systems to accommodate a national population so we don't have people who feel a foreigner took his/her job somehow. 

The reason for the ethnonationalism campaign in Africa.

“We have artificial 'nations' carved out at the Berlin Conference in 1884, and today we are struggling to build these nations into stable units of human society.” - Mwalimu Julius Nyerere

I think most of our leaders try to discourage tribalism in Africa for a benevolent reason & while anti-tribalism sentiments are to encourage unity in our states, these sentiments are often in vain because tribalism has not ended in decades after the age of African independence.

I always maintain that certain ethnicities should simply govern themselves because under the rule of others they fall into disarray & become disorderly but to this some say, "Africa never had borders." Sure, there were no physical walls or barbed wire borders except in a few places like Benin or various city-states across the continent but it was known & general consensus that certain rivers, forests or mountains were borders to certain kingdoms, chiefdoms, confederacies & empires. Just because there were no man-made borders, it doesn't mean that Africa was one united country. There are places with no borders between two or more countries in Eurasia but it is known that crossing a certain river or mountain range means you're in a territory of a nation that is not the one you just left.

Now, seeing the ethnic conflicts & tribal tensions in Africa - you'd think a few leaders would think, "No, the Berlin Conference made a big mistake here" & correct those borders & sure, quiet a few leaders have spoken on Berlin Conference borders but they either are too overwhelmed by the task of reclaiming/relinquishing territory, do not have legislative power or their voice is so meek in a distant rural region that it is easily ignored by the larger state they are in.

FAMILIES DIVIDED BY THE SOUTH AFRICA-MOZAMBIQUE BORDER

I often see how ethnostates in Europe govern themselves & notice how they make rules for the benefit of the people in the land & not just laws that prevent individualism like in Africa. How is it that it makes sense to make laws that make your people struggle instead of systems, legislature & infrastructure that allows them to thrive & live freely? It is counterproductive to create a land that you yourself would not want to live in as a commoner.

Now, people will say that an ethnostate Africa is "fanciful" or "An ethnostate Africa will never happen" but just because you've accepted being cooked in a melting pot, doesn't mean that it's good for you or benefits you in the long run.

Former president of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere on the borders Africa was left with after the 1964 Cairo Declaration. 

President Paul Kagame on the borders that made Belgian Congo. 

A passage from writer, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's writings citing how other continents have ethnonational borders but Africa is stifled from doing so.

I've gone through a whole lot of benefits of the ethnostate for years. It is common logic that an ethnostate works but would take some shifting of the "struggle mentality" of Africans to a progress & solutions mindset. When you see other ethnicities having proper schools, I doubt you'd let your own ethnic group go to school in roofless mud schools. This is one of the main benefits of an ethnostate, it allows you to work towards your people's cause instead of getting a Ferrari for your youngest son while the people you govern are starving. 

I don't care what political system the new ethnostates in Africa use after we finish our reverse Berlin Conference in Accra or Addis Ababa. The nations will choose what works best for their people & ethnicity whether it's a president, monarch or collective group of chiefs or elected leaders... It makes sense to have an ethnicity govern itself than be ruled by someone of another ethnicity who would ultimately develop tribalist sentiments in time & stifle the progress of certain ethnicities/nations just out of spite that his own ethnicity isn't as developed as others. Because of Berlin Conference borders, you become stuck with a president who hates your ethnicity/nation for developing while their own are incapable of doing so for one or another reason. Just unprovoked hatred because of being born your ethnicity. It would be better if this man were just in charge of their own people & left your people alone, separate the country if need be. Silent, secret, tribal hatred festering unnoticed is worse than open campaigning for self-determination of ethnicities & nations. 

This is what we notice when we campaign for an ethnostate Africa, it's not because we're being rebellious or vain - it's because ethnicities governing themselves was the norm in Africa. Even in greater empires, the individual tribes within that empire were given a decent amount of freedom to govern themselves so they do not starve or become dependent on an unsustainable, centralised state where there was no motorised transport, information relay & telecommunications networks to make governing the land easier. Each tribe in a greater tribal confederation would have it's own set of warriors which could be of use to the tribe or the greater nation, a decentralised national unity. We discard ancient African governance systems as outdated but they made a lot of sense when you look at them in the context of what individuals played in the community of certain nations. 

Multicultural/multiethnic rule is discredited when you rule in a way that diminishes a people's freedom, you risk being seen as a foreign entity & not beneficial towards the people you rule. We need to understand that tribalism is not always just open disdain of other ethnicities but also ruling a certain people in a way that they live in squalor under your rule. 

We need to take a look at the idea of reversing the Berlin Conference borders & even if we do not make a Pan-African Conference to Repartition Africa, we have an idea of what Africa would look like with country borders defined by original ethnic rule. 

Repartition Africa 

AN IDEAL AFRICA

An ideal Africa.

If it were up to me, which it obviously isn't, this is how I would remake Africa: 

1) Rename the continent: Simply call Africa KWATU, a Pan-African name derived from the majority indigenous languages in Africa & mutually intelligible words in many African languages. This would ensure that Africa is in charge of it's land. All uses of the word Africa,  would be changed to Kwatu e. g. the African Union ~ Kwatu Union, the African Cup of Nations ~ Kwatu Cup of Nations, African ~ Kwatuan & so on... 

2) Repartition Africa: Simply repartition Africa back to it's ethnic borders. Tiny ethnicities can form a federal alliance among ethnicities with mutually intelligible languages. For example, a Nguni Federation among my own people because Nguni languages are mostly mutually intelligible (they understand each other's language for the most part).

Ethiopia would get access to the Red Sea for it's massive population. It is obscene that a country that important in Africa & that populous has no sea access. Unite the divided Somalias including the Somalian enclave in Ethiopia. Give Biafra / Igboland, Hausaland, Yorubaland the Sokoto Caliphate, Benin Kingdom, Ashanti Kingdom & Songhay state(s) independence. Return lands stolen from the traditional leaders in Africa. Eswatini would get it's Delagoa Bay coast & lands in South Africa back. Lesotho would get its land in the Free State province back. M'thwakazi would become a sovereign state. Everyone would get their ethnic lands back. Decrease ethnic wars & tribalism by a massive margin.

After we have sorted this thorny issue of ethnicity & have possibly decreased tribalism & ethnic conflict by a whole lot, we could get to the ideological part of our land i. e.
3) Kwatuism: Food security (agriculture & livestock), shelter (subsidised state housing for all), national unity & a single state bank for each land to gain economic sovereignty. Kwatuism is a centre-right political ideology created with Africans in mind.

4) Rename the Indian Ocean to the Swahili Ocean across all African educational structures. This ocean does not belong to India or Indians. The Indians & others can call it the Indian Ocean, Africans can refer to it as the Swahili Ocean.

5) Language: Each nation in Africa after the ancestral lands are repartitioned would have it's own national language. Instead of using a single Pan-African language, there could be well-trained bilingual translators. Most commonly; excessively fluent people in Swahili & Arabic, Swahili & Hausa, Yoruba & Arabic would be used as these are the most spoken languages in Africa, each African country would have it's own set of translators for diplomatic & international duties depending on which nations they'd need to communicate with. I imagine people bilingual in Hausa & French, Lingala/Kikongo & Portuguese, Swahili & Mandarin/Japanese could be of use to their states. 

The problem with a Pan-African language is that it makes it easy to control a false narrative & propaganda across Africa by outside forces. Different languages would make it less easier for a corrupt, foreign idea to spread across Africa.

6) Religion: Africans must embrace their own indigenous faiths which would be written down as the national faith & law of the land. Either that or one of the Abrahamic faiths closest to Africa (Judaism or Christianity).

7) Rail, mail & transport:
• An interconnected rail system across Africa,
• an airline run by the African (Kwatu) Union which would replace all African airlines,
• a unified set of road rules & driving licence procedure,
• a unified mail system for all of Africa.

WHAT CAN AFRICA STANDARDISE ACROSS THE CONTINENT?

8) Military: I believe Africa would be better having regional or strategic military alliances with select African countries than a massive united African military which may require too much finances. But a standby force to deploy across trouble spots in Africa may come in useful & the newly created ethnostates could give something as small as 0,05% of their GDP towards the revamped standby force, for example. N. B. : The African Union already has a standby force. 

7) Currency & trade: Currency today requires a lot of technology & instead of using VISA & MasterCard for our bank card payment systems, we could use the African-made M-Pesa system which we would revamp & add some extra encryption measures to it. This system would then be easier recognised by global traders if it is implemented across Africa as the primary method of trade. Our continental currencies could simply be two currencies, the proposed Ng'ombe & Lami. 

By this, Africa could completely decolonise & achieve economic stability. And perhaps even create, maintain & fund lofty ambitions such as a Martian, Lunar & subaquatic colony for the future survival of Africa (Kwatuans). 

And for those who believe Africa is too small to have ninety or so countries because of the Mercator Map projection, Africa can comfortably have two hundred average-sized countries within it. Africa only looks small on map projections, it is a very big continent. 

It may sound like a dream but I wrote it step-by-step in point form like this because I know that once you complete one fundamental step in a larger undertaking, the momentum builds & it becomes easier to achieve other objectives. 

National Unity 

Why aren't more countries designed like this?

Mpofana origins: 3000 B. C. to modern day.

So-called Nguni (Ngoni) clans are all claimed to originate from ancient Cameroon (Mbo/Swazi groups), ancient KoNgo (Nguni/Ntungwa groups), Great Lakes region (Shaba/Zizi groups) of Africa & Tanzania (Hlubi) by anthropology. They arrived in southeast Africa in waves from circa 200 AD to 1200 AD, merging with the San who had lived in the western side of the Drakensberg (Ukhahlamba) Mountains for 25 000 years & possibly another Homo Sapien group which lived around Durban for 77 000 years. The unknown Durban sapien group is probably the same group that made Inzalo yeLanga (Adam's Calendar) 75 000 years ago in the Swazi territory of Mpumalanga province in South Africa. 

The Mpofana name likely originated from Eswatini & surrounding Swazi regions. They likely arrived in Ezinqoleni in the mid 19th century. Before then, the likely came from the Rozvi region of Zimbabwe & Mozambique (pre-1200 AD). And before then, they originated from Benue region of Cameroon/Nigeria (2000-1000 BC) & arrived at the Great Lakes region (Urewe/Buganda) by 500 BC. Before that, likely originated from ancient Mali circa 3000 BC. 

Migration of the Mpofana across Africa since 3000 B. C.

RESEARCHGATE: Around 500 B.C., Uganda was undergoing a profound transformation as Bantu-speaking agriculturalists migrated into the southwest from West-Central Africa, introducing early iron-smelting & settled village life. This technological leap allowed them to clear dense forests & cultivate crops.

The landscape of the region around 500 B.C. was characterized by a distinct demographic & environmental shift:

Bantu Settlement & Agriculture: Arriving from West Africa via the Great Lakes region, these Bantu speakers transformed the once-forested environment into a forest-savannah mosaic. They brought advanced mixed farming practices—cultivating bananas (matooke), raising livestock like goats & chickens, & forging iron tools. 

A journey from Ezinqoleni to southern Mali would take three months on foot in the modern day. 

History of African Aerodynamic Engineering.

Central African Throwing Weapons (Kpinga & Mambele): 

The multi-bladed throwing knives developed by ethnic groups such as the Azande, Nzakara, and Mangbetu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Central African Republic are masterclasses in aerodynamics.

Aerodynamic Engineering: These weapons feature multiple sharp protrusions branching out at different angles. This heavy, multi-pronged configuration ensures that no matter how the weapon spins or hits, a lethal edge or point makes contact with the target.

Flight Stabilisation: The specific weight distribution allowed warriors to throw them with a flat, spinning trajectory. They could travel up to 45 metres, slicing through the air with incredible stability.

Symbol of Status: Beyond their battlefield utility, these weapons evolved into revered luxury items. Highly polished, intricately forged iterations were carried by elite rulers and warriors as potent status symbols. 

Mambele throwing axes from the Mangbetu people are evidence of black Africans creating aerodynamic projectiles. 

KPINGA: 

The oldest kpinga (and its variant, the mambele) date back to around 1000 AD when blacksmithing and iron-working emerged in Central Sudan and the Sahel regions. However, similar curved throwing sticks and blades from the broader family of weapons date as far back as 1350 BC, as suggested by wall sculptures in ancient Libya. 

The traditional multi-bladed throwing knives historically used by Central African groups (like the Azande, Makaraka, and Mangbetu) are culturally significant.

FLYING STICKS: 

While returning boomerangs are closely tied to Indigenous Australian culture, Black African societies independently developed non-returning, curved throwing sticks used for warfare and hunting. 

The Sudanic Throwing Sticks: Prior to 1800, communities across the Sahel, Sudan, and Central Africa crafted flattened, curved wooden clubs. These used basic aerodynamic principles to fly straight, stable, and over long distances to bring down birds or small game.

The Evolution into "Hungamunga": In Central Africa, these curved wooden structures eventually evolved into the multi-bladed, metallic throwing knives known as Kpinga or Hungamunga. While highly stylized and used as status symbols among elite warriors, they were devastating ranged weapons rather than decorative ornaments. 

Created by Google A. I.

African Aeronautics

The first ever manned flying aircraft was a hot-air balloon on 21 November 1783. It was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier & Marquis François d'Arlandes. They flew a distance of 5,5 miles (8851 metres) in Paris for 25 minutes at about an altitude of 3000 feet (914 metres). The balloon was made of paper-lined silk & heated by burning straw & wool. Orville & Wilbur Wright would then make the first mechanical flying aircraft in 17 December 1903 called the Wright Flyer which flew for 12 seconds. Since then, a lot of progress has been made in the aerospace field. 

Africans, arguably made artisanal & hobby flying crafts in precolonial antiquity using various found materials but likely none were manned aircraft. 

We now have African aeronautical engineers with the knowledge & capability of designing & manufacturing professional flying aircraft. So today (7 May 2026), I decided to compile the list of African-made aircraft below: 

• Alkan AT-802 from Ethiopia. 

• Helwan HA-300 is a lightweight supersonic aircraft from Egypt. 

• Air Tractor AT-802U is a Nigerian assembled American aircraft. 

• AHRLAC Mwari is a South African reconnaissance aircraft. 

• SkyBoy aircraft from Uganda built by Innocent Mugabi. 

• Skyleader 400 & Skyleader 600 by Airplanes Africa Limited in Tanzania is an ultralight aircraft of Czech origin. 

Egypt's Helwan HA-300

We have to note that only the Helwan HA-300, AHRLAC Mwari & SkyBoy aircraft were conceptualised, designed & manufactured in Africa. I also left out aircraft made by Apartheid South Africa because they officially classified themselves as European until the end of Apartheid. 

Blog: AFRICAN CREATIONS 

I made this list because I felt that Africans, myself included, could surely make better aircraft than this with modern technical knowledge. 

• History of African Aerodynamic Engineering 

• African-made aircraft 

• FXE Mosquito Ultralight Helicopter 

#SénégalRek

This blog entry is regarding the Morocco vs Senegal AFCON Final game which Senegal won legally & now Morocco is trying win underhandedly & illegally in boardrooms. This AFCON tournament was marred with controversy as it was cited that referees often made decisions which favoured Morocco & ball boys would hound players for towels, towels which goalkeepers used to keep their gloves dry so the ball does not slip. Moroccan ball boys were literally trying to influence the outcome of the game. 

Here's what happened in the game in sequence; 

• Morocco gets a penalty. 

• The Senegalese coach (Pape Thiaw) calls all the players to leave in protest claiming the penalty is unjust as they did not recieve a penalty earlier in the game. 

• As the players are leaving, with some heading to the changing rooms - Senegalese player (Sadio Mané) thinks twice & calls back the players to continue the game. 

• The players return & the referee continues the game. 

• Morocco misses their penalty. 

• Senegal scores a goal. 

• Referee ends the game. 

• SÉNÉGAL ARE AFRICAN CHAMPIONS! 

Here are the IFAB rules pertaining to teams leaving the pitch: 

1. Authority to Manage the Situation

Leaving without Permission: A player who leaves the field of play without the referee's permission is guilty of a cautionable offence (yellow card).

Time-Wasting: The referee must make an allowance for time lost due to the walk-off.

Prevention: Referees are encouraged to act in a preventative manner, such as instructing players to return immediately. 

Laws of the Game | IFAB

Laws of the Game | IFAB 

2. Authority to Restart vs. Abandon

Waiting Period: The referee has the discretion to set a "reasonable amount of time" for the players to return. There is no strictly mandated minute count in the IFAB laws, but once the referee decides the time has been "exceeded" or the situation is unreasonable, they may take further action.

Restoring Order: If players return and the match can continue, the referee has the authority to restart it.

Abandonment: If the team refuses to return within the time specified by the referee, the referee has the authority to abandon the match. 

ESPN

ESPN 

3. Consequence of Refusal

Forfeit: If players leave the field without permission and refuse to return, the team that remains on the pitch is often awarded a 3-0 victory, regardless of the score at the time of the walk-off.

Reporting: The referee must submit a report to the appropriate authorities regarding the abandonment. 

ESPN

ESPN 

In summary, the referee can allow the match to continue if they choose to wait for the players to return, but they also have the authority to call off the game, which usually results in a forfeit against the team that left. 

The CAF rules regarding a team leaving a game state: 

Key CAF Rules on Abandoning a Match: 

Forfeiture and Score: A team that refuses to play or abandons the field (e.g., in protest) is deemed to have lost 3-0. If the score at the time is more beneficial to the opposing team (e.g., 4-0), that score stands. 

Abandonment Procedure: If a team leaves the pitch, the referee typically waits for a set period (often 15 minutes) before abandoning the match, treating it as a refusal to play. 

Immediate Penalties: Under Article 82, a team that abandons a match may face immediate elimination from the tournament. 

The referees decision is final. IFAB/FIFA & CAF rules state that should players leave the game in protest or whatever reason, the referee should demand they return & continue the game within a given time or get cautioned &/or lose the game. In the case of Senegal vs Morocco, the players returned voluntarily (in under 15 minutes) without the referee having to warn them. Mind you, Morocco once won an AFCON title in 1976 after abandoning a final game for more than 15 minutes against Guinea. So should Guinea get the AFCON 1976 title that Morocco "won"? Should Argentina be stripped the 1982 World Cup title because of the illegitimate "Hand of god" goal by Diego Maradona against England? It's obscene for a team to be stripped of a title because of biases & "brown envelopes" two months after the tournament is over. Therefore, Senegal's victory is legal from my perspective. 

Félicitations Sénégal pour la victoire contre la corruption, le tricherie et les voleurs. 

Black leaders who caused the most damage towards the black cause.

While we celebrate black heroes & black people who contributed positively to the world, we do have evil-doers who may have been celebrated in some corners but on a grander perspective, did tremendous damage to the dignity & livelihoods of the black/African people they affected. These are six of the black leaders that I feel did understated damage to the image, dignity & progress of the black cause. 

Tippu Tipp: Tippu Tip was said to be a notorious slave trader who had a large army which raided slaves all along the Swahili Coast & further inland into the Great Lakes region. He contributed in the continuation of the brutal Zanj slave trade, where Africans would be sent to Arabia to be made eunuchs & ultimately slaves.

Mobutu Sese Seko: This was a leader of the former Belgian Congo after the horrible death of Patrice Lumumba. He was backed by Western powers & plundered the land he renamed Zaïre for his own personal gain.

Jean-Bédel Bokassa: This was a leader of the Central African Republic who wanted to be Napoleon so badly that he renamed Central African Republic to the "Central African Empire" & ordained himself as the "Emperor" in a very lavish ceremony. When the people rebelled against one of his laws regarding school uniform, he arrested them, including children who he was said to have beaten in jail.

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang: This lady was the health minister in South Africa when she denied the existence of AIDS, claiming people simply needed to boost their immune system by eating beetroot among other things. The AIDS disease ended up killing 1,4 million black people in South Africa.

Nzinga-a-Nkuwu (João I): One of the Kongo kings that gave slaves to the Portuguese in exchange for firearms & other traded items. This slave trade led to conflict & turmoil in the Kongo kingdom which the Congo region has never fully recovered from.

Autshumao: He was the leader of the Khoisan tribe called the "Goringhaikona", he helped Jan van Riebeeck & the Dutch settle in the Cochokhoi land of the Cape called ǁHui ǃGaeb (now Cape Town). The Dutch along with the Huguenots & British would later exterminate & rape the Khoisan leading to their near complete extinction from modern South Africa. 

Black stereotypes & their origins.

• Black people are ignorant / uneducated: 

Black people & education has always been a thorny issue because the very Western education we're given almost always clashes with our lived realities. So most black people often dismiss education as unnecessary because they are being given knowledge they will likely not use in the real world of taxes, fluctuating markets, government documents & affidavits. A black African needs to know just six things things; national law, the national language, how to read, how to write, how to count & basic geography of his/her country. The twelve grades Frankish Charlemagne education system the world has adopted is not always ideal for African societies so we may need our own education curriculum to be taught to all African scholars. Education & knowledge systems need to be Africanised so they don't seem so foreign & frightening to educators & students, respectively. This will eliminate the "ignorant", "uneducated" tag from our societies. 

Ignorance is also a matter of perspective, you can't expect a carpenter to know climatology concepts. Likewise, Africans can't be expected to be familiar with Western concepts so the ignorant tag will always apply to someone from a different culture. 

• Black people are loud: 

I think being loud among black people comes from the sense that our existence (since colonisation) has made us lack peace. The most uncolonized places are inherently the places where you find the most peaceful/quieter black people. 

• Black people don't know how to be civil / criminal behaviour: 

This also comes from the fact that our recent existence has been filled with turmoil, so we respect authority less & tend to get in trouble with Western legal systems because of our disdain for the lands we live in. 

• Black people are lazy: 

I think this stereotype depends on what cultures consider lazy. For example, a lot of black people in rural South Africa consider office work "lazy". Whereas in Western society, productivity or laziness depends on the outcome, infrastructure & visible results of your culture & society. So what is lazy is largely cultural. Unemployment in black societies where black youths are found loitering around on the streets may be seen as "lazy" by Westerners who do not consider a failure of governance in black lands a factor as to why youths are unemployed or unwilling to work. You usually get motivated to work for something that works for you in return, when the system you are meant to work for is against you - it feels futile to work for anything in that system/culture. 

• Dark skin & kinky hair: 

Dark skin & kinky hair has nothing to do with any biblical curses or references to hell. The "Curse of Ham" in the bible refers to Hamitic people (ancient Egyptians) & not black people. On the equator where the first homo sapiens lived by, it gets very hot & naturally our bodies adapted to that. Likewise, Nordic people adapted to life with less sun & more cold. The whole of Africa is mostly sunny & hot except mountainous regions, so Africans naturally adapted melanated skin & kinky hair. 

• Stealing Eurasian culture: 

We can't really steal something we are constantly encouraged & forced to adopt. When you're indoctrinated in Western systems, you subconsciously look to Europe as a compass in your life. African spirituality, knowledge systems, sociocultural traits & scripts are undocumented & not understood in detail by the world so are seen as unserious, obscure & unsupported by any serious institution. For example; there is no digitised African version of Wikipedia with the knowledge from the Timbuktu library or even a reputable organisation for any African faith/spiritual belief. 

• Can't govern themselves / Africa poor: 

Whenever Africans govern themselves well, it seems like some foreign power always wants to come in & claim some of that success or disrupt the progress Africans made. It happens so frequently that you almost expect good African governance to constantly be fending off attacks from foreign powers. This is why Africa is seen as poor; wars & destabilising objectives are constantly being funded by outsiders, leaving us almost always on a constant economic & development backfoot. The last few people to promote African sovereignty in economy & agriculture were ripped to shreds (reputational, health & financial ruin), if not killed by foreign powers. We're going to have to defend ourselves against sabotage if we truly want to develop. 

• Living in huts / dirty / smelly: 

I'll be honest; in the heat, it's harder to stay clean. Things rot faster in the heat also. Huts are still basic shelter & provide protection from the elements so are not nothing. Most of Africa has modernized though & adopted modern construction techniques. Most Africans no longer live in huts & deodorant has been introduced to Africa as well since it's invention in 1888. We have adopted modern hygiene methods also. 

• Punctuality: 

I honestly don't know why black people are said to be "never on time" but I guess it depends on the importance of the occasion because I know of black people who are very punctual for things that matter like work & job interviews etc. but come thirty or forty minutes late for events & get-togethers with their friends. I guess it has to do with consequences, if there are no consequences for arriving late - many black people will take their time.

Conclusion: 

We simply need to look at ourselves & compare ourselves to developed lands & ask ourselves what it will take achieve a certain level of development. I feel that if we can feed ourselves, house ourselves & our people as well as express ourselves in our lands fully in our own languages - it would be the best outcome of any situation Africans are in. It would create a generation which has faith in it's land & more eager to comply with national law & national institutions. If we can re-Africanise / decolonise our lands while being fully capable of feeding ourselves & sheltering ourselves, it would be the greatest triumph any African generation before us — since colonisation — has ever achieved. I imagine that these above-mentioned stereotypes can often sound so damning as a young, black individual. Being made to feel responsible for the behaviour of an entire race when it's not the responsibility of any one person but rather the collective responsibility of every member of that race to do an introspection as to whether or not they are contributing towards the hatred other races have towards us. 

Types of African cheese.

Ivory Coast – Wagashi 

Cameroon – Peuhl Cheese 

Ghana – Wagashi 

Senegal – Lben Cheese 

Rwanda – Ikivuguto Cheese 

Xenophobia & the King's Speech.

I'm very much a Pan-Africanist, I believe in Africa making strategic alliances to increase economy, infrastructure & security. But I also do not believe in unity for the sake of unity because that just causes contempt. 

Now, South Africa is known to be xenophobic. This is because some people are defensive of the economy. The old "foreigners occupying space meant for locals" story. Which is mostly true in South Africa, easier jobs are easier to obtain for foreigners & foreigners cost less & are less likely to complain or be part of a worker's union so they cost employers less. But as much as foreign labour is good for employers, they're not always good for locals. Recently, there were news that foreigners are selling expired & toxic goods at their spaza (tuck) shops. I've lived in townships & have seen the local spaza shop economy replaced by foreigners & this is because our people were simply not competitive enough at times. Somalian foreigners obtain bulk savings by bringing their money together to get discounts & deals direct from producers of products. Foreigners even manufacture some of their own products to sell at their shops. And, sadly, we've even heard of cases of foreigners bullying local shop owners out of business. Some foreigners in South Africa are, genuinely, breaking the law with their businesses but it's laws that are not reported by South Africans themselves because many South Africans dislike authority. So both South Africans & foreigners end up being quietly lawbreakers because nobody wants to report illegal activity. 

Now, I've already blogged about the unchecked migration of people into South Africa. But who is in charge of this? Who is in charge of Home Affairs, migration & border security? Why is everyone but the people responsible talking? And the people talking are not reporting to authorities or to the people responsible for the mass illegal immigration & human trafficking in South Africa. You'd think the people in charge of Home Affairs, migration & border security don't care or want illegal immigrants in South Africa. 

The King's Speech: 

I watched a film called The King's Speech once, starring Colin Firth & he played King George IV of England. A king who had a problem of stuttering & through going to a speech therapist, this King of England eventually learnt how to speak without stuttering. We do not have such a problem in South Africa but we do have a Zulu king who speaks "off-the-cuff" & is taken too literally at times by South African media. 

South African media needs you to be very specific on what you mean while being politically correct & that is a very difficult thing to do on-the-spot. As a public figure or traditional leader, you simply need a speech written for public events because some paid journalists & people with agendas will turn light words into a serious matter. 

I'm not really that xenophobic but do believe immigrants should enter a country legally & contribute positively to the land they're allowed into. Hopefully, the people in charge of the systems controlling immigration into South Africa explain what's happening or people in South Africa may get rowdy (as they're known to do) & attack foreigners indiscriminate of whether they are legal or illegal. 

Why Africa seems to lag so behind when compared to the rest of the world.

I've always felt that Africa is given an unfair spotlight in certain fields, primarily technology & quality of life. The thing is, technology is often made in one part of the world then spreads across the region before spreading worldwide. While the wheel is commonplace today, it was made in Persia before spreading across the world. Austronesians, Australasians, trans-Saharan Africans & Native American tribes did not use the wheel until they learnt the technology from someone else. This goes for other technologies such as the firearm & electricity. In fact, neither the wheel, electricity or the firearm were invented or discovered in Europe. These three essential technologies of the modern world were all Asian. Technology spreads depending on it's usefulness. 

Why we did not develop our own technology in Africa despite seeing it from other peoples is because in sub-Saharan Africa we rejected a lot of developments due to simple complacency among other things. We almost didn't believe anything was greater than our way of life. Some African nations called the gun, the "coward's weapon" just to show how disdainful Africans were of Western technology. So even if we did see many modern technologies on journeys & from colonisers, we didn't think that they were better than our way of life on most occasions & technologies we saw as better or superior, we - obviously - quickly adopted. This was the southeast African mentality. 

I can quote two lectures online of people more educated than myself on why Africa didn't develop the same technologies that Eurasia managed to develop, one cites simple geography & the other cites modern misunderstandings of ancient Africa but I'm going to note that culture & the accepted ideas of a given people played a role in many African nations remaining unaccepting of foreign technology. In some regions, colonisers might have caused so much damage that anything they came up with from their clothes, food & technology may have been rejected. It was not lack of intellectual capacity that made Africa lag behind Europe & Asia but more culture, environment & geography coming together to prevent the adoption of new technologies. 

The quality of life in Africa correlates with our experiences; Africa is a large, hot, hostile continent... we have the common idea that possessions are not permanent so we often didn't bother in making non-permanent items, especially in southeast Africa. This was the same for Australasians & Native Americans as well. The only reason it seems like the southern African way of life is unique & exotic may be simply due to our skin colour. There is no other way to put it because on other continents they lived lifestyles that focused less on possessions as well. There are "uncontacted tribes" today in modern America & Asia who have not discovered the wheel & might be considered less developed than most African countries. 

Despite all this; the destabilisation of our nations, way of life & hostile environments - Africa has made a lot of contributions towards the development of the modern world. Comparing African countries to China by claiming that China was one of the poorest countries in the world thirty years ago works in humiliating Africa. Sure. But putting into context that China's massive population shares one language & national ideal while Africa's nations were forced into ethnic conflicts through European-made national borders & dealt with unfair deals in terms of land & mining since the 1800s will make you understand that China had a sociocultural advantage & was given a further economic advantage when the world (i. e. USA & associates) made China a giant manufacturing plant. There's no reason an African nation focused on agriculture, shelter, industry & defence couldn't be successful even if that African nation never reaches the heights of China & Europe. 

Our quality of life in Africa needs to be a priority or we'll forever be just the struggling, malnourished, corrupt Dark Continent. We cannot compare ourselves to other continents when we were clearly dealt a different set of cards. 

AFRICAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE MODERN WORLD 

The price we pay for Africa's development.

Scrutinizing Pan-Africanism II

Just a tweet thread that I felt was good enough to be put in a blog because of the noteworthy points put across. 

From the @Mnu_Mpofana Twitter/X account: 

• The problem is people just saying Africa must "unite" & to me that sounds like imperialism & ethnic warmongering after all the damage Berlin Conference borders have done. It's vain. For example, when Wode Maya says Africa must "unite" - does he want Africa to be under Asante rule? 

• Unity for the sake of unity is not always strength. The bigger the union, the easier it is to attack & "the bigger they are, the harder they fall." Rather make ethnic states then standardise; rail, mail, education, road rules & driving licence across the continent FIRST. 

• Even if we can standardise these core industries, the best we can hope is to be a federation & not a centralised entity with a unified set of laws. 

• I think many Africans get inspiration from USA & EU with the many states cooperation then think we can make our own NATO & pull our resources together forgetting that other countries would have to subsidise others for a centralised continental state to exist. 

• Using Ghanaian gold to build Tanzanian infrastructure & using Congolese land & resources to build continental electricity stations for Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic etc. I don't think Ghana & Congo would approve. 

I still think it's better to standardise systems than a "United States of Africa". A Pan-African language is also bombastic dreams & would be better replaced with translators. Swahili, Arabic, Portuguese, English, French & Hausa are the biggest languages in Africa. In Uganda, for example, the majority speaks Luganda so would get people who are fluent Luganda speakers & fluent in one of the other six major African languages to be used by diplomats in the AU or on diplomatic missions. If we could simply standardise rail, mail, education, automotive manufacturing industry, air travel, road rules, driving licence & perhaps electricity production across Africa - lots of things could align & become simplified continent-wide without Africa becoming a centralised state. 

CONCEPT FOR A CONTINENTAL AFRICAN CURRENCY FRAMEWORK

The first Scrutinizing Pan-Africanism blog post I did. 

Black Excellence.

A list of black public figures who have helped progress Africa & black people worldwide. 

• Piankhi: A ruler of ancient Egypt who created the 25th dynasty of Egyptian pharoahs. 

• Queen Amanirenas of the Kingdom of Kush: A Nubian queen who lost her eye in battle against the Romans. She is famous for leading her armies against Roman expansion in the late 1st century BC and for her fierce resistance, which ultimately led to a peace treaty that preserved her kingdom's independence. 

• Marcus Garvey: A political figure who promoted black independence in the Caribbean & the USA.  

• Dr. Thomas Mensah: A Ghanaian-American inventor & engineer who pioneered fibre-optic technology. 

• Thomas Sankara: A political figure of post-colonial Africa who sought to make Burkina Faso a self-sufficient country. 

• Kofi Anan: Former Secretary General of the United Nations.  

• Kwame Nkrumah: A founder of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which is now the AU. He sought to make Ghana self-sufficient with grain silos. 

• John Langalibalele Dube: Founder & first president of the South African Natives National Congress (SANNC) which became the African National Congress (ANC). He founded Ilanga newspaper & Ohlange High School. 

• Charles "Buddy" Bolden: Creator of the jazz music genre. 

• Frederick Nathaniel Hibbert: Father of reggae music. 

• Pelé: Brazilian footballer who holds multiple records in football. 

• Wilt Chamberlain: American basketball player who holds multiple records in basketball. 

• Usain Bolt: Jamaican sprinter who holds multiple athletics records. 

These are just a few people of black (African) origin who have helped the black race obtain some dignity. I left out some controversial figures who may have caused more harm than good. 

• Senegalese inventors.

• Kenyan inventors.

• Nigerian inventors. 

• Black South African inventors. 

• African-American inventors & scientists.

A select five leaders who were among the most influential African history.