Inaccurate media reports are hardly limited to Africa, but there’s a greater chance of international newspapers getting things wrong – and not admitting so – when it comes to the continent, Seay said.
“When most western outlets have just two or three people covering a continent of 11 million square miles, it very easy to make mistakes, even unintentionally. It’s a recipe for disaster in terms of quality of coverage.”
Around half of Africa Check’s investigations are triggered by readers wanting to know anything from the veracity of claims made by pop stars to supposed disease-busting local herbs. Operating out of Lagos and Johannesburg, the not-for-profit organisation funded by grants and individual donations has a team of five full-timers working alongside volunteers and freelancers, and hopes to expand to Kenya and Senegal next.
Anton Harber, a highly-regarded South African former investigative journalist and co-founder of the project, explained its ultimate aim. “I imagine a situation in which every public figure and journalist feels nervous about what they say or write because Africa Check might just catch them out.”
Get your Africa facts right: websites seek to stem flow of misinformation | World news | The Guardian
September 30, 2014
Articles on Africa Africa, Gambia, misinformation, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey, Responsible Journalism, West Africa Leave a comment
Out of Africa: The great money migration – Features – Al Jazeera English
May 2, 2014
Articles on Africa Africa, Gambia, Money Laundering, peter singhateh, Poverty Reduction, Research, West Africa Leave a comment
Out of Africa: The great money migration – Features – Al Jazeera English.
“Almost $2 trillion has left Africa illicitly since 1970, thwarting poverty reduction and economic growth.
The figures are staggering: At least $1.8 trillion illicitly flowed out of Africa between 1970 and 2009.
This is far more than the external aid the continent received over the same period, and almost five times its current external debt. According to researchers, the continent also loses at least $100bn a year in this financial haemorrhage.
African leaders convened this week in the Ethiopian city of Bahar Dar to discuss illicit financial flows and what can be done to staunch them. A study commissioned by the Tana High Level Forum on African Security, which organised the conference, found that illicit flows from Africa grew at an average rate of 12.1 percent per year since 1970, and that capital flight from West and Central African countries accounted for most of the illicit flows from sub-Saharan Africa…”
Calculating Coups: Can Data Stop Disasters? | Think Africa Press
February 22, 2014
International Security Africa, Conflict, Coups, Gambia, Peace & Security, peter singhateh, West Africa Leave a comment
Calculating Coups: Can Data Stop Disasters? | Think Africa Press.
In March 2012, junior officers stage a coup in Mali, throwing the country into disarray. A year later, rebels oust the government of the Central African Republic (CAR), paving the way for widespread violence that has made refugees out of a quarter of the country’s population. And at the end of the year in December, an internal political conflict in South Sudan’s governing party and army escalates into a full-scale civil war, killing ten thousand or more.
These conflicts differ widely in almost every aspect, apart from the sense of surprise and helplessness that they instilled in the international community. Mali was lauded as a democratic role model before some soldiers took power almost by accident. The French government, for decades the kingmaker of the Central African Republic, confessed to being taken blindsided by the speed and viciousness with which the conflict escalated. And in South Sudan, the regional organisation IGAD struggled to respond to the conflict, finding themselves unprepared and at odds over how exactly to proceed.
In all three cases the surprise greatly limited the influence of the international community, which if better prepared could not only have intervened earlier and more effectively but could perhaps even have taken pre-emptive measures. This unpreparedness was even more of a shame because in all three cases, the outbreak of conflict had been predicted by statistical models…
Bill Gates – Timeline Photos
January 2, 2014
Reports Africa, Bill Gates, Development, Gambia, People & Society, Peter Singhatey, West Africa Leave a comment
“Fewer children are dying and fewer people are living in extreme poverty”
Africa, Sovereignty and International Law | Think Africa Press
November 6, 2012
Articles on Africa Africa, Gambia, peter singhateh, West Africa Leave a comment
3: Africa, Sovereignty and International Law | Think Africa Press.
Sovereignty is not solely a European invention that was extended and exported; its origins are mired in encounters with the rest of the world – a history of subjugation. This article will seek to identify key turning points in its evolution, comparing and contrasting various classic and contemporary qualities, in order to provide the necessary context in which to understand current projects in international law….
‘I miss the sun . . . the heat in the morning’
October 20, 2012
Irish News Immigration, People & Society, peter singhateh, West Africa Leave a comment
‘I miss the sun . . . the heat in the morning’.
Six people of different nationalities featured in Census 2011 outline their experiences of living in Ireland…
Charities Act deferred over cost
May 23, 2012
Irish News Africa, Gambia, peter singhateh, West Africa Leave a comment
Charities Act deferred over cost.
LEGISLATION THAT would require charities to make their financial information public has been deferred for cost reasons, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has confirmed.
The Charities Act, providing for the regulation and supervision of the charitable sector, was passed in 2009 but has not been enacted in full. Mr Shatter said the prospect of full implementation was examined in the context of last year’s comprehensive review of expenditure.
allAfrica.com: Senegal: Greenpeace Welcomes Cancellation of Fishing Authorizations
May 4, 2012
Articles on Africa Africa, Gambia, People & Society, peter singhateh, Peter Singhatey, West Africa Leave a comment
allAfrica.com: Senegal: Greenpeace Welcomes Cancellation of Fishing Authorizations.
Greenpeace welcomes the decision of the Senegalese government to cancel licenses of pelagic fishing vessels issued to 29 foreign trawlers from Russia, Comoros, Lithuania, Saint Vincent Grenadine and Belize.
“These kinds of licenses are a direct threat to employment and food security for millions of Senegalese who have been dependent on fishing for centuries,” says Raoul Monsembula, Oceans Campaigner, Greenpeace.
Peter "Just Loves Flying" 
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