Africa's True Size: Campaign to Replace Mercator Map & Nigeria's Shea Nut Ban

Rethinking World Maps: The Equal Earth Projection

• 🌍 Campaigners advocate for replacing the 16th-century Mercator map, which inaccurately shrinks Africa, with the Equal Earth projection.
• 💡 Maps are not neutral tools; they shape perceptions of global importance, and distorting Africa's size can lead to a sense of marginality and underestimation of its significance.
• 🔑 The Mercator projection was designed for maritime navigation, not for fair representation, yet it has become the default in education and media.
• 🚀 The African Union has backed this campaign, aiming to foster pride, dignity, and a more accurate global understanding of Africa's demographic, economic, and geopolitical weight.

Tanzania's Uncompetitive Election Campaign

• 🇹🇿 Tanzania's election campaign has officially begun, with incumbent President Samya Suluhu Hassan launching her party's candidates.
• ⚠️ The main opposition party, Chadema, is barred from the vote, and its leader is in custody, making the race largely uncompetitive.
• 🚫 The second largest opposition party's presidential candidate was also denied clearance, leaving President Hassan with 16 challengers but limited real competition.

Nigeria's Shea Nut Export Ban

• 🇳🇬 Nigeria has implemented a six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts to boost domestic processing and become a global supplier of refined shea butter and skincare products.
• 📈 This move aims to increase revenue, create jobs, and transform Nigeria's role in the $6.5 billion global shea market, projecting significant short-term and long-term earnings.
• 💰 Currently, Nigeria supplies 40% of the world's shea nuts but contributes only 1% to the refined product market; the ban seeks to shift this by promoting local value addition.
• 💡 The government emphasizes that this policy will benefit millions of rural women who harvest and sell shea nuts, aligning with a broader strategy to export finished goods rather than raw materials.