Global Update
“Africa Speaks Powerfully, but Empty”: Nigerian Professional Exposes Continent’s Mobility Crisis
As African leaders converged on the Ethiopian capital last week for the African Union summit to discuss unity, integration, and shared destiny, a Nigerian professional who was blocked from attending a parallel peace conference in Mauritania is exposing the stark contradiction between the continent’s rhetoric and its reality.
Habibah Waziri, Managing Director of BGR Consulting, which operates across Nigeria, Rwanda and Ghana, was scheduled to co-launch the Women in Youth Summit at the Africa Conference for Peace in Mauritania.
Her mission was to help shape discussions on designing a peace architecture that is “intelligent, secure, inclusive, culturally grounded, and human.”
Instead, her visa was rejected twice.
Mobility Barriers Highlight Continental Fragmentation
Speaking from her base in Nigeria, Waziri detailed the logistical absurdities that African professionals routinely face when attempting to move across their own continent.
To travel from Nigeria to Mauritania for the conference, her most realistic flight options were Air France and Turkish Airlines—carriers that would require her to leave the continent entirely, transit through Europe or Istanbul, and then fly back into Africa. Her first preference, Royal Air Maroc, proved impractical within the constraints she faced.
“Across the continent, countries are falling out of the ECOWAS block, retreating from regional commitments in favour of herded national postures,” Waziri said. “Mobility, which was once the promise, is becoming collateral damage.”
Visa Rejections and the “Risk” of African Passports
Waziri pointed to the systemic barriers embedded in visa processes across Africa, noting that her Nigerian passport—carried by one of the continent’s most economically active populations—is consistently “read as a risk and not as potential.”
“This perception quietly shapes outcomes of visas, which in turn affects opportunity, access, and free movement,” she explained. “And perception, when left unchallenged, hardens policy.”
The dual barriers of fragmented air connectivity and restrictive visa regimes create what she describes as a fundamental obstacle to the very integration African leaders profess to champion.
Women Bear the Brunt of Closed Borders
Waziri emphasised that the impact of these barriers falls disproportionately on African women, who serve as what she calls “the connective tissue” of the continent’s economy and social fabric.
“Across Africa, women already power economic development through cross-border trade, informal markets, community-level peace building, and emerging digital economies,” she stated.
“When borders close, women’s economic power contracts. When visas fail, women’s leadership disappears from decision-making spaces. Peace processes become narrower, economies become less resilient, and futures become less inclusive.”
Ambition Without Infrastructure
As AU leaders discussed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and other integration initiatives, Waziri warned that grand declarations amount to little without practical foundations.
“While leaders are in Addis Ababa to chart Africa’s new future, the present is reminding us firmly that this ambition without infrastructure is honestly just symbolism,” she said. “Africa will continue to speak powerfully, but empty.”
She argued that if the continent structurally limits who gets to speak, who gets to move, and who gets to shape outcomes, then the vision of unity remains hollow.
“Peace cannot be built in isolation,” Waziri added. “And the future cannot be negotiated by half of the continent.”
Call for Practical Integration
Waziri’s experience underscores a growing demand among African professionals for tangible progress on freedom of movement, including:
- Streamlined visa processes that treat African passport holders as assets rather than risks
- Strengthened intra-African air connectivity that reduces reliance on non-African carriers
- Recognition that mobility is essential for trade, peace-building, and inclusive development
“Our work is still ahead, and the signal could not be clearer,” she concluded. “Our infrastructure has not yet caught up with our ambition.”
The African Union summit continues through this week, with leaders expected to issue declarations on continental integration.
Whether those declarations will translate into the practical changes that professionals like Waziri require remains an open question.
Global Update
Xenophobic South Africa Seeks to Deport Beauty Queen at Center of Long-Running Immigration Dispute
Beauty queen Chidimma Adetshina has reiterated that she was born in South Africa and accused authorities of unfairly targeting her as she continues to challenge efforts to deport her from the country.
Adetshina, 25, made the comments after a court hearing in Cape Town, where the South African government’s bid to have her detained was postponed until February 2027.
“I remind everyone that I was born in South Africa,” Adetshina said. “I have applied through the proper legal channels to have my status and citizenship determined.”
The former Miss South Africa finalist said she believes authorities have attempted to make an example of her through the case.
“There has been an attempt by the South African authorities to make an example of me with this case,” she said.
She also warned against allowing xenophobia and misinformation to influence how people are treated, comments that appeared to address protesters gathered outside the court demanding her deportation.
Chidimma Adetshina’s citizenship dispute
Adetshina was born in Soweto and grew up in Cape Town, according to previous interviews. Her mother, Anabela Rungo, has Mozambican roots, while her father is Nigerian.
Questions about Adetshina’s citizenship emerged after she became a finalist in the 2024 Miss South Africa competition. Critics questioned whether she was eligible to participate because of her parents’ backgrounds.
The controversy ultimately led Adetshina to withdraw from the competition. South African authorities later stripped her of her South African identity and travel documents following allegations that her mother had committed identity fraud to obtain South African nationality.
Rungo’s South African citizenship was revoked in 2025.
South African law does not automatically grant citizenship to every person born in the country. In general, citizenship by birth depends on factors including whether at least one parent is a South African citizen or permanent resident.
Adetshina has maintained that South Africa is her home and that she was born there.
From Miss South Africa controversy to Miss Universe Nigeria
After leaving South Africa in 2024, Adetshina was invited to compete in the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant. She went on to win the title, giving her a new platform after the controversy surrounding her participation in Miss South Africa.
Her legal problems in South Africa continued, however.
She was arrested in June 2026 and subsequently released on warning after being accused of unlawfully re-entering the country.
During the latest proceedings, South Africa’s Home Affairs Department reportedly argued that Adetshina had applied for a South African visa while she was in Nigeria and obtained Nigerian passports for herself and her son, which officials said raised questions about her South African citizenship.
Officials also alleged that she subsequently entered South Africa illegally through a border post in Mozambique.
Adetshina is challenging the Home Affairs Department’s decision to deport her. Her case was postponed to February 2027 to allow the review proceedings concerning her immigration status to be finalised.
She remains free while those proceedings continue.
Protesters call for deportation
The case has also become a flashpoint in South Africa’s broader debate over immigration.
Members of anti-migrant group March and March gathered outside the Cape Town courthouse and called for Adetshina to be deported. Protesters reportedly followed her vehicle as she left the court.
Adetshina’s warning about xenophobia and misinformation comes as her case continues to attract significant public attention.
“I have applied through the proper legal channels to have my status and citizenship determined,” she said, emphasizing that the legal process should determine her status rather than public pressure.
The next major development in the case is expected in February 2027, when proceedings are scheduled to resume.
Global Update
AI Firms Are Buying, Scanning Millions of Books to Train Large Language Models and then Destroying the Books
There is an ongoing, secretive practice by artificial intelligence companies in which they acquire millions of physical books, only to destroy them after scanning their contents to train large language models (LLMs).
The practice, revealed through investigative reporting and unsealed legal documents, has raised urgent questions about copyright, cultural preservation, and the ethics of AI development.
Project Panama: The Secretive Operation
Internal documents unsealed in legal filings revealed that Anthropic, the company behind the Claude AI assistant, launched a clandestine operation codenamed “Project Panama” —described in an internal planning document as “our effort to destructively scan all the books in the world.”
“We don’t want it to be known that we’re working on this,” the document stated, according to reports from The Washington Post.
The operation involved using hydraulic-powered cutting machines to remove book spines and slice individual pages, which were then scanned with industrial-grade imaging equipment before being discarded.
The Legal Loophole
Anthropic and other AI companies have been able to evade copyright challenges by relying on the first-sale doctrine—a legal principle that allows a buyer to do what they want with a physical item after purchasing it.
This doctrine, which enables the second-hand book trade to exist, has now created a new market explicitly catering to AI companies seeking vast quantities of old books.
In a 2025 ruling, a judge found that converting lawfully purchased print books into non-distributed digital library copies was “fair use” because the digital copies replaced the purchased books without increasing the library’s copy count.
However, critics argue that destruction of the original physical copies goes far beyond what fair use was intended to protect.
A $1.5 Billion Settlement
Earlier this month, a judge approved a $1.5 billion payment in a class action lawsuit brought against Anthropic by a group of authors whose pirated work had been used to train Claude.
Despite this settlement, the physical destruction of books continues, with companies arguing that once a book is lawfully purchased, they are free to do with it as they please.
Mixed Feelings Among Booksellers
The practice has created an ethical dilemma within the antiquarian book trade.
“Personally have mixed feelings about all of this,” one bookseller told 404 Media. “It benefits me financially as well as by clearing out old inventory that is otherwise unlikely to sell.”
“I’ve been well-suited for these sales with inventory from overseas and foreign language books. On the other hand, I don’t like the end-use, and I don’t like that uncommon books are being pulped.”
A Broader Industry Practice
Anthropic is not alone in this practice. According to Novara Media, “The world’s biggest AI companies are buying antiquarian books en masse so they can be scanned to train their large language models before being destroyed.”
The revelation has sparked outrage among historians, authors, and cultural preservation advocates.
Historian Margarita Lila Rosa, who has been documenting the practice, shared videos showing the destruction process on social media.
“How did we miss this?” she wrote. “First the spine is removed and then the book is disposed of.”
What This Means for Knowledge Preservation
The destruction of physical books—particularly rare and antiquarian volumes—raises profound concerns about cultural heritage and the preservation of human knowledge.
While digital copies may preserve the text itself, critics argue that the physical destruction of unique or uncommon books represents an irreversible loss to humanity’s cultural record.
The Bigger Picture
The controversy highlights a broader tension in the AI industry: the insatiable demand for training data versus the rights of creators and the preservation of cultural artefacts.
As AI companies continue to scale their models, the pressure to acquire vast amounts of human-authored text will only intensify—raising difficult questions about what we are willing to sacrifice in the name of technological progress.
Sources: The Washington Post, Novara Media, 404 Media, unsealed court documents
The Chinese community in Ghana, joined by Ghanaian friends and officials, celebrated the Lantern Festival with a vibrant gala at the forecourt of Ghana’s Parliament House in Accra, highlighting the growing cultural integration and strong bilateral relations between the two nations.
The event, held on Sunday, June 21, 2026, ahead of the Lantern Festival on Tuesday, featured captivating performances by the Anhui Performing Arts Group and other cultural troupes, showcasing traditional Chinese dance and music.
A food bazaar offering authentic Chinese delicacies set a festive tone, drawing both Chinese residents and local guests. The celebration underscored the sense of community and belonging among Chinese nationals living in Ghana.
Addressing the gathering, Li Yang, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Chinese Embassy in Ghana, stressed the significance of the Lantern Festival as a symbol of reunion, prosperity, and peace.
He noted that 2026 marks the 66th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Ghana, as well as the 70th anniversary of China-Africa diplomatic ties.
Li reaffirmed China’s commitment to deepening cooperation with Ghana and Africa through initiatives such as the China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges and the Initiative on Cooperation Supporting Modernization in Africa.
(Photo by Seth/Xinhua)
Ghanaian officials expressed similar warmth. Food and Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku welcomed Chinese investors to partner in Ghana’s agricultural transformation, citing opportunities in irrigation, farm mechanization, agro-processing, and industrial zones.
Deputy Defence Minister Ernest Brogya Genfi conveyed President John Dramani Mahama’s greetings and praised the Chinese community for their substantial contributions to Ghana’s economy through investments in manufacturing, commerce, and hospitality.
The high-profile celebration at Parliament House reflects the stable and increasingly rooted presence of the Chinese community in Ghana, serving as a testament to the maturing strategic partnership between the two countries.
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