Lydia Namubiru
@namlyd.bsky.social
680 followers 290 following 59 posts
Queer. African. Feminist. Editor-in-Chief, The Continent: Here: @thecontinent.org WhatsApp: bit.ly/4b2gpfI Signal: bit.ly/TCSignal Telegram: t.me/continentnews Email: [email protected] Website: thecontinent.org
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namlyd.bsky.social
I’m a big deal now, I think.
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
mininghistory.bsky.social
The cost of smelting copper in China is now -$45 a ton. This is historically very unusual. Mining companies normally pay to have their metals processed, now they get paid.

Hard to see how countries that plan to become wealthier by processing metals can compete with this.
namlyd.bsky.social
This isn’t a hard man to track. The authorities could stop him if they wanted to.
thecontinent.org
All Protocol Observed

Welcome to Issue 204 of The Continent

Trafficking of African women into abusive domestic work remains rampant. This week we reveal a man moving women from Zambia to Pakistan — where they're exploited. Authorities know, but he's walking free.

Get your copy here: bit.ly/204_TC
The cover of Issue 204 of The Continent is an illustration by Wynona Mutisi. It depicts a man in a dark shirt, shown in cool blue and purple tones. The background is filled with travel-related items: a boarding pass, a Zambian passport, and a Pakistani passport. The boarding pass a flight from Karachi to Lusaka, indicates international travel.
Overlaying the man are text message bubbles, indicating a conversation. "Give me back my passport... I want to go home." The response is "$450 release fee."
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
nanjala.bsky.social
Getting back into the swing of things after many moons of mostly academic writing with this fun piece on African women in the #wnba for @thecontinent.org.

(Rather than overload alt text, get the screen readable version here. It’s a free magazine sent to your phone wa.me/27738056068?...)
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
mannietchawi.com
I HATE that this violence is happening in East Africa.

But I’m grateful for the independent, thorough, and fair reporting work being carried out by the folks over at The Continent (@thecontinent.org)
thecontinent.org
All Protocol Observed

Welcome to Issue 203 of The Continent

Across East Africa, state security forces have been very busy recently — doing crime but not time.

Get this week's edition here: bit.ly/203_TC
This is the cover of The Continent, dated 14 June 2025, issue 203. It’s illustrated by satirical cartoonist Gado. The headline reads: “East Africa’s battle against its own people.”
The illustration is a black-and-white cartoon with some red highlights. It shows three men lowering a coffin into a grave. The coffin and the men are covered in blood splatter and stains. The two men on the left are wearing military uniforms with skull insignias on their berets, suggesting they are high-ranking officers or commanders. The third man on the right, wearing a suit, likely represents a political leader. All three look worried or anxious as they carry out the burial. The graveyard is filled with many crosses and headstones, indicating mass deaths. Several of the headstones and the ground are also marked with blood.
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
thecontinent.org
Trying to weather the storm

Amid worsening drought and crop failure, Africans are adjusting their lives and habits to climate change.

Check out @afrobarometer.bsky.social’s latest survey in this week’s issue of The Continent: bit.ly/202_TC
Noticed a shift in the weather lately? You’re not the only one. A majority of Africans across 30 countries surveyed in 2024/2025 say the past decade has seen more severe droughts (55%). A similar proportion (54%) say crop failures have intensified. 

So this week, with World Environment Day (5 June) fresh in our minds, we’re asking: How have these and other consequences of climate change affected lifestyles and livelihoods on the continent?

Asked about adaptations they and their families have had to make over the past five years, a third (33%) of respondents say they switched their water source or cut their level of consumption. 

Three in 10 say they adjusted outdoor workloads or schedules (30%) and altered their eating or crop-planting practices (30%). A quarter (26%) of those who keep livestock changed their grazing patterns or reduced their holdings. And nearly one in five (18%) physically moved homes.

Climate change has hit the poor particularly hard: On every metric, they are between 12 and 15 percentage points more likely than the rich to have been forced to adapt their ways.

#ClimateChange #TheContinent #Africa
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
leoniejoubert.bsky.social
Masterful writing. The #Continent is a fab innovation. Not just because it’s WhatsApp delivered. But because it’s African writers for African audiences. Sign up. @thecontinent.org @simonallison.bsky.social @siphok.bsky.social please tell author that this story is in-put-down able.
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
shonatiger.bsky.social
@wynonamutisi.bsky.social is one of my fav fav illustrators!
thecontinent.org
All Protocol Observed

Welcome to Issue 202 of The Continent

It's Eid al-Adha, the festival of sacrifice, but droughts in Algeria have left lambs scarce. To keep tradition alive, the government is importing sheep and distributing them via lotteries.

Get this week's edition here: bit.ly/202_TC
The cover of Issue 202 of The Continent is illustrated by Wynona Mutisi. The issue is dated 7 June 2025.
The background is in the style of a greeting card. The cover is textured green with an ornate, traditional North African or Islamic-style border that uses floral and leafy motifs in orange, green, and pink.
In the center is an illustration of three wooden boats, each filled with tightly packed white sheep. The sheep are stylised and repetitive, forming dense clusters within each boat. Overlaying the center of the image is the Arabic phrase “عيد مبارك” (Eid Mubarak) in elegant gold script, which means “Blessed Eid” — referring to the Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha, when sheep are traditionally sacrificed.
At the bottom of the cover, a bold white headline reads: The Great Algerian Sheep Shortage.
namlyd.bsky.social
There’s still 36 million people here. That’s a lot of people to promote anything to. Is the app bad at promoting things outside one’s immediate following?
namlyd.bsky.social
This is actually a selling point. I want to be in conversation with people (even on the internet) and that disappears above a certain follower count online. You became a “public intellectual” around whom people build camps and shout boos and ululations.
humantransit.bsky.social
For everyone who thinks I should leave Twitter this poll I just did there explains the problem. Bluesky remains unattractive to a big chunk of people.
namlyd.bsky.social
We gave ourselves, and the world, a new way to know Africa. Come celebrate our 200th issue. And of course get your weekly serving of excellent African journalism.
thecontinent.org
All Protocol Observed.

Welcome to Issue 200 of The Continent.

In an exclusive investigation, reporters went undercover to expose how Zimbabwe's ruling party, Zanu-PF, helped rig Mozambique’s election.

Get your copy of this week's edition here: bit.ly/200_TC
The cover of Issue 200 of The Continent is from the vantage point of a Zimbabwean reporter going undercover, armed with a fake ID into Mozambique to vote there. In the bottom right corner are the words: Exclusive: How to rig your neighbour's election
namlyd.bsky.social
An edition to read on a big screen because the photos of Algiers are achingly beautiful. Our first in a limited series of photo essays on African cities.
thecontinent.org
All Protocol Observed

Welcome to Issue 199 of The Continent

Cairo, long the beating heart of Arab culture, is getting anxious as Arab artists lean out – towards Gulf money.

Get your copy of this week's issue here: bit.ly/TC_199
The cover of Issue 199 of The Continent (17 March 2025) is illustrated by Yemsrach Yetneberk. It shows a belly dancer, atop a camel, entertaining a cheering crowd of Gulf state visitors. The headline at the bottom of the page reads: "Another exodus out of Egypt".
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
thecontinent.org
All Protocol Observed

Welcome to The Museum of Stolen History.

This season, we profiled eight historical artefacts from every corner of Africa. We call it The Museum of Stolen History, in recognition of the fact that much of Africa’s history has been looted or erased.

Read it here: bit.ly/TCMoSH
The cover of The Continent's Museum of Stolen History special edition shows a cabinet of historical artefacts which were looted from the African continent. It was illustrated by Wynona Mutisi. It shows Ngwi Ndem (‘Bangwa Queen’), The Golden Crown, The Rashid (Rosetta) Stone, The Lions of Tsavo, Okukor,  The Cullinan Diamond, Kakuungu and Ekori.
namlyd.bsky.social
But guys, why aren’t you sorting that Trump tariffs list before publishing it? Do you just want to see me run mad?
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
rheinze.bsky.social
Whoah guys, 70s Lagos photos!!!
thecontinent.org
All Protocol Observed

Welcome to Issue 196 of The Continent

Undeveloped photo films are gathering dust in studios all over Lagos. What is on those old camera rolls?

Find out here. bit.ly/Continent196
The cover of Issue 196 of The Continent is a photograph from the Abi Morocco Photo collection featuring a Lagosian wearing sunglasses, a short-sleeved shirt and trousers and reading a copy of Newsweek. The man has one leg propped up on a chair, bent at the knee, facing the photographer. The headline reads: "The lost Lagos photos"
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
thecontinent.org
All Protocol Observed

Welcome to Issue 196 of The Continent

Undeveloped photo films are gathering dust in studios all over Lagos. What is on those old camera rolls?

Find out here. bit.ly/Continent196
The cover of Issue 196 of The Continent is a photograph from the Abi Morocco Photo collection featuring a Lagosian wearing sunglasses, a short-sleeved shirt and trousers and reading a copy of Newsweek. The man has one leg propped up on a chair, bent at the knee, facing the photographer. The headline reads: "The lost Lagos photos"
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
simonallison.bsky.social
I published a story in this week's edition and, for the first time in my career, wondered: will this mean I won't get a visa for the United States?

"South Africa’s ruling party has already defeated one white supremacist state. Can it stand firm against another one?"
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
seamas.bsky.social
Not to be a wide-eyed naïf about such things but... am I right in thinking that they levelled an entire building to get to one guy and *that* is not controversial to anyone in the American media or political class, only that this information was recklessly shared in an unsecured chat?
Screenshot of the Atlantic Signal exchanges, including Michael Waltz saying "the first target - their top missile guy - we had positive ID of him walking into his girlfriend's building and it's now collapsed".
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
semafor.com
Semafor @semafor.com · Mar 19
Several African nations could soon run out of HIV drugs following Washington’s freeze on foreign aid.

The US funding program for HIV drugs is credited with saving 26 million lives, and its potential closure threatens to “undo 20 years of progress,” the WHO chief said.
A chart labeled "Share of all deaths caused by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa" between 2000 and 2021 shows a steady decline beginning in 2003, when the US launched its aid program to fund HIV/AIDS drugs
Reposted by Lydia Namubiru
smittermeier.bsky.social
„When AIDS Was Funny“, a short film powerfully illustrating how bone-chillingly hateful and indifferent the Reagan administration was www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAzD...
Reagan Administration's Chilling Response to the AIDS Crisis
YouTube video by Vanity Fair
www.youtube.com