As protests rock the US following the death of African-American George Floyd in police custody, Kenyan journalist Larry Madowo writes about the racism he has experienced in the country.
In my first week in New York City last summer, I was invited to dinner at a friend’s penthouse on the wealthy Upper West Side.
I picked up some fruit for her and arrived at her building carrying a plastic bag.
The front desk sent me through an open courtyard to the back of the building, past residents’ garbage bags and into a surprisingly dirty lift.
When I got off upstairs, my host opened the door mortified, all the colour drained from her face.
“My racist doorman thought you’re a delivery guy and made you use the service elevator,” she explained as she apologized.
I have worked in the complicated racial hierarchies of South Africa and the UK and have travelled around the world, but it still stung that an American butler did not think accomplished white people like my friend and her husband could have a black dinner guest.
That early micro-aggression forewarned me that America may be the land of opportunity for many, but it would still reduce me to the colour of my skin and find me unworthy.
It did not matter that I am from a black majority African nation, people who look like me here have to negotiate for their humanity with a system that constantly alienates, erases and punishes them.
In Kenya, I may disappear into the crowd, but in America I always have a target on my back for being black.
A day after investment banker Amy Cooper called the police after a Harvard-educated black man asking her to follow park rules and leash her dog, a white policeman knelt on George Floyd’s neck for so long it eventually killed him.
I was heartbroken.
As protests broke out nationwide to demand justice for Floyd and the countless other black people who have been killed by police, I held my breath.
How could I grieve for someone I did not know? How could I own a pain I had not lived, as an African “fresh off the boat” in America? I wondered if I would be appropriating the African-American struggle at a convenient moment. Use kamagra online cialis soft jelly if you suffer from erectile dysfunction but those who got Kamagra and decided to go for short term efficient results and not follow the nutritionist diet. Even doctors say that if you are facing any debilitating physical condition, then you can be escaped and spared from the miseries by using this solution by beating impotency. viagra in india Married life can cialis tadalafil 20mg be affected with different reasons. Introduced in 1998, the medicine made a buzz among males brand cialis 20mg suffering from the sexual problem.
Then I saw a video shot at a protest in Long Beach, California, that was clear about allegiances.
“The best way that Africans in America can support African-Americans is to stand with us, and to understand that we’re all the same,” said a protester.
I asked Tom Gitaa – a publisher of Mshale newspaper, which serves African immigrants in the Midwest of the US – what he made of the protests, subsequent riots and looting that began in his city of Minneapolis.
“Many of us didn’t grow up with some of these civil rights issues in Africa so sometimes our understanding is not there.
“But with issues like police brutality and discrimination at the workplace, we’re running into a lot of the same things African-Americans have experienced over the years,” said Mr Gitaa, who moved to the US from East Africa about 30 years ago and whose American-born 24-year-old daughter has been one of the people making their voices heard on the streets.
There has always been tension between Africans and black Americans.
My friend, Karen Attiah, and I unpacked some of it in The Washington Post two years ago when the superhero film Black Panther came out.
She is the paper’s Global Opinions editor, a daughter of African immigrants – born in the US, but deeply connected to her parent’s home continent.
‘Black men are most mistreated’
Protesters with African flags or with signs in languages from the continent have also been spotted at events in different parts of the US.
“People of colour, especially black men, are the most mistreated, misvalued and misunderstood community on this planet,” a tearful Jada Walker told a crowd of marchers outside the Dallas City Hall in Texas.
She worried about what awaits her two-year-old nephew who has special needs when he grows up.
“How is a cop going to treat him when he stands 6ft 8in like his father, is not communicative and looks like someone they’re looking for?”
The US and the African Development Bank have fallen out over allegations of corruption against the bank’s Nigerian head, writes former BBC Africa Business editor Larry Madowo.
Akinwumi Adesina is a sharp dresser known for his expensive tailored suits, immaculate white shirts and an endless supply of colourful bow ties.
But the clean public persona of the 60-year-old president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) is now being questioned after a string of corruption and abuse of office allegations from his own staff spilled into the open. Mr Adesina has denied all the allegations.
The board of governors of the 55-year-old institution met on Tuesday to discuss whether to bring in an outside investigator into the allegations concerning the Nigerian’s conduct just days after the US rejected an initial inquiry that cleared him.
The prospects of an independent probe comes only three months before he was expected to be re-elected unopposed at its annual general meeting in August.
US at odds with Africa
The 20-point allegations of “impunity and bad governance” from unnamed employees have exposed a rift between Mr Adesina and ordinary staff.
The “Group of Concerned Staff Members of the AfDB” claimed that Mr Adesina has used the bank’s resources for self-promotion and personal gain while also paying out huge but undeserved severance packages to staff who resigned mysteriously, and favouring his fellow Nigerians.
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin personally signed a letter to the board rejecting an internal investigation that cleared Mr Adesina.
“Mnuchin’s move is significant because it has now cast a limelight on governance issues and on [the] importance of an independent investigation to uphold the integrity of the AfDB,” said Barbara Barungi, the bank’s former lead economist on Nigeria. “There are very few people that were willing to stick their necks out.”
Besides the core 54 African countries, the US is one of the 27 non-regional members of the AfDB and its second largest shareholder.
AfDB’s 10 biggest shareholders:
Nigeria: 9.1%; US: 6.5%; Egypt: 5.5%; Japan:5.4%;
South Africa: 4.9% Algeria: 4.1%; Germany: 4%;
Canada: 3.8%; Ivory Coast: 3.7%; France: 3.6%
“I think AfDB is Africa’s most valuable institution,” said one insider who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“But what you have now is the biggest paymaster, the US, in a stand-off against the Africans. If you read Mnuchin’s letter carefully, it has put the bank on notice.”
The BBC has obtained the original whistleblowers’ email from January 2020, sent to two executive directors of the bank, Yano Takuji (Japanese) and Steven Dowd (American), and the British director for its Integrity and Anti-Corruption Department Alan Bacarese.
In an April update circulated to a wider pool of senior managers, the whistleblowers said the Ethics Committee headed by Mr Takuji failed to examine their concerns.
The committee later carried out an investigation and declared that Mr Adesina was “totally exonerated of all allegations made against him” and recommended that the board of governors adopt its conclusions.
In early May, the board’s chair – Ivorian Planning Minister Nialé Kaba – wrote to shareholders that the African finance ministers who supervise the bank’s management intended to clear Mr Adesina.
“We fear that the wholesale dismissal of all allegations without appropriate investigation will tarnish the reputation of this institution as one that does not uphold high standards of ethics and governance,” Mr Mnuchin wrote back.
“Therefore, the United States cannot support dismissing the allegations at this stage,” he added.
Mr Kaba said in a statement that a decision had not been made about Mr Adesina and he remained in office.
“The bureau, which I chair, wishes to reassure the public that it is seized with the matter and it is treating it with the utmost seriousness that it deserves,” he said.
‘Trumped up allegations’
The whistleblowers have accused Mr Adesina of major conflicts of interest in his dealings with current and former employees, unethical conduct and preferential treatment.
Eight things about Akinwumi Adesina:
First Nigerian to lead AfDB
Elected for five-year term in September 2015
Was Nigeria’s agriculture minister from 2011 until his move
Named Forbes Africa Person of the Year in 2013 for his “bold reforms” in farming sector
Was told by an academic in Nigeria he would never get into Purdue University as his maths was poor
Proved him wrong by getting into the prestigious US institution
Cancelled his admission to UK’s respected Cambridge University
Got his PhD in agricultural economics in 2008
Sources: AfDB; Forbes magazine
Mr Adesina, who holds a PhD in agricultural economics from Purdue University in the US, did not respond to BBC requests for comment but released a statement.
“In spite of unprecedented attempts by some to tarnish my reputation and prejudice the bank’s governance procedures, I maintain my innocence with regard to trumped up allegations that unjustly seek to impugn my honour and integrity,” he wrote.
“I am confident that fair, transparent and just processes that respect the rules, procedures and governance systems of the Bank, and rule of law, will ultimately prove that I have not violated the Code of Ethics of this extraordinary institution.”
The AfDB board meeting is said to have agreed to an independent investigation into the allegations concerning Mr Adesina’s conduct after Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland supported the US position, Bloomberg news agency first reported.
“Should it surprise the world that we’re getting a second investigation backed by no African country? What does that say about the other countries that have lined up behind the US?” wonders Debisi Araba, a friend of Mr Adesina’s.
“He’s due to run unopposed but you want to muddy the waters with this stain of corruption. I believe he will be vindicated.”
Reuters
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Who the AfDB says it helped in May:
Cape Verde:$33m loan approved to tackle Covid-19
Zimbabwe:$13.7m grant approved to improve health sector
Cameroon and Chad:$45m allocated for bridge to link the two states
Eswatini:$1.67m given for study on building dams
Source: AfDB
Mr Araba worked for Mr Adesina in the Nigerian government and was also an intern at the bank while doing his PhD in 2009.
He says the bank has always had a culture of salacious rumour and gossip but faults the US for formalizing the “crass, bargain basement reasoning” into a complaint.
This was denied by a US Treasury spokesperson, who told the BBC: “The United States continues to value the AfDB and its efforts to promote development, reduce poverty, and address the current health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the African continent.”
Chinese ‘shopping spree in Africa’
Some policy analysts at think-tanks in Washington, DC, worry about the timing of the American pushback and its longer-term consequences in Africa.
“A prolonged battle will be a distraction for the AfDB when its resources are more desperately needed than ever for its borrowers,” Nancy Birdsall, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development told the BBC.
She said it was not good for the AfDB if Mr Mnuchin was unhappy and suggested that “the US Treasury should look for some form of quiet compromise in which no-one loses face”.
Ms Birdsall also reiterated a recommendation she made in a 2018 paper for the leadership of the AfDB to open up its shareholding, including to China and oil-rich economies.
But Daniel F Runde, senior vice-president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, disagreed.
He said the Abidjan-based bank that lends exclusively to African governments represented one of the few non-China-led and western-funded approaches to development on the continent.
“If Adesina is cleared, the US may need to mend fences with the management because China will probably go on a shopping spree in Africa after Covid-19, and we will need every non-Chinese tool to respond,” he said.
Mr Runde saw Mr Mnuchin’s letter as “disruption” and called it a good tactic but a poor strategy.
“Now that the Trump administration has caused disruption and perhaps made a point, they have to decide when this plays out,” he said.
Last October, the 81 shareholders of the bank pledged extra funds to more than double its capital to $208bn (£170bn).
Missouri Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver, who sponsored a bill backing the capital increase in the US House of Representatives, came out in support of the new inquiry.
“Independent accountability measures strengthen institutions and reinforce their legitimacy – both domestically and internationally. I am pleased the African Development Bank’s Board agreed to take this important step,” the Democrat told the BBC in a statement.
Mr Adesina is an eloquent advocate for Africa and the bank and a good fundraiser, but his detractors say he promises more than he delivers.
“His administration hasn’t always been fantastic and perhaps he has run roughshod over some people. Maybe the practices haven’t always been what they should be, and the feeling is that the board just whitewashed the investigation,” the insider said.
Accused of favouring Nigerians
The whistleblowers also accused Mr Adesina of preferential treatment for Nigeria and Nigerians.
“I don’t think we should trivialise the issues and reduce them to anti-Nigerian sentiment,” said Ms Barungi, the Ugandan-born, Lagos-based former bank employee.
“It’s really more about governance concerns that require attention and the investigation to help clear the air,” she added.
Mr Araba, a Nigerian, said talk of the “Nigerianisation of the bank” was false as the country was under-represented in employee numbers despite being the largest shareholder.
As the crisis at the bank escalates, employees, consultants and government officials in African capitals, as well as American foreign policy nerds, wonder how this impasse will end.
But at the Treasury building right next to the White House, Mr Mnuchin and his advisors are doubling down.
“Undertaking an independent evaluation of facts is not at odds with a presumption of innocence, and by promoting transparency and good governance, it can only strengthen the AfDB’s capacity to deliver results to people across Africa,” the spokesman told the BBC.
Mr Adesina’s carefully curated career could crumble if a new investigation criticises his reign at the AfDB. His style is solid, but the substance is now under scrutiny.
Car rental company Hertz has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US after the pandemic saw its business plummet.
The firm, which earns much of its income from car rentals at airports, said it had been affected by the sharp downturn in global travel.
It will continue to operate while restructuring its debts.
Hertz’s international operations in Europe, Australia and New Zealand as well as its franchised locations in the US are not affected.
The company – which began operating a century ago in Chicago with a dozen Model T Ford cars – had already furloughed or laid off 20,000 employees, or around half of its global workforce, in response to the pandemic.
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The US has said it wants to borrow a record $3tn (£2.4tn) in the second quarter, as coronavirus-related rescue packages blow up the budget.
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Last week, the chair of America’s central bank, Jerome Powell, said he would have liked to see the US government’s books be in a better position before the pandemic.
However, he said spending now was essential to cushion the economic blow, as orders to shut businesses to slow the spread of the virus cost millions of people their jobs.
“It may well be that the economy will need more help from all of us if the recovery is to be a robust one,” he said.
As part of its own relief efforts, the Federal Reserve has bought more than $1tn in treasuries in recent weeks.
Investors from foreign countries are also historically significant holders of US debt, with Japan, China and the UK at the top of the pack as of February.
Increased tensions between the US and China in recent years have renewed scrutiny of America’s debt position. According to the Washington Post last week, Trump administration officials had discussed cancelling debt obligations to China, but US President Donald Trump reportedly played down the idea, saying “you start playing those games and it’s tough”.
For now, continued low rates suggest investor appetite for US debt remains, allowing for a borrowing increase, Alan Blinder, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, told the BBC last month.
“So far, the answer has been everything is fine, as to how much borrowing the United States government can do before investors start to feel satiated with US debt,” he said. “But there is a legitimate question.”
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Starbucks will close 8,000 of the company’s U.S.-based locations to train 175,000 employees and address implicit bias, promote inclusion and help prevent discrimination.
On Thursday, two black men were perp-walked out of Starbucks in Philadelphia for requesting to use the convenience. The two unidentified men were taken out in handcuffs and were held for nearly nine hours before being released, said criminal defense attorney Lauren Wimmer, who represented the men over the weekend when they potentially faced charges.
No charges were filed, authorities said.
One of the videos of the arrest rocketed across social media, with more than 9 million views by Monday morning.
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Implicit bias is universal, so it’s not only about the biases of officers, but those of the people calling police, Glaser said.
Once the company has completed this training at its company-owned locations it will make the it available to its licensed partners.
The company is working with the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative, among others to create the program.
