Africa in 2021: Who said what?

Njobati Sylvie is campaigning for Germany to return the Ngonnso — an artifact prized by the Nso people of Bamenda in Cameroon's northwest. The restitution campaign gathered momentum when the Ngonnso went on display at Germany's new Humboldt Forum earlier this year. Times are changing, albeit slowly: In 2021 several other European countries gave back looted artifacts to African nations.

Davido's song "Fem" became the resistance anthem of Nigeria’s youth during the #EndSARS protests over police brutality. The lyrics include the lines “Before the whole matter gets dangerous ... You need to make sure you don't say too much." In September, Davido told the South African-born US talk show host Trevor Noah that he had to leave Nigeria as a result.

Nigerian Nobel Literature laureate Wole Soyinka was a popular 2021 meme on African social media. His image is usually accompanied by a pithy quote credited to him. In reality, the quotes are often distorted to reflect a situation involving thieves in one particular African country. In 2021, Soyinka released his first novel in 48 years: "Chronicles From the Land of the Happiest People on Earth."

Rape was one of the crimes of former Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, the country's Truth Reconciliation and Reparations Commission found in December. Toufah Jallow first began speaking out about the incident over two years ago. Jammeh raped her at a religious event on the eve of Ramadan when she was a teenager. The commission found that she was one of three people raped by Jammeh.

"This is the way I was born. I'm gay and I'm proud," transgender TikTok creator @Woodmdea said when another user said "Don't come back to Ghana." A bill that would punish gay, bisexual and transgender people in Ghana and provide for "conversion therapy" came before Parliament in November. Both lawmakers who support the bill and those who oppose it say they have broad public backing.

Short stories earned Meron Hadero wider recognition in 2021. The author and law graduate was born in Addis Ababa and is based in the United States. Her collection of short stories, "A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times" is scheduled for publication in 2022. Readers everywhere paid attention to the novelists Maaza Mengiste, also of Ethiopia, and Tsitsi Dangarembga of Zimbabwe this year, too.

When investigative journalists in 10 countries said they found that Rwanda uses Pegasus spyware on human rights defenders, the government and its bevy of internet trolls shot them down. Unwavering supporters of President Kagame instead pointed at a leader over the border. "It turns out Museveni is a heavy user of the spy technology," wrote Ellen Kampire, digital activist for #TeamPK.

Overall, the rate of COVID-19 vaccinations in Africa was slower than the rest of the world. Human rights groups called the levels of vaccine inequality scandalous. The World Health Organization spent much of the year highlighting the vaccine imbalance. As rich nations now administer boosters, people in places such as Zimbabwe are still waiting to have their first jabs.