Thought for the day (via Tumblr)

• Somalia is going through a construction boom as Mogadishu slowly stabilizes.  However, life appears to be getting worse for Somali-Kenyans, who must often substitute for missing state services as violence in northeastern Kenya has led local civil servants to flee

• Female traders dominate the informal sector in Ghana, and were once so powerful they were targeted by the military.  Today, the military is back in the barracks, but elite political coalitions still shape patterns of public spending on education.

• British-Ghanaian lesbian activist Phyll Opoku-Gyimah has turned down an MBE in protest of continued LGBT persecution under colonial-era laws in Commonwealth countries

• Domestic employees in Colombia have successfully formed a union and campaigned for better labor protection.  This is how most social change happens — because people organize for it, not because foreign NGOs are raising awareness

• I’ve been paying more attention to North Korea ever since I picked up a copy of Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy a few years ago and found myself reading the entire thing in one sitting.  Daniel Tudor & James Pearson’s North Korea Confidential picks up where Demick’s book ended and provides a fascinating update on the country.  Here’s a representative section of the index.  As Tyler Cowen would say, self-recommending.

• Some great events coming up in the Bay Area: the African Diaspora Investment Symposium and the BAMPFA African Film Festival

• Song of the week: South Africa’s The Brother Moves On have written a beautiful song about the problem of armed robbery in Johannesburg with Shiyanomayini