Paris now has a monument commemorating the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
It was designed by Grada Kilomba, a Portuguese artist with African roots (from Sao Tomé and Angola).
Here is what she had to say about her creative process, her journey to Rwanda to meet survivors and about France and Europe's responsibilities...
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| Reuters |
Conflict minerals from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are likely to be found in everyday tech products made by Sony, Microsoft, Amazon, LG, Vodafone, and others, a new Global Witness investigation reveals.
Global Witness (GW) is an investigative, campaigning organisation that challenges the power of climate-wrecking companies, and stands with the people fighting back.
According to the author of the report, Alex Kopp, policy and advocacy advisor at Global Witness, the investigation reveals that "most of Rwanda’s major coltan exporters purchase smuggled conflict coltan from war zones in the DRC. Behind our everyday technologies lies a supply chain riddled with violence, exploitation, and human suffering."
"The Rubaya mines have become a main revenue source for M23’s brutal warfare in DRC," the report states. "Seizing vast areas of territory, the armed group backed by Rwanda’s military has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, abducting and torturing with impunity."
"It's been a continuation of the report from a year ago, which was really the start of this investigation and where we've found evidence that one exporter has sourced coltan, connected to the conflict in DRC and exported from Rwanda," Kopp told me.
"We've been able to connect that exported coltan to the DRC, and it is connected to the conflict in the East," he added.
He adds that a huge volume of coltan is being smuggled from the DRC to Rwanda, and that it seems clear that other exporters use coltan connected to the conflict.
And at least five of these seven companies buy conflict coltan from DRC, selling it on through middlemen to smelters in China and Kazakhstan.
"Through this continued research, we could find further evidence and show that five of the seven largest exporters from Rwanda during the period we look at, um, have sourced conflict, coltan from DRC."
A previous GW investigation already revealed that coltan linked to conflict in the eastern DRC likely entered the European Union market through international commodities trader Traxys, over a year ago.
Smuggled mineral in major supply chains
The report demonstrates that global brands such as Sony, Microsoft, Amazon, LG Display, Ericsson, Toyota, Nvidia, and Vodafone are sourcing coltan from supply chains contaminated by smuggled mineral exports.
This implies that industry standards and programmes designed to ensure responsible mineral sourcing, such as ITSCI and the Responsible Minerals Initiative, have largely failed to detect conflict coltan.
It took the British non-governmental organisation over a year of investigation through extensive documentary and field research to be able to prove the exploitation system.
The research involved the analysis of trade data and interviews with more than 70 stakeholders from local communities, actors in the private sector and civil society, and academic research.
This includes interviews with coltan traffickers, showing how these Rwandan exporters are buying conflict coltan from the DRC and reselling it to smelters in China or Kazakhstan through intermediaries.
The NGO then cross-referenced its findings with surveys conducted by the United Nations (UN) and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
The looted minerals originate from Rubaya in the DRC’s North Kivu province, where 15 percent of the world’s coltan is mined and produced.
These mines have been occupied for two years by the M23, the military group supported by Rwanda, which derives its main source of income from them to fuel the fighting.
The Rwandan-backed armed group has been illegally controlling the mines since 2024. It has committed serious human rights abuses, including sexual violence and killings, as well as the recruitment of children for forced labor.
The investigation also establishes the complicity of Rwandan officials at a time when smuggling has reached unprecedented levels.
Rwanda is still refusing to comment.
Failed due diligence
The investigation also highlights the failure of the due diligence systems in place to insure the clean trade of natural resources.
The traceability system known as ITSCI, used by many international companies via the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), to prevent conflict minerals from entering their supply chains, is actually being used to "launder a large portion of smuggled coltan."
The companies that produce phones, computers, and cars have failed or refused to clean up their supply chains. This "only fuels instability and prolongs the suffering of communities,' GW's report states.
"We've contacted authorities from the government of Rwanda, but we haven't received any reply," Kopp told me. "And officially, Kigali is still denying that smuggled minerals are getting to Rwanda".
Some of the companies accused of smuggling conflict coltan, like Sony and Toyota, told Global Witness that their goal is now to source conflict-free minerals and referred to the due diligence checks it conducts on its suppliers.
Nvidia, Amazon, Microsoft, Vodafone, and LG Display have not replied to Global Witness so far.
"We recommend that companies stop buying coltan from Rwanda until M23 has withdrawn troops from the ruby mines, unless companies really have very thoroughly scrutinised coltan before exporting, or by directly checking the origin and grading of the coltan," Kopp insists.
"And I think, at least as important, is also the action that the international community takes," he concludes. "Governments should make any official development assistance conditional on Rwanda stopping its support to M23 and sanction commanders of M23, senior Rwandan officials who were responsible for abuses, as well as companies profiteering from conflict resources."
It was wonderful to meet in Paris with the artist and performer Grada Kilomba after the unveiling of the monument she designed to commemorate the genocide in Rwanda…
Even deeper than our two previous interviews.
More about our discussion soon.
PODCAST'S NEW EPISODE - Spotlight on Africa:
Global jihadism's growing grip on Africa
As attacks from jihadist groups allied to Tuaregs continue in Mali, global jihadism threatens Africa like no other region on earth, according to ACLED’s latest report.
With the organisation's expert on West Africa, Spotlight on Africa explores how jihadist groups are expanding across the continent, controlling territory, targeting civilians and disrupting infrastructure
Coordinated attacks by Tuareg separatists and jihadists dealt a major new blow to the junta in power in the capital, Bamako, in the last days of April, securing the capture of Kidal, a northern rebel stronghold.
Several strategic towns and areas around the capital Bamako were also targeted in the offensive by Tuareg rebels of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) coalition and the jihadist Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), which was launched at dawn on Saturday 25 April.
Two days of intense fighting followed between Malian soldiers and the armed groups around Bamako and Kati, a garrison town and junta stronghold about 15 kilometres north of the capital. Mali's junta has now lost control of key northern areas and still faces a growing insurgent campaign that is tightening pressure around Bamako rather than directly attempting to seize the capital.
Analysts say this could be a turning point for the military in power since a 2020 coup.
Mali has been beset by violence from radical Islamists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group since 2012, as well as local criminal gangs and pro-independence fighters. For more than a decade, around 300,000 refugees have fled to eastern Mauritania's desert Hodh Chargui region to escape the violence that has plagued Mali.
Héni Nsaibia is the senior analyst for West Africa at ACLED, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data group. He co-wrote the organisation's latest report, released in mid-May, showing that global jihadism threatens Africa like no other region on earth. It also explores how jihadist groups are expanding across the continent, controlling territory, targeting civilians and disrupting infrastructure. Héni Nsaibia is Spotlight on Africa's guest this week.
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Listen from this link:
Kenyans discuss France's proposals of cultural exchanges and cooperation after Africa Forward
As France seeks to redefine its relationship with African countries beyond politics and military ties, culture, technology and creative industries were at the centre of discussions during the recent Africa Forward summit in Nairobi.
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Melissa Chemam, back from Nairobi
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Jean-Camille Sormain is a playwright, theatre director, and cultural producer based between Paris and Fort-de-France. He came to Nairobi for the 'Africa Forward' summit because he says it is important to link Africa to the Caribbean islands.
"I'm of mixed Caribbean heritage, I come from Martinique, and it's important to create links between Martinique and Africa," he told me.
"Now, since this is a summit of all the African countries, it's obviously the place to be. And we have our own specific characteristics; people from the Caribbean aren't Africans and vice versa. And we're so small... But, at the same time, we also have things in common, and that's what brings us together. So that diversity is also present here."
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| Jean-Camille Sormain in Nairobi at the Africa Forward Summit in May 2026 |
Arts, technology and business over politics
The summit brought together artists, entrepreneurs and innovators from across Africa, and both from the French- and English-speaking world, with discussions often focused more on culture and opportunity than on diplomacy itself.
Like Sormain, hundreds of talents from across the African continent and from France attended the summit, which offered talks on technology, investment but also on young artists and business leaders. Over 450 of them were invited to Nairobi for a special session to discuss high-impact projects and to share their ideas for the future of the continent.
Aïcha Touré, from Orange Sierra Leone, was one of the panelists invited at the summit.
“It was very interesting, very enriching," she told me. Even beforehand, the preparation for the panel was excellent. And then the live discussions were fantastic, incredibly interesting as well.”
The panel titled 'Creation in Motion' was a session focused on the cultural and creative industries as a sector of economic opportunity and as a vehicle for showcasing the continent's new visions and narratives, inspired by the previous 'Creation Africa' forums. An immersive artistic experience led by African creators also took place.
Maroua Bekkouche, a French-Algerian beauty guru entrepreneur told me that, for many participants, the summit also became a platform to reflect on identity, representation and diasporic connections.
“It's a tremendous honour for me to be invited," she said. When I was asked to participate in the panel alongside these two incredible presidents, I immediately accepted because, for me, it was the perfect opportunity to represent the youth of the North African diaspora. And I am here today to represent Algeria through my journey and my life experience.”
Cooperation beyond the usual 'Francophonie'
Beyond the official panels, the cultural dimension of the summit also extended into literature and publishing.
Parallel to the Africa Forward summit was organised a literary festival, at the French Cultural centre in Nairobi, the Alliance Française.
Dozens of authors, publishers, content creators, and other creatives from all over Africa participated in talks, book signings and other events.
Organisers said they wanted this year’s edition to open the institution to a broader range of African voices and audiences.
Tracy Ochieng is Kenyan podcaster and is one of the moderators. “I am a journalist and podcast host at Books in Africa and I have been a moderator for a couple of sessions at the Africa Forward Festival, which was so exciting," she told me.
"I was able to sit down with Donica Merhazion to talk about her book on Eritrea. I also had a very powerful Gen Z session, and we know this phrase if you're a Kenyan, when we lose our fear, they lose their power. I was able to moderate an amazing session.”
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| Podcaster Tracy Ochieng and author Donica Merhazion at Alliance Française in a talk, part of Africa Forward Fest, in Nairobi in May 2026 |
Donica Merhazion is an Eritrean lecturer and writer. Her aforementioned first book, titled ‘Born at the End of the World’, is a historical fiction novel based on her parents’ experiences in the 'Red Terror' in Ethiopia and Eritrea in the late 1970s, especially her mothers.
She said being featured in this festival was "a dream come true", "a dream I never knew I had", as she didn't know the Alliance Française of Nairobi.
"And I'm so honoured and humbled that so many people want to hear this story and share it. And I just thank all the readers.”
Alliance Française is a place where people can take French lessons. But this year, for the summit, the organisers featured multiple languages at the festival, and especially with East African Anglophone creatives, some of whom had never come to the centre before.
Events like Africa Forward Fest are also an opportunity for publishers to promote their work and their African ways of telling stories.
Joan Onyando is a manager at eKitabu publishing, and was there for the three days of the festival. “Our goal is to bring quality books to the market, space for authors in East Africa, and to build a brand for these authors," she told me.
Thanks to one of their imprints, the publishing house also organises a French Prize, the ‘Prix de l'Edition Jeunesse Africaine’, for children's books, with the support of Alliance Française. The winners were announced mid-May.
For all these participants, such initiatives showed an attempt at redefining cultural cooperation between France and some African countries, through more equal creative exchanges.
What remains to be seen how these propositions will be viewed outside of the official circles.
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KNEECAP has a new album – FENIAN (2026)
- feat. Mitch Sanders
The latest single from Tricky's new album 'Different When It's Silent' is out now. The record is due for release on 17 July 2026.
'Because I Don't Know' is featuring Mitch Sanders, a Singer/Songwriter from South Bristol, UK, like Tricky. His latest EP, “Saloon”, came out in 2025.
Tricky will also return to the stage for live dates across the UK and European this May and June, including with UK festivals this summer including Green Man and Forwards Festival, and a date in Paris soon.
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Mitch Sanders and Tricky already collaborated on the track 'Mum', released last November on Mitch's new EP 'Saloon':
Mitch is featured on many of the 14 tracks of this album:
Still See Me There (feat. Mitch Sanders)
I'm Yours (feat. Mitch Sanders)
Be Still In The Pain (feat. Mitch Sanders & Run Red Rambo)
I Tried (feat. Mitch Sanders)
So Cold (feat. Mitch Sanders)
Paris Maybe (feat. Mitch Sanders)
Cannon Fodder (feat. Mitch Sanders)
Because I Don't Know (feat. Mitch Sanders)
Marinade (feat. Mitch Sanders)
Radana (feat. Mitch Sanders & Radana)
Piano (feat. Mitch Sanders)
Frontier Town
Hengrove Blues (feat. Mitch Sanders)
Out Of Place (feat. Marta)
Zineb Sedira’s exhibition opens at Tate Britain, "intended as a manifesto as much as an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of films and sculptures," the Guardian says.
Zineb Sedira: Dreams Have No Titles - 2024 (my visual insight):
https://melissa.substack.com/p/out-of-africa
Spotlight on Africa - podcast: Does the Africa Forward summit signal a fresh start for France on the continent?
This week, Spotlight on Africa takes you to the Africa Forward summit hosted by France and Kenya in Nairobi on 11 and 12 May. It marks the first time France has staged such an event in an English-speaking African country, and comes at a moment of change and challenges.
