🎬White Elephant

January 15, 2025

Good morning and happy posthumous birthday to Martin Luther King Jr. whose ‘I Have a Dream’ speech inspired the birth of Squared Take.

— Edna Akanni, Benyin Ogar.

CURRENCIES

Currency exchange rates against the US dollar as of market close. Here’s what these numbers mean

POLITICS
Ghana’s controversial $400mn cathedral

Hannah Benson

Why outgoing presidents always handpick and tout a successor themselves? Exhibit A: Ghana’s new face of power, John Mahama, has launched an investigation into a controversial $400mn project by his predecessor, Nana Akufo-Addo, to build a national cathedral.

The former president had pledged to build the cathedral in honor of God following his ascension to power in 2016. And despite promising that the project would be privately funded, $58mn of taxpayer’s money has been spent on the project so far, according to the BBC.

Not his first rodeo, honestly. Prior to December’s elections, approval ratings for Akufo-Addo and his vice president(and then presidential candidate Mahamadu Bawumia) had plummeted following a string of economic lows in recent years:

  • Ghana defaulted on most of its international loan repayments following a cost-of-living crisis in 2022

  • The country experienced its worst inflation in years, hitting a record 54% in December 2023

  • The resulting hardship drove thousands into illegal gold mines which caused a water pollution crisis as toxic chemicals were dumped into nearby riverbeds.

Despite President Akufo-Addo’s personal donation of $8,000 to the project last year, construction is yet to go past the foundation stage with many critics describing it as a ‘white elephant’ project at best.

Speaking of which…the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, which is the largest church building in the world, has drawn similar ire for being a white elephant project. It spans over 313,000 sq. ft and can accommodate over 300,000 people but regular services are attended by only a few hundred people.

Looking ahead. President Mahama hasn’t ruled out completing the project yet. It’s believed he will move for the site to be relocated and the costs reviewed as he attempts to tighten the belt on administrative costs. -EA.

TRENDING
World’s Richest Mailman Mediaman.

Hannah Sullivan

Elon Musk’s social media empire may be about to expand. Chinese officials are evaluating a potential option that involves Musk acquiring the US operations of TikTok if the app is banned, according to Newsweek. It’s unclear whether the multibillionaire, TikTok and ByteDance have held any talks. Meanwhile, two Chinese social apps, Xiaohongshu and Lemon8, took the top two positions on Apple's iPhone download charts in the US as users seek an alternative.

SHOWER THOUGHTS

“We prefer our mattresses and pillows to be cold but our blankets and duvets to be warm for some reason.”

NEWS
Round the continent

Africanews

  • Burkina Faso has banned the use of British and French-style wigs by judges in an attempt to pull away from their colonial influence further.

  • South Africa’s government has launched a mission to rescue potentially hundreds of miners trapped in an illegal mine. So far, it has pulled 36 corpses out and arrested 82 survivors.

  • Barrick Gold has suspended its operations in Mali following a drawn-out dispute with the government which saw its gold reserves seized.

  • A controversial statue of Ghana’s former President Nana Akufo-Addo, unveiled last November, has been destroyed, with images showing its severed head and damaged pedestal.

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