Andrew McLaughlin’s C-Note

Here’s something exciting and newsworthy:  BlogAfrica!  It’s a new initiative to increase the numbers of people blogging in and about Africa, and to highlight Africans who are writing blogs.

BlogAfrica includes a catalog of Africa-focused blogs, hosted by the good people at allafrica.com. It’s a great starting place for people interested in reading African weblogs.  Anyone writing a blog from Africa, or with a focus on Africa, is invited to list it there. BlogAfrica will also be promoting great Africa-centric blogs on the BlogAfrica site.

In addition, BlogAfrica will run workshops in Africa to bring together African bloggers with bloggers from around the world.  The first workshop will be in Ghana in January 2004.  Ethan Zuckerman (of Geekcorps and the Berkman Center), Teresa Peters (of Bridges.org), and I will be in Ghana from the 8th to the 20th of January.  Alongside a range of IT policy-related work, we’ll be offering free workshops on blogging at cybercafes and universities across Ghana.

We’re very interested in having other bloggers join us on this trip, both to help teach workshops and to share with the world their impressions of — and adventures in — Ghana. We’d love to be able to demonstrate the power of the global blogosphere to direct attention to the promise and problems of the developing world.  Plus, it’s going to be a really fun two weeks in one of the most interesting — and friendly — countries in Africa. Each blogger will have to pay for him/herself, but we will all work hard to make the trip productive, enjoyable, and memorable.  What better way to get a personal introduction to Africa, while doing something to bring the world a bit closer together?

If you think you might be interested in joining us, please read more about the trip on BlogAfrica.  Ethan has kindly agreed to be the contact person, and will happily answer queries at ethan@geekcorps.org.

If this idea captures your imagination, please check out the blogs listed on the blog catalog, and get in touch with Ethan to see how you could get involved.  Most importantly, blog about it!