This week’s conversation is a milestone coming to you in two parts. We're 300+1! And my guest is a return voice with serious currency in the public service media and reparatory justice movements. Born in Sierra Leone, Makmid Kamara is a human rights leader, reparatory justice advocate, and development communications practitioner, with almost 20 years’ experience working with national and international development, human rights, and grantmaking organisations in Africa and the United Kingdom. He is the Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East at the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), where he is leading the organization’s grantmaking efforts to support independent media. He is also the Founder of Reform Initiatives (LBG), an organization working with policymakers, political leaders and affected communities to advance the cause of reparatory justice for historical crimes against Africans and people of African descent. When he last joined us, he was the founding Director of the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF), based in Accra, Ghana. Prior to ATJLF, Makmid worked at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London as (Ag.) Deputy Director of Global Issues and Head of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Team; he served as interim Country Director for Amnesty International Nigeria and as a West Africa Researcher.

As a Rotarian, a Global Atlantic Fellow and an Obama Foundation Leader - Africa, Makmid seamlessly connects his service mindset with a level of technical expertise and professionalism that inspires and is consistently moving the dial on #PanAfricanProgress.

Where to find Makmid?
On Glocal Citizens
On LinkedIn

What’s Makmid watching?
Manchester United

Other topics of interest:
Freetown, Sierra Leone and Reparatory Justice
East Legon, Accra
About James Deane, co-founder IFPM

About Khadija Patel
Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
About the Nama People and The Landless Peoples Movement in Namibia
The [Wakati Weti Festival](link https://www.wakatiwetufestival.org/WWF2025#/aboutwakatiwetu?lang=en)
African Futures Lab
Deep South Solidarity Fund
Baraza Media Lab

Special Guest: Makmid Kamara.

This week’s conversation is a milestone coming to you in two parts. We're 300+1! And my guest is a return voice with serious currency in the public service media and reparatory justice movements. Born in Sierra Leone, Makmid Kamara is a human rights leader, reparatory justice advocate, and development communications practitioner, with almost 20 years’ experience working with national and international development, human rights, and grantmaking organisations in Africa and the United Kingdom. He is the Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East at the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM), where he is leading the organization’s grantmaking efforts to support independent media. He is also the Founder of Reform Initiatives (LBG), an organization working with policymakers, political leaders and affected communities to advance the cause of reparatory justice for historical crimes against Africans and people of African descent. When he last joined us, he was the founding Director of the Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF), based in Accra, Ghana. Prior to ATJLF, Makmid worked at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London as (Ag.) Deputy Director of Global Issues and Head of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Team; he served as interim Country Director for Amnesty International Nigeria and as a West Africa Researcher.

As a Rotarian, a Global Atlantic Fellow and an Obama Foundation Leader - Africa, Makmid seamlessly connects his service mindset with a level of technical expertise and professionalism that inspires and is consistently moving the dial on #PanAfricanProgress.

Where to find Makmid?
On Glocal Citizens
On LinkedIn

What’s Makmid watching?
Manchester United

Other topics of interest:
Freetown, Sierra Leone and Reparatory Justice
East Legon, Accra
About James Deane, co-founder IFPM

About Khadija Patel
Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
About the Nama People and The Landless Peoples Movement in Namibia
The [Wakati Weti Festival](link https://www.wakatiwetufestival.org/WWF2025#/aboutwakatiwetu?lang=en)
African Futures Lab
Deep South Solidarity Fund
Baraza Media Lab

Special Guest: Makmid Kamara.

We’ve been coming together nearly every week for five years!! On this day in 2019, this two-part interview with my first guest launched the podcast. In celebration and commemoration, stay tuned for episodes throughout the year revisiting past guests and catching up “Where are they now?” style. This week it’s a flashback to the very beginning with our first guest, environmentalist and social entrepreneur, Cordie Aziz. It’s delighting that this conversation stands the test of time and is as relevant then as now. Check out the show notes for Cordie’s other episodes to find out more about her then. And come back next week to catch up on Cordie’s now.

Where to find Cordie?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On X

What’s Cordie reading?
Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer

Topics of interest:
On Dumsor
Kwasia!
Take a trip to Dodowa Market
What is waste picking?
About GIZ Ghana
What is PET?
A bit about the recycilng lifecycle of a plastic bottle

Special Guest: Cordie Aziz.

We are nearing the end of our Writing As Activism series @ the 2024 Pa Gya! Literary Festival in Accra. This week, Ghanaian writer and editor winning acclaim as a children's author, poet, broadcaster and novelist, Nii Ayikwei Parkes joins the conversation. Winner of multiple international awards including the ACRAG (Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana) award, his novel Tail of the Blue Bird won France's two major prizes for translated fiction – Prix Baudelaire and Prix Laure Bataillon – in 2014. Nii Ayikwei is the founder of flipped eye publishing, a leading small press; serves on the boards of World Literature Today and the AKO Caine Prize; and was chair of judges for the 2020 Commonwealth Prize. Translated in multiple languages, he has also written for National Geographic, Financial Times, the Guardian and Lonely Planet. His most recent books are The Ga Picture Alphabet and Azúcar, a novel. Currently Producer of Literature and Talks at Brighton Festival, he is also author of two collections of poetry The Makings of You (2010) and The Geez (2020), both published by Peepal Tree Press.

In this conversation, we journey with Nii Ayikwei through his works, his entreprenuership, his love for food and rum, and much more!
See Nii in converation at Pa Gya! here.

Where to find Nii Ayikwei?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On X
On YouTube
On Tik Tok
On BlueSky

What’s Nii Ayikwei listening to?
Gene Noble
Blues Man Robert Cray
The Roots
Cody Chesnutt + The Roots
and Headphone Masterpiece

Nii’s Pan-African Activism essential reading list:
Howard W. French, Born In Blackness
Mongo Beti’s, The Poor Christ of Bomba
Ama Atta Aidoo’s, No Sweetness Here
Franz Fanon, Black Skin, White Mask
You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town, Zoë Wicomb
Kofi Awoonor, This Earth My Brother

Other topics of interest:
Historic Jamestown, Accra
Oto Blohum, Old Accra
North Kaneshie
Thornton Heath, UK
About Courttia Newland
Learn more about Nii’s uncle Frank Kobina Parkes
Nkyinkyim in the Adinkra
On Ghana’s Chop Bars
About Spanish-Caribbean Rum
About Rhum Agricole

Special Guest: Nii Ayikwei Parkes.

This week, we’re venturing west from Ghana along the coast to Sierra Leone by way of the US to settle here in Accra. My guest, Joannes “Joe” Hotagua is a Sierra Leonian-American, Strategic Advisor with 16 years of professional experience helping startups monetize their digital assets and Fortune 500 brands reach their target customers through digital media advertising. He’s a modern-day iteration of the Ad Man. Early in his career, Joe was responsible for using email marketing and affiliate advertising to drive product purchases and lead generation for direct-to-consumer companies. In 2012, he began his investment career by personally investing in PeepsOut, a minority-run Livestream mobile app, allowing users to see the crowd size at bars and restaurants in real time. At its peak, there were 90 restaurants and bars (in two cities) on the service, and $350K was raised in funding. His current business, based in Freetown, focuses on improving the lives of underrepresented and underserved populations and operates in four sectors: African Startup Advisory, African Film Production, E-commerce, and Real Estate. Joe’s e-commerce platform, Authentic African, is both an e-commerce store and social media broadcast. The e-commerce mission is to connect the diaspora with their African roots through African handmade products while helping local African entrepreneurs build their businesses internationally. The @Authentic_African social media broadcast delivers history, news, and culture to the African diaspora. This conversation was another great opportunity to reflect on the shared mission many of us African content creators have around manifesting a new Africa, a new world.

Where to find Joannes?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On Twitter
On YouTube
On TikTok

What’s Joannes reading?
Clash of Civilizations by Samuel P. Huntington
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
The Silk Roads: New History of the World by Peter Frankopan
Silk Road by Eileen Ormsby
American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road by Nick Bilton

Other topics of interest:
Lungi, Sierra Leone
About Sierra Leone’s Mende and Mandingo people
Sierra Leonean Creole or Krio
On Ebonics
On Pidgin languages
About Roc-A-Fella Records
Kazaa, LimeWire and the evolution of MP3 streaming platforms
On Programmatic Advertising
Boomerang, the film
On Frederick W. Smith of Fed Ex

Special Guest: Joannes Hotagua.

Where to find Adama?
www.lilithastrology.com
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Twitter
On Facebook
On YouTube
On TikTok

What's Adama reading?
Cosmos and Psyche by Richard Tarnas
African Goddess Rising Oracle: A 44-Card Deck and Guidebook by Abiola Abrams
Books by Kim Krans

What's Adama watching?
The Handmaid's Tale
Ozark

What's Adama listening to?
Ancient Wisdom Today With Shaman Durek
Dr. Deepak Chopra
Dr. Joe Dispenza

Other topics of interest:
Tropical vs. Vedic Astrology
Babylonian Astrology
National Council for Geocosmic Research
Haus of Hoodoo
Pluto Return
A Modern Textbook of Astrology
Saturn Return

Special Guest: Adama Sesay.

Prior to joining the ATJLF, Makmid worked at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London as Deputy Director of Global Issues and (Ag.) Head of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Team; and served as interim Country Director for Amnesty International Nigeria and West Africa Researcher.

As you'll learn in our two-part conversation, Makmid's lived encounters and life works are in many ways culminating the initiatives he is now spearheading which is a testament to the impact that focused attention on the importance of putting people at the center of solutions.

Where to find Makmid?
On LinkedIn
On Twitter

What's Makmid listening to?
Fela Kuti
Bob Marley
Morgan Heritage

Out and about in Accra:
+233 Jazz Bar & Grill and the Lipstick Band
Santoku Restaurant
Sky Bar

Other topics of interest:
Campaign for Good Governance
Day of the African Child
Human Rights Clinic-University of Sierra Leone
MacArthur Foundation
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Center for Memory and Reparations Civil War Memorial
HumAngle - Nigeria
WAVE - Gambia
Ahmad Tehan Kabbah wartime president of Sierra Leone
Manchester United
Hearts of Oak
Old Edwardians FC

Special Guest: Makmid Kamara.

Prior to joining the ATJLF, Makmid worked at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London as Deputy Director of Global Issues and (Ag.) Head of the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR) Team; and served as interim Country Director for Amnesty International Nigeria and West Africa Researcher.

As you'll learn in our two-part conversation, Makmid's lived encounters and life works are in many ways culminating the initiatives he is now spearheading which is a testament to the impact that focused attention on the importance of putting people at the center of solutions.

Where to find Makmid?
On LinkedIn
On Twitter

What's Makmid listening to?
Fela Kuti
Bob Marley
Morgan Heritage

Out and about in Accra:
+233 Jazz Bar & Grill and the Lipstick Band
Santoku Restaurant
Sky Bar

Other topics of interest:
Campaign for Good Governance
Day of the African Child
Human Rights Clinic-University of Sierra Leone
MacArthur Foundation
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Center for Memory and Reparations Civil War Memorial
HumAngle - Nigeria
WAVE - Gambia
Ahmad Tehan Kabbah wartime president of Sierra Leone
Manchester United
Hearts of Oak
Old Edwardians FC

Special Guest: Makmid Kamara.

Links of Interest
Cordie Aziz on LinkedIn
Environment360
Jaku and the Earth Defenders – Malaria Madness

Special Guest: Cordie Aziz.

In Part 1 of our discussion, Cordie, a Sierra Leonian-American, tells us about how she came to be local in Accra, her impressions of the city, and a primer on waste management.

Links of Interest
Cordie Aziz on LinkedIn
Environment360
Jaku and the Earth Defenders – Malaria Madness

Special Guest: Cordie Aziz.