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We’ve spoken many times on Africa Daily about mining and whether natural resources are actually a blessing or a curse for the continent.
It’s led to decades of conflict in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo and the neighbouring Central African Republic - and reports from Human Rights organisations about the appalling conditions miners - including children - often work in.
But we rarely get a real sense of what it’s like for people living in these areas.
The BBC’s new Global China Unit has been looking inside the mines owned by Chinese companies in the DR Congo, Indonesia and Argentina.
Africa Daily’s Mpho Lakaje talked to the BBC’s Wanqing Zhang about a mine near Lubumbashi, a place often referred to as the mining capital of the country, and learned more about the lives of the communities living near the mine.

“Before pronouncing sentence on Bobrisky, the judge asked, ‘are you male or female?’. For me this was a red flag. Bobrisky’s gender has nothing to do with whether he (or she) abused the Naira.”

Money spraying is part of Nigerian culture: throwing bank notes or putting them on a person’s forehead to congratulate them at weddings, birthdays or other big social events.

But since 2007, it’s technically been illegal – as those bank notes can fall to the ground and be trodden on - and the maximum punishment is six months in jail.

But until recently, prosecutions were rare.

So there was much consternation earlier this month when Nigerian internet personality and transgender woman, Bobrisky - who has 5 million followers on Instagram - was sentenced to spend 6 months in a male prison for ‘Naira abuse’ after spraying banknotes at a film premier.

The government says it’s just clamping down on the practice. But others argue that Bobrisky has been targeted because of her gender identity.

“If I have my money, I have my assets, I have my farms, my houses, my cars, I have everything I need, I don’t need to be friendly with any white person” – Sandile Swana, former freedom fighter.
In 1948, the National Party came into power in South Africa and introduced apartheid, a system that segregated society along racial lines. Black people were not allowed to share toilets, beaches, theatres and other public facilities with their white counterparts.
In the decades that followed, the black majority rose up against the system and engaged in various political campaigns. Many activists - including Nelson Mandela, Robert Sobukwe, Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada - were incarcerated, while others fled to neighbouring countries. But after years of pressure on the National Party government, which included sanctions and international sports boycotts, apartheid collapsed. On the 27th of April 1994, the nation voted in its first democratic election.
So 30 years since independence, our presenter Mpho Lakaje sits down with two people who were on either side of the political divide: former freedom fighter Sandie Swana and apartheid-era policeman Lourens Groenewald.
So have black and white South Africans truly forgiven each other since those ugly days?

“It feels like a black man deserves the worst. The poor are getting poorer while the rich are getting richer. I don’t know how things will change” – Alexandra resident, Vusi Mbeye.

On the 27th of April 1994, millions of South Africans voted in their country’s very first democratic election. During white minority rule, black people were not allowed to vote.
Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress won that election and then introduced policies like Affirmative Action and Black Economic Empowerment. In addition, many black students received financial aid from the government and private companies, to further their university or college studies. All these measures were meant to correct the economic injustices of the past.

But 30 years after the fall of apartheid, have black South Africans experienced meaningful economic freedom?
Africa Daily presenter Mpho Lakaje, who is himself a black South African, sits down with two men who were both born in Alexandra township: street vendor Vusi Mbeye and Theo Baloyi, a wealthy businessman. He also visits political analyst Khaya Sithole.

Togo's President Faure Gnassingbé's proposal to change the constitution has ignited a fierce debate in the country. Some say it's a power grab disguised as reform, while others insist it's a step towards a more democratic future.
The reforms aim to switch Togo from a presidential to a parliamentary system, but critics worry it will only prolong the Gnassingbé family's rule. Helping to keep him in power until 2031 and potentially beyond. President Gnassingbé came to power in 2005 after the death of his father, who had been president since 1967.
Protests have been banned and elections postponed- they are now set to take place on Monday 29th April. It’s all led to heightened tension and concerns about the country's political future.
Africa Daily’s Mpho Lakaje spoke to the BBC’s Nicolas Negoce about the future of politics in Togo.

Earlier this month we marked the 10th anniversary of the kidnapping of the Chibok girls.
It was one of the first mass kidnappings of children witnessed in Nigeria. In 2014, 276 girls were abducted from their school by militants from Chibok, a town in the country’s north east.
Over the past 10 years, mass abductions and kidnappings have become a common occurrence in Nigeria.
So what is the government doing to get a handle on security?
In today’s Africa Daily, Alan Kasujja speaks to Mohammed Idris, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation.