monjola sotubo

Q&amp;A with  PETER MABEO

Words: Ogojiii staff

Images: Justin Polkey

<h1>INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED DESIGNER PETER MABEO has been producing custom furniture in his hometown of Gaborone, Botswana, for more than two decades.</h1>

His Studio Mabeo Furniture collaborates with local artisans to create designs in wood, textiles and basketry. He has collaborated with world-renowned designers including Patricia Urquiola, Patty Johnson, Claesson Koivisto Rune, Luca Nichetto and Scholten &amp; Baijings.

OGOJIII: Tell us briefly about your training?

PETER MABEO: I consider myself self-taught. I also learn a great deal from those with whom I work: artisans, craftspeople, and those who command respect in the design world.

Explain your design and manufacturing process.

There are dichotomies in my thinking process. On onehand there is craft and free thinking; on the other, there are strict design guidelines, timelines and processes. Another example of this is that of conforming to commercial norms of profit, growth and shareholder returns, while there is still inclusiveness, holistic ways of working, relationships and sustainability. These are not just words but the way in I think and work.Is your design style particularly African?There is a uniqueness about the beauty of African material culture and rich artistic heritage, very much so. There is, however, a universality of craft, of objects made with great care and interest, regardless of origin. I do not like to define our work stylistically. If any aesthetic pattern is sensed, I see it as more of a result than a preconceived strategic effort at creating an identity. Independent of the fact that we work with international designers, the objects we make transcend geographic and cultural divisions. It has been described as pure, essential in nature, humane. These are highly complimentary words that I appreciate.

With the focus on Africa, what does it mean to you to be an African designer?The attention is pleasing, but it could fade. Who knows?  More important to me is that I work in a way that could help to create a better society. I do not see it as my responsibility or calling, I just find it a lot more interesting to work this way. I do not wish to ride any waves. Consistency, through working on what is interesting rather than capitalising on the attention directed at our work or at Africa, is better.

What are your biggest challenges?

Understanding how marketing, disposable culture and the insatiable demand for instant gratification and acknowledgement can drive so many people. I find it interesting and perplexing.

How many people do you employ?

At the moment, 20 people. We would like to increase this, but we have to be practical and grow carefully.

What are your biggest markets?

So far Europe, although we have had some contracts in Botswana. We would love to do more work regionally and we are considering setting up a base in South Africa. We do not have our own store, but we are fortunate to sell through some great design stores. We also work directly with architects and designers on projects, and we are doing more limited-edition pieces for galleries.

You work mostly in wood. Which is your favourite?

There are so many different types of wood that I like. Currently we work mostly in Panga Panga, due to the familiarity we have with our supplier and the trust we have in its harvesting practices and community involvement. We are still looking into other regional species.

Do you make sure timber is sustainably sourced?

Yes, very much so. We work with a great, small concession funded by an international NGO to harvest sustainably and to benefit the local community. It is not yet commercially viable to work this way, particularly in Africa, Working with this kind of mentality creates enormous financial challenges and risk. It is, however, very important.

My wish was to find a way of doing interesting work, in what I considered to be a meaningful way, with artisans.

Q&A with founder of Mabeo Furniture

Words: Rumbi Katedza

Photography: David Brazier &amp; Between10&amp;5

This has come at an opportune time for the country’s urban councils, overwhelmed by the volumes of informal traders flooding the city streets to eke out a living selling low-cost goods.

Imhanya’s newest BoxPark is at Harare’s bustling Fourth Street Bus Terminus, which has the highest concentration of people in the country between 7am and 10am.

Through their BoxPark’s compulsory insurance system  they know more or less what tenants have in stock, so they have an accurate measure of the buying power within the markets. This provides useful data on the informal sector for government and other organisations. Imhanya knows what is being sold where, so they know what local communities’ needs are.

Imhanya Director Tafara Gwata emphasises that this hasn’t been done in Africa before. “With 400 people working in one BoxPark, with an average buying power of, say, US$5 000, that’s $2-million. So now they are competing with the big boys and department stores by creating this collective buying power and market capitalisation,” says Gwata.

The BoxParks were designed in consultation with vendor associations, who stressed their preference for an open-air market design allowing for a free flow of people and ventilation, without the constraints of having to compel clients to enter a building. The BoxPark is covered with large awnings for shade, and traders are able to open up their cubicles outward to the pavement to trade. The company opted to use shipping containers for the project because of the economic and environmental benefits they offer.

“Containers are very secure,” says Imhanya director Brendon Malloch-Brown. “They’re waterproof and generally weatherproof. They’re also environmentally friendly because you’re reusing a container at the end of its shelf life. It’s already structurally designed with steel support, so costs are significantly reduced in manufacturing each unit.”

The three business partners were all born in Zimbabwe and attended the elite St George’s College as teenagers. Malloch-Brown is a quantity surveyor and construction specialist, Gwata is a telecoms and IT expert and the third director, Ketan Patel, is an international franchise expert and a former director of African fast-food giant Innscor International and Church’s Chicken in the UK.

With the informal sector accounting for more than 80% of Zimbabwe’s economy, according to government statistics, the partners saw potential.

They looked at their combined skill set and came up with Imhanya, a socially-franchised “last mile” distribution company that converts shipping containers into retail and manufacturing spaces for the informal sector.

Imhanya plans to roll out its franchise of smaller retail units to 1 000 locations across Zimbabwe over the next 10 years. By being a modular and mobile concept and using solar energy, they can quickly place containers able to provide services close to where they are needed. If communities or needs change, they can  place the container on the back of a truck and move it.

After conducting thorough research to find out what needs are underserved in a community, be it infrastructure, grocery stores or even tomatoes, Imhanya staff sit down with the franchisees and develop their businesses.

Patel, who conceptualised Imhanya’s extensive iCycle research method, says local business people ultimately stand to gain.

“In our franchise trading model, if you’re an informal trader and have no capacity to pay capital costs, we will fund the entire project."

"We will take you from where you are to [being} a businessperson by sharing our intellectual property and our systems with you. In return, we will take a percentage of the profits. Over time, the businessperson can buy back into the business up to 75%.”

Imhanya’s directors are confident that using refurbished shipping containers is an excellent solution to empower smaller businesses and informal traders not only in Zimbabwe but across Africa.

"They are competing with the big boys by creating collective buying power "

This has come at an opportune time for the country’s urban councils, overwhelmed by the volumes of informal traders flooding the city streets...

Shipping containers are springing up across the continent as working and living spaces

<h1>From the vibrant beaches of Dakar to the tree-lined suburbs of Harare and the upmarket Nelson Mandela Square in Johannesburg,  innovative  workspace designs are emerging in the form of  shipping containers.</h1>

A relatively new concept in Africa, the converted containers are a fraction of the price of conventional buildings and are being used to create BoxParks and pop-up stores across the globe.

When the Zimbabwean cultural activist network Magamba decided to set up a shared working space for for its members, creative director Samm Farai Munro wanted it to be founded on an ethos of sustainable use of resources. Using shipping containers seemed an obvious choice for the people behind Moto Republik, the first fully-serviced creative hub in Zimbabwe.

In one corner of Moto Republik’s working space, a young designer pulls out sketches from her portfolio to share with an independent web designer who’s come to use the hub’s high-speed internet. A brisk conversation ensues about what they want to achieve and how they could collaborate.

Having opened  its doors to the public in early August, Moto Republik has already become a hub for creative entrepreneurs looking to network, build ideas and grow their brands.

“For us, an important ethos behind was to recycle;  shipping containers fit into that because it’s about reusing,” Munro says. “It’s also more affordable than brick and mortar, plus it’s funky and it’s different. There’s no place else that looks like this!”

Together with designer Angus Wakeling, Munro and his colleagues developed their dream office, which was constructed locally by Smart Building Solutions – all the work was done by local engineers and artisans.

Moto Republik is a double-storey structure that boasts an open plan co-working space, staff offices, a canteen and a rooftop garden. Four containers sit in a T-shape, seamlessly interlaced like a perfectly-balanced Lego tower. Instead of placing additional containers at the base of the structure, Munro opted to have the mid-section supported by concrete columns to ensure a free flow of air around the structure to the neighbouring building, which houses the hub’s conferencing facilities. The offices and shared working spaces are also fitted with air-conditioning to regulate the temperature when necessary.

Many of the container working and living spaces popping up across the continent are bold in their modular designs, to reflect the lifestyle of the people who use them.

In Senegal, African surf and youth culture brand Bantu Wax established a flagship retail space on the Dakar peninsula, complete with roof café, showroom and workshop. The distinctive container structure stands in contrast to the far more colonial architecture that pervades the city, and provides an active atmosphere that fits the Bantu Wax brand. The pop-up store has become a hangout spot for both locals and tourists attracted to its multicultural environment.

Further south, the eclectic industrial designs of converted containers in Johannesburg’s Maboneng Precinct and temporary Merchants on the Square in Sandton have created a new kind of shopping and entertainment experience with their pop-up stores. In the trendy suburb of Melville, Citiq Property Developers has created 27Boxes, the first BoxPark in South Africa.

In designing the retail complex, structural engineer and self-taught designer Arthur Blake consulted with residents and incorporated their desire to maintain the surrounding Faan Smit Park. “We fully restored the old play area, with paths for walks in the lush garden, and included the amphitheatre for community projects of an artistic nature. Above the amphitheatre is a walkway, also constructed with containers, where the community can have open-air meetings.”

The 27Boxes complex also has a Hobbit house constructed from three containers covered with soil and plants, from which visitors get an impressive view of the city.

Unlike London’s BoxPark, which was constructed by placing containers next to and on top of each other, 27Boxes was designed around three open-to-air courts with practical flow.

The 102 boxes that make up the complex are insulated, and the design, with a cover over the rooftop parking, walkways and overhangs that shade the units from the sun, contributes to temperature regulation. 27Boxes’ 80 shops vary from unique food designers to furniture designers.

While the fixed height and width of shipping containers may be limitations, Blake and his team overcame this by combining two or more containers in some instances. Height limitations were overcome by spacing containers apart from each other and using the space between them to create double- and triple-volume spaces.

“Visitors and designers from all over the world have visited 27Boxes and have marvelled at the layout, flow and the colour delight created with these humble boxes, which were designed to transport goods but have now become the place from which the goods are sold,” Blake says.

A relatively new concept in Africa, the converted containers are a fraction of the price of conventional buildings.

Writer: Thomas Noppen

Images: RMJM Architects

<h1>In this Q&amp;amp;A Botswanian architect</h1>

How do you perceive the responsibility of a modern architect in creating sustainable architecture?

It is the responsibility of the modern architect, as well as any other individual in the position to make a lasting difference. If we want architecture to truly become a more sustainable endeavour of change we need to make sure that each actor involved in its application and conception is up-to-date in relationship to sustainable practices as well as deeply committed and engaged with the process. Apart from embodied energy, even climate-sensitive solutions will reduce running energy costs and have a cumulative effect on the world’s energy needs.

Circular economy is gaining traction in modern construction, what do you believe it can add to the construction business?

Re-using, recycling and refurbishing building components not only adds to their life span but also leads to a selective process of opting for the most versatile, adaptive and environmentally friendly components in future projects. With most of construction components coming from finite reserves, this is the obvious way to progress. Design challenges in the successful reuse and repurposing of building components can only enhance the solutions that can be achieved. To understand and overcome them one has to dedicate a significant amount of time and effort but the returns far outweigh the cost.

When designing architecture, do you look for traditional materials and building techniques that can be repurposed for modern and larger scale constructions and designs?

We do strive to use traditional materials and construction techniques or sensibilities, as this further roots our designs in their cultural, physical and historical context. Traditional construction also tends to be of optimum ‘Low Energy’ in design, construction and use which is in itself good enough of a reason for architects to dedicate more of their time understanding how the application of endogenous knowledge may benefit their work.

Do you look at yourself as an architect, a designer or something else?

I would say I am a designer, above all, since my work aspires to go beyond the built environment. My goal is never to merely design a project that fulfills the client's wishes, which is in itself a very meritorious and complicated task, but rather to have an impact, one way or another, in the wider society. This can be done by projecting a building that incentivizes public debate or by influencing the way people relate to specific area, their daily routines and interactions with their surrounding spaces.

How do you perceive ‘design thinking’? What does the term hold in your opinion?

I like to think ‘design thinking’ involves the creative analysis of situations and the finding of solutions through collaborative exchanges, precedents, and engagement with ideas often considered being ‘outside the box’. You’ll find more or less eloquent ways to describe what ultimately refers to that one essential process inherent to the work of any designer.

How have architectural practices evolved on the continent during the past decade and in particular in Botswana?

The positive evolution of architectural practices in Botswana in the past decade is evident and should be a reason for pride for Batswana citizens. The establishment of the Architects’ Registration Council of Botswana (ARC) has also signaled an important shift in the profession towards regulation, transparency and accountability. We should evaluate the merits of this development based on our socio-economic reality and avoid potentially unjust comparisons with other African nations.

What is and should be done regarding city planning and infrastructural development in the next decade? Which regions or countries provide inspiration?

South Africa has a developed approach to infrastructural development, as they address current needs while balancing it with the maintenance of existing developments. Although there are still numerous challenges and obstacles to be surpassed, there is more transparency and accountability in South Africa than in most African countries. A lot can be done to close the disconnect between infrastructure development planning and the population projections versus reality.

Which contemporary buildings on the continent do you admire and why?

Besides the multiple RMJM Botswana projects that I am naturally proud of, the Lycée Schorge Secondary School by Kéré Architecture in Burkina Faso is an exemplary case of sensitive use of local materials and construction techniques. The design responds uniquely to the local climate and strives to address the needs of the users without attempting to replicate the expected image of ‘Contemporary Architecture’.

Another project that I think represents the very best being practiced in the continent is the Ubuntu Centre by Field Architecture in South Africa. The building is fit for purpose as it aims to provide a serene and calming space for pediatric HIV testing. The material pallet is relevant and the form seems to grow from the very ground as the massing is derived from the township pathways that existed before the building itself. The result is a subtle state-of-the-art design that seeks to normalize and destigmatize the epidemic, all the while being firmly planted in its context.

otswanian architect Kagiso Seloilwe explains why sustainable architecture matters and why it is paramount to include the construction sector.

Joining the circular economy is the most obvious way forward.

Writer: Mercedes Sayagues

Images: Mercedes Sayagues, José Forjaz

<h1>Halfway between Nampula province and Maputo lies the port city of Beira and the 950 km-long Sofala bank, Mozambique’s richest fishing grounds. Most industrial fishing is based here.</h1>

In spite of its fish wealth, “Mozambique is not a significant player in the world fish market,” says a USAID study, and one reason is lack of capital for private and public investment.

A recent attempt to found a Mozambican tuna-fishing fleet turned sour. In 2013, the government issued

a $850-million bond to buy 26 fishing boats and four patrol vessels in France for the newly-formed EMATUM (Mozambican Tuna Fishing Company), which is 33% owned by the state security services pension fund and by government. The deal bypassed parliament, and was much criticised by donors and the opposition for its lack of transparency and high interest-rates (LIBOR +6.5%), to be repaid within seven years.

Elections were held at the end of 2014. In July this year the new finance minister described the bond as a bad deal. Having ballooned to $980-million and accounting for 13% of the national foreign debt, it had to be renegotiated. Citing EMATUM’s “distressed debt exchange”, credit-rating agency Standard &amp; Poor downgraded Mozambique’s long-term rating from B to B-.

Instead of the trumpeted $200-million annual earnings, EMATUM posted losses of $35-million for 2013-2014. Mozambique doesn’t even have trained crews for this fleet.

Meanwhile, the threat of Somali pirates sharply reduced foreign fishing, legal or illegal, in the Indian Ocean. But that danger receded in 2013, thanks to international patrolling using vessels and drones, and unscrupulous foreign trawlers are back in East Africa –the world’s richest tuna fishing grounds, with shark and swordfish as well.

The 2014 Africa Progress Report: Grain Fish Money, by an expert group chaired by former UN chief Ko Annan, describes how “Africa is losing billions to illegal and shadowy [fishing] practices”. West Africa loses as much as $1.3-billion annually. In Senegal, losses amount to 2% of GDP.

Why? The report lists limited monitoring and tracking capabilities, poor domestic governance, corruption and links between politically IN

connected elites and fishing companies. The “pay, fish, go” system controls the number of vessels but not the volume of catches. One large trawler catches 250 tons of fish in a single day, the same amount that 50 pirogues catch in one year.

“Africa is at the epicentre between sustainable management and unsustainable mining of marine fisheries,” says the report.

Some 130 foreign fishing vessels from the EU, China and Japan pay Mozambique about $4.1-million in annual licence fees. Foreign ships don’t employ Mozambican seamen and don’t dock at Mozambican ports, preferring the efficient ports in Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar.

On 22 July the Minister for Sea, Inland Water and Fisheries, Agostinho Mondlane, told parliament that foreign fishing vessels declare some 5 000 tons of catches but might well catch six times as much.

Telling the story

Back in Maputo, the museum’s director, Larsen Augusto Vales, a fisheries official who for 12 years dreamed of displaying this collection, is proud “to preserve our cultural heritage”.

Indeed, the artefacts have a handsome home. What it is missing is a coherent narrative that links the reed traps and sails inside to the mamanas and boats outside.

The building is contemporary in design, but the exhibition concept is traditional and static, its gaze turned towards the past. Fisheries conservation, management, social and economic context get short shrift. There is little interactivity - essential for its key public, urban students - except chatting to the guides.

But this is easy to fix, to chart a narrative that shows its young visitors that fishing is not boring stuff from history. It relates to their daily lives, it is part of their future.

Beira’s port boasts a new fish processing facility with 36-ton daily capacity, an ice factory, and a $120-million soft loan from China for renovations.

Mozambique’s Museum of Fisheries looks inward (4)

<h1>Not only in Maputo is the catch getting smaller. Shallow- water shrimp are fully exploited, says a USAID study. Shrimp catch is decreasing in the Zambezi estuary, likely because the big hydro-electrical dams upriver create nutrient-poor sediment loads.</h1>

“Everything is under pressure along the coast,” says Maria Joao Rodrigues, a marine biologist with the World Wildlife Fund.

When Ogojiii spoke to Rodrigues, she was diving in areas open to controlled fishing in the Quirimbas Islands National Park in the north. “The coral reefs look healthy,” she says, “but I see fewer fish and of smaller size“.

The problem, she explains, is “Mozambique’s open fishing system, with no control of fish caught and number of nets, just a bit of mesh-size control. Night light-luring fishing is not regulated as it should be.”

She sees a fish stock crisis looming in 10 years. “Everything is fished here: at low tide, women and kids catch octopus, clams and the endangered sea cucumber, likely for Chinese traders. Men hunt with spears.”

And, as agricultural soils along the coast become less fertile, more people turn to fishing for food and income. More than half of the population scrapes by on US$1 a day.

Poor environmental practices don’t help. People destroy mangroves and coastal forest for fuel and charcoal.

Mangroves shelter shrimp, crab, squid and fish nurseries, as well as protecting the coast against storm surges.

In spite of awareness campaigns, fishing with mosquito nets, or chicocotas, continues, especially in estuaries. Their tiny holes - smaller than a mosquito – trap young fish and deplete already dwindling fish stocks. Estuaries are crucial breeding grounds for high-value fish and crustaceans.

“Using chicocota nets in estuaries is one of the major threats to the sustainability of Mozambique’s artisanal fisheries,” says Alex Benkenstein, author of a 2013 study on Mozambican small-scale fisheries for the Johannesburg-based South African Institute for International Affairs.

Benkenstein saw improved controls near big towns, but these faded in remote areas. Community fishing councils and fisheries officials find it “hard to deal aggressively with perpetrators because they are often fishers who are very poor,” he adds.

Other problems are insufficient landing jetties and cold storage, lack of electricity for refrigeration, the high cost of ice, poor roads, poor protection and cleanliness during handling, transport and selling; and unsanitary town markets. These factors translate into high post-harvest losses of up to 50%.

“Fish is captured, but it doesn’t reach the market while fresh,” says Custodio Mucavel, programme officer with the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development. “Salted or smoked fish loses quality and sells for less.”

Her wish list for Mozambique’s artisanal fishers includes:

Efficient shing tools - boats, engines and nets

Access to markets, roads and price information

Refrigeration equipment and cheap ice

Investment in aquaculture to yield more protein and income

Improved agricultural productivity for mixed livelihoods

When Ogojiii spoke to Rodrigues, she was diving in areas open to controlled fishing in the Quirimbas Islands National Park in the north.

Mozambique’s Museum of Fisheries looks inward (2)

<h1>Along the sun-soaked beaches, blue waters and coral reefs of the archipelago Primeiras e Segundas, in northern Nampula province, an experiment is giving hope.</h1>

Primeiras e Segundas is Mozambique’s first marine sanctuary and Africa’s largest. Protected by law since 2012, it covers 10 islands and 10 400 square kilometres, home to sea turtles, whales, dolphins, dugongs and a huge wild prawn fishery.

Unlike a national park, in which people are not supposed to live, the sanctuary is a community-managed area with dozens of villages. But locals don’t fish in all areas all the time. Small no-take zones are set aside for fish stock recovery, marked with buoys and patrolled day and night by trained members of the local fishing councils.

The no-take areas are small, less than a square kilometre, so people don’t have to go too far from home to fish. That’s one innovation: usually sanctuaries cover large areas and locals are unhappy.

Armando Cremildo is a marine biologist working in the sanctuary, which has been supported by CARE and World Wildlife Fund since 2008. Then, he recalls, locals complained bitterly about “two big and recurrent problems”: reduced fish catch and soil fertility loss.

Fishers showed biologists which had been the most productive zones. Studies confirmed the old lore was correct. No-take zones were marked in Angoche, Moma, Larde and Pebane districts, with community buy-in.

“The biggest hurdle was government resistance at district, provincial and central level,” says Cremildo. Intense lobbying overcame initial misgivings.

Fish recovery was surprisingly quick. A 2014 study confirmed greater biodiversity and biomass in protected areas and spillover zones. The sanctuary concept proved its value and appears in the Fisheries Law approved in 2014.

“It’s going viral,” says Dan Mullins, director of the CARE-WWF alliance. “We have people from 200km up the coast asking for technical support to set up sanctuaries.”

But things must move slowly. Two key components are community organisation through committees – in the Angoche estuary alone 29 communities work together – and farming extension to improve crops, the second pillar of coastal livelihoods.

Farmers learn mangrove protection and conservation agriculture, mulching to enrich soil and prevent erosion, minimum tillage, and receive cooking lessons to better use cheap and nutritious local crops like cassava leaves, plantains and sweet potatoes. In three years, cassava yields jumped from 3MT/ha to 13MT/ha without the use of chemicals or industrial fertilisers. Improved varieties and restoring soil fertility did the job.

Joao Titus Abacar, 44, is the president of the Union of Artisanal Fishers in Moma, with 143 members. He started fishing with his father at the age of eight after school hours, and his eight children also fish after school.

“We grow up fishing,” says Abacar, who owns a paddle-and-sail canoe named So Pra Ver (Just to See). “And we are building our children’s future through responsible fishing.”

Abacar says fish scarcity started around 1998. Too many fishers, too many trawlers near the shore, he explains. Sceptical at first, he is now a sanctuary supporter. “Things are much better,” he enthuses. “Fish that had vanished have returned. Our families have more food and more money – it works!”

The price of that success is encroachment of fishers from other localities. Mullins would like the new law’s regulations to strengthen community rights: “They need authority to restrict access,” he believes.

Local committees can confiscate the fishing gear of trespassers, but so far have found ways to defuse conflict. The solution, says Cremildo, is to build strong grassroots structures: “Fishers must first go to the committee, learn the rules and agree to respect the system”.

Primeiras e Segundas is Mozambique’s first marine sanctuary and Africa’s largest.

Mozambique’s Museum of Fisheries looks inward (3)

<h1>“I LOVE BOATS, SAILING AND THE SEA,” SAYS Mozambique’s iconic architect Jose Forjaz. “This project was meant for me.”</h1>

He is talking about the Museum of Fisheries, the newest and lovely addition to Maputo’s unique urban fabric, at the entrance of the fishing harbour in the Baixa or Old City.

The street side is almost austere: whitewashed ground floor and a surprising cantilevered first storey, all glass and beams in rich, reddish wood. The ocean side cascades in organic forms, lapping the vertical rhythms of wood screens, ramps and spatial surprises.

Its charms unfold as you roam: clean lines, airy space cooled by sea breezes, gently rounded ceiling curving like a white sail, polished wood, glass walls linking sea, sky, harbour and city with 360° fishbowl transparency. The feel is maritime, channelling a dhow.

And yes, says Forjaz, there is “a clear intention of evoking technologies and forms used in nautical construction, like the roof structure supported in what could be a dhow’s ribs – not as a caricature but as a poetic metaphor”

The challenges were many: small space confined by the harbour, its docks and a busy street; large, open ground- floor required to display boats and aquariums; a tight budget; the need for an eco-friendly building with low operating costs and easy maintenance in one of the poorest countries; and sturdiness against sun, salt, humidity and wind.

Instead of corrosion-prone steel or expensive reinforced concrete, Forjaz chose resistant timber for the structure. Unusually for a museum, wood-frame windows open outwards manually, to allow natural light and ventilation with minimum energy consumption. The curved roof slopes downwards to let breeze and landscape in, but blocks direct sun on windows – an African imperative.

Along the ramps, a curving wooden palisade evokes the traditional fishing traps known as gamboa, exhibited inside. The museum houses some 3 000 traditional fishing artefacts, the passion of Manuel Gonçalves, a fisheries official who began collecting 30 years ago.

Fish, food and income

Fishing is embedded in Mozambique’s identity and economy. The country has a 2 700km-long coastline - Africa’s fourth longest - and 1 500 fish species, of which 400 have commercial value. Best known are its tasty prawns grilled with piri-piri (chilli) sauce.

About 350 000 Mozambicans work directly in fisheries; 850 000 households, or 20% of the 25-million population, depend on fishing for their livelihoods and food security. Fish provides half of the protein consumed, 5% of GDP and 2% of exports.

And most of it – a whopping 90% of the total annual catch – is artisanal fishing by men, women and children on the sea, from the shore and river banks, from boats or on foot, with nets, traps, spears and fishing lines.

Semi-industrial fishing accounted for 2% and industrial for 7% of the 213 000 tons caught in 2012, according to the Ministry of Fisheries. Mozambique exports shrimp, prawns and kapenta (Tanganyika sardine), and imports cheap mackerel from Namibia and South Africa.

One has only to step outside the museum to see how vital and how poorly organised the fishing sector is.

At about 4pm, dhows and small trawlers return with the day’s catch.

Rows of rickety wooden stalls on the sidewalk o er grouper, snapper, swordfish, prawns, crabs and clams. There is no shade, ice or refrigeration, no toilets and no public lighting, although the market is bustling until midnight with the help of small LED lights, kerosene lamps and cellphones. In the rainy season, huge puddles of stagnant water stink.

The sellers, women known as mamanas, are assertive, good-humoured, and so ready to cheat on weight that most customers bring their own hand scales. People from all walks of life shop here; the last are the resellers for greater Maputo, arguing late-night cheaper prices.

Drive 15km eastwards to the Aldeia dos Pescadores (Fishers’ Village). At low tide, dozens of dhows, motorised boats and canoes painted in bright colours are moored on the sand. Redeiros (net makers) repair nets on the beach. Women sell magumba, a sardine, Maputo’s cheap and popular source of protein.

Rodrigues Pacula, 29, a fourth-generation fisherman, has been working for 14 years, is married with three children and doesn’t see a future in fishing. “There is less and less fish,” he says. “Ten years ago, one boat would bring 30, 40, maybe 50 boxes of fish in one day. Now it’s 10, 15, maximum 20 boxes. And some days we bring nothing.”

The reasons, he says, are climate change and too many fishing boats. In Maputo city alone, the number of fishing gear sets in use grew by one-third between 2008 and 2011, from 42 750 to 56 600. And the mesh holes got smaller, from 25mm to 20 or 15mm, catching ever-smaller fish and depleting stocks, says Pacula.

The boat owner takes half the catch; the rest is shared among the crew. A 10m boat involves eight crewmen, three redeiros and a manager - a dozen people to share the catch. Most crewmen don’t work for money, just for fish.

“My father bought a car with his earnings; I can’t,” says Pacula. As improvements, he mentions the three-mile exclusion zone from the shoreline for semi-industrial fishing vessels, and credit facilities for buying new engines and fishing gear.

But most fishermen go out to sea in old, unsafe boats without radio, insurance or enough life jackets, and little chance of rescue if they capsize. Every year some drown during storms.

The street side is almost austere: whitewashed ground floor and a surprising cantilevered first storey, all glass and beams in rich, reddish wood.

Mozambique’s Museum of Fisheries looks inward

<h1>Information is power. It was powerful when only governments and media owners controlled its dissemination, ant it is becoming more powerful every day as millions of cellphone-toting private citizens hold it in their hands and share it with each other.</h1>

The #occupyNigeria and #bringbackourgirls viral campaigns on Twitter in 2012 and 2014 had such a global reach because they combined the voices of millions. In Nigeria, as in other parts of the globe, local developers have created applications offer users the political and cultural power of collaboration.

These selected apps share two fundamental characteristics:

Democracy without accountability is spineless and the web-based Tracka is a tool that is used to monitor government projects, campaign promises, issues and contracts. The app is a flagship project of BudgIT, a fiscal transparency nonprofit seeking to improve citizen inclusion in governance.

HOW IT WORKS: It takes 20 seconds or less to sign up and then anyone can post a project with pictures and updates. The parliamentarian in whose domain the project resides is then bombarded with emails and SMSs until something happens.

STANDOUT QUALITIES: It is layered on open data and also integrated with existing social media tools on a beautiful user interface. WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) so there is proof by way of pictures or videos, of the status of projects, regardless of a public official’s claim to the contrary. It is essentially a social network with status updates on the dividends of democracy.

WHY SO PHENOMENAL: In a country like Nigeria where lawmakers are entitled to hefty allowances and also allocations for constituency spending, many of these projects do not get off ground - even though they are listed in the budget - and others are simply not seen through to the end. Tracka empowers citizens to use visual proof to monitor the status of projects and put pressure on their representatives, for the benefit of the constituency.

SUCCESSES: The app has been used in tracking contracts in more than a number states across the country and has received funding from eBay founder Pierre Omidyar’s Omidyar Network.

POTENTIAL: With an increasing power to bring government to its knees, Nigeria’s social-media-savvy youth, or “the children of anger” as a former presidential spokesman labeled them, have been eager to collaborate. And with an integrated SMS platform being developed, Tracka could become a weapon mightier than its developers imagined.

APP: <a href="" id="6e12d20b-c957-5a5b-8102-d115288b56a1">Gidi Traffic </a>

Not all superheroes come with capes. Nigeria’s pioneer dedicated traffic-monitoring service started by providing real-time updates on traffic within Lagos, but has now expanded to cover the rest of Nigeria. It provides information from users in the form of text, photos and videos that help other users navigate through their city with minimal stress.

HOW IT WORKS: Gidi began as a Twitter utility service, so users can still tweet enquiries to the account, which is run by an anonymous administrator. Responses are crowd-sourced and offer directions to subscribers. Gidi’s Android and Windows (developed in partnership with Nokia) apps have upped the ante with security updates, job placements and more.

WHY SO PHENOMENAL: Lagos is one of Africa’s busiest cities and the strain on its population is quite telling. Having traffic pointers at your fingertips can save you many wasted working hours sitting helplessly in gridlock.

SUCCESSES: It has garnered recognition globally and has been nominated for awards, including a Shorty Award. In an interview, the anonymous admin told the story of a woman was in labour during an industrial strike, with no one to help. She tweeted GidiTraffic and one of the followers, a practicing midwife, came to her aid.

POTENTIAL: With a sponsorship deal from Nokia and a number of partnerships with Nigerian banks, GidiTraffic could become as ubiquitous as the famed ‘Nigerian prince’, but with a much better reputation.

This mobile phone application is a location-specific election observer tool, aiding members of the electorate in reporting the level of fairness in an election. Developed by the Enough is Enough Nigeria coalition of youth advocacy groups, it is available in two versions - ReVoDa Lite (for regular phones) and ReVoDa Smart (for smart phones).

HOW IT WORKS: Create a profile by signing up with name, phone number and polling unit code via the app or SMS. To send a report, type and send using the same modes.

WHY SO PHENOMENAL: Citizens without smartphones aren’t left out, as Revoda offers a version for not-so-smart phones. Also, user identity is kept secret to protect the citizen reporter.

SUCCESSES: It was used throughout the country in Nigeria’s 2011 and 2015 elections .

POTENTIAL: Social media were instrumental in the triumph of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) in the 2015 elections and could prove to be even more so in future elections, as Nigeria strives to carry out more free and fair polls.