What’s Trending brings you a variety of the latest trends from and around the continent.  Expect to find your usual dose of news, categorised by country, alongside WOA’s handpicked song of the week!


South Africa – Caitlyn Jenner’s show on becoming Transgender axed

Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner

Caitlyn Jenner’s plan to air a reality show depicting her experiences becoming a transgender woman has been stopped from airing in South Africa. This is due to a sea of complaints from viewers. The show, “I am Cait” received a high volume of complaints.

This urged its broadcaster Multichoice to withdraw the show in efforts to respect their viewers preferences. The show would not only air in South Africa, but also the rest of the continent. Caitlyn was formerly known as Bruce Jenner, a gold medal winning decathlete in the Olympics. The transition occurred in April 2015.

Some complaints about the show came from parents stating their views on the show’s inappropriateness for their young children. The backlash geared towards transgender themed shows is not a new occurrence. The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) requested that Multichoice stop airing the show “I am Jazz”, another transgender themed programme.


Paris – An African start up hub in Paris

lancement-afrobytes

Mohammed of Afrobytes

Paris-based start up hub Afrobytes victoriously held its first conference on March 21-22, this year. CEO Ammin Youssef, and Head of Communications Haweya Mohammad are the engines behind this pioneering structure designed with the intention of pushing African tech to the European surface.

The conference’s aim was to connect innovators and influencers from France and Africa. Within this space, powerful ideas as to how to progress in technological affairs stemmed from this collaboration.

Our hub is close to the private equity and press offices in Paris. We thought that we could be more helpful from here to initiate interactions between European tech and African tech. We want to create opportunities on both sides” – Mohammad speaks to True Africa.

Afrobytes main aim is to promote African tech and innovation through engaging the diaspora. They wish to generate movement in the diaspora across and between Europe and Africa. With an emphasis on great ideas Afrobytes continue to expand and support those participating in the growing trend of African start ups across the globe.


Global – App of the week

Meet the new app taking on Tinder. Bae (Before Anyone Else) is a dating app for people of colour to meet and connect. Bae provides users with specially selected potential matches based on individual preferences. It works by allowing users to swipe left or right based on their level of interested in a potential match. For a connection to be made, two people must “like” each other profile by swiping right. This app is set to be a success with an ever – increasing number of downloads each week. Non-black people aren’t prevented from signing up for Bae, as the app doesn’t ask your race when you create an account. But the idea is to create an app for black people to safely meet people of all races who want to form a genuine connection.


South Africa – Song of the week  

Sampha The Great was almost unknown just a few months ago. However, she is rapidly making waves through social media especially Soundcloud. Her first UK show is at Birthdays, East London in July and it is set to be the perfect environment for the upcoming rapper from Botswana to display her skills. She is based in Sydney, and focuses her art on illuminating thought-provoking, socially-conscious themes. She describes herself as “equal parts artist and activist”. Ahead of the show, check out one of WOA’s handpicked tracks from the talented rapper.