The effects of the 2008-2009 global economic crisis that also affected other Southern African states and the 60 percent loss of revenue from the Southern African Regional Customs Union (SACU) in particular – Swaziland’s main source of revenue – were the killer punch that forced the kingdom with its already ailing economy to turn to its neighbor for assistance.

Apart from a Michael Essien’s Africa 11 versus World 11 charity soccer game held in Accra, Ghana to promote peace in Africa, the official celebration at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa and similar functions in a number of African states, the 48th Anniversary of Africa Day came and went without much interest and notice by many Africans in the African continent and diaspora.

Northern Africa is not the only part of Africa where uprisings are taking place. In countries like Swaziland, Gabon, Cameroon, Djibouti, and Burkina Faso we’ve seen massive student uprisings and worker demonstrations brutally suppressed in most cases. Editor-in-chief of Pambazuka News Firoze Manji talks to the Real News Network about what’s happening in Southern Africa.