The first Commodore of the British Royal Navy’s West African Squadron, Ralph Collier, is sent to the Gulf of Guinea to suppress the Atlantic Slave Trade. Established in 1808, the Squadron is underfunded and corrupt, and must patrol 3,000 miles of African coast. “The most costly international moral mission in history” will end in 1860, after capturing only 6% of Atlantic slave ships, 1,600 in all. 150,000 Africans will be freed, but 25% will die before being returned to the West African coast, because of the appalling conditions in which will be kept.

The Tunduru Gardens are opened in Lourenço Marques, the capital of Portuguese Mozambique. A wrought-iron gateway welcomes visitors to a lush tropical forest and garden designed by British landscaper Thomas Honney. A century and a half later, the park will remain an essential "getaway" spot for Maputo.

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Railroads bring new residents and businesses wherever they connect throughout Africa, but they also bring crime. Since the arrival of the railroad last year in Bloemfontein in Transvaal Republic, South Africa crime has risen 61%. Trial convictions number 398 whites and 1,918 Africans. Although no such punishment exists for a white person, any black person may be whipped up to 15 times for disobeying the order of his or her white employer.

One of the major World War I battles fought on African soil, the Battle of Tabora, ends with Belgian-Congolese troops pushing German troops out of Kigoma and Tabora, the largest towns in German East Africa (Tanzania). Belgium will take control the German colony Ruanda-Urundi (Rwanda and Burundi) and the British will assume control of the important Tankanjikabahn railway.

The Spanish Civil War begins with an uprising of Spain’s Army in Africa, headquartered in Morocco and with troops stationed in Spain’s African colonies. The rebel fascist forces put General Francisco Franco in charge upon his arrival in Africa on 19 July. In Equatorial Guinea today, Spanish sailors on the island of Fernando Po mutiny, and join the fascist rebels. The mainland troops remain loyal to the Spanish Republic government.

Egypt’s ruler King Farouk is expanding his collection of expensive luxury cars. He is setting a precedent for extravagance that will be followed by some future African rulers in tone-deafness to their countries' impoverished populations.

The first International Conference of Black Writers and Artists begins, in Paris. Organised by Senegalese intellectual Alioune Diop (pic) and his quarterly publication Présence Africaine, the conference draws delegates from around the world to address the immediate issues of colonialism and pan-Africanism and to consider existential issues like a singular black identity.

The Central Bank of Tunisia is established. Its first task is to create a Tunisian currency to replace the French franc that is now in use.

South Africa’s tallest building and Africa’s fourth-tallest Building, the Sanlam Centre, is completed. Dominating the skyline of Cape Town, the 93 metre-tall modern building houses the Sanlam Insurance Company’s IBM machines that this month make its operations 100% computerised. Digitalising its work saves the insurance company £24,000 this year alone (equal to £655,133 in 2023).

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Several prominent Central African Republic political personalities compete in the country’s first free and fair democratic elections. The victor is Angie-Félix Patassé, who will hold the presidency until 2003.

The U.N. Security Council approves the deployment of a peacekeeping mission to Liberia. The U.N. Mission to Liberia (UNMIL), will be made up of 15,000 civilian and military personnel, and will enforce the peace agreement that ended the Second Liberian Civil War.

Africa has six of the world’s ten fastest-growing economies, finds the World Bank, led by Ghana (pic: Accra), whose economy grew by 8.3% this past year. Doing nearly as well, Ethiopia’s economy grew by 8.2%, while impressive growth was also recorded by Côte d'Ivoire (7.2%), Djibouti (7%), Senegal (6.9%) and Tanzania (6.8%).

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