The 2023 Architecture Biennale, with the theme “Laboratory of the Future”, will feature half its participants from Africa and the diaspora. Lesley Lokko, a Scottish-Ghanaian architect and curator of the event, spoke to OkayAfrica about decarbonization, decolonization, and Africa’s relationship with the world. The biennale runs from 20 May - 26 November 2023 in Venice.

• Beninese smartphone inventor Alain Capo has won a world literacy prize for creating a smartphone that is accessible in sixteen of Côte d’Ivoire’s indigenous languages, as well as to illiterate users (article in French).
• Unilever Nigeria shuts down production of its laundry and skincare brands for profit reasons.
• Tshepo Lipholo, an opposition MP in Lesotho’s parliament, has introduced a motion to claim Free State, South Africa as part of its territory. The land was taken in the 19th Century by Afrikaners and was not returned when Lesotho became independent in 1966.

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Image: Omo Laundry Detergent, one of Unilever Nigeria’s soon to be discontinued brands. Creative Commons. 11 September 2013. Photo credit: dotun55.