My father, Ahmed Rajab, who has died aged 79, was a journalist and political analyst whose views on African politics and economics were much sought after, particularly by television networks.
His career began in broadcasting, where he worked in various production roles at the BBC World Service in London before serving within the Unesco communications office in Kenya and then, in 1984, returning to the BBC as a producer.
In the early 1990s he switched to print journalism as editor of Africa Analysis, a fortnightly magazine dedicated to African politics and economics. It was around that time that he became a go-to commentator on African affairs for broadcasters, including the BBC, Channel 4 News and CNN. In later years, before his retirement, he served as head of the newsroom at the Middle East/Asia bureau of Irin, the United Nations’ Humanitarian News Agency.
Ahmed was born in Vuga in Zanzibar (now part of Tanzania) to Bi-Mhaza Ali, a teacher, and her husband, Ali Muhammed, a tool maker. His early life was shaped by the revolutionary upheaval of 60s Zanzibar, culminating in an armed revolt in 1964 and the overthrowing of the ruling sultan, events he described many years later for a BBC Witness History podcast in 2020.
To avoid the turmoil Ahmed moved to the UK to study philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, and then a master’s in African studies at Sussex University. After that he went straight to the BBC World Service to serve in its Swahili service, fulfilling various broadcasting and production roles, including reading the evening radio news.
Aside from his work on radio and television, Ahmed contributed articles and poems to anthologies, including African New Voices (1997) and Pioneers, Rebels, and a Few Villains: 150 Years of Journalism in Eastern Africa (2021).
A respected figure on the African literary scene, he contributed his expertise as a judge on various panels, including for the 1999 CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards, the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing and the 2019 Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize for African Literature.
In 2023 he delivered the keynote speech at a House of Lords reception to celebrate World Kiswahili Day, a recognition of his appreciation for the role that the Swahili language plays in African culture.
He is survived by his wife, Aysha (nee Omar), an NHS ward administrator whom he married in 1984, their children, Tahar, Zakiya, Umi and me, and seven grandchildren.
