Under a bridge, Angola's left-out youth look to ballot box for change

Francisco Mapanda, one of the founding members of a makeshift library, walks out of the 'library' under the bridge, at the Luanda suburbs in Angola August 22, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

LUANDA (Reuters) - Two years ago, Francisco Mapanda and Arante Kivuvu were jobless during the COVID-19 pandemic so they started selling whiskey and cigarettes under a bridge in Angola's capital, Luanda.

To ease the boredom, they read books, and when they realised others also wanted to read, they got more -- until their hawking spot in the suburbs of Luanda turned into a makeshift library of nearly 4,000 titles.