May 22
Tanzania: Tanganyika and Zanzibar - Tanzania's 60-Year-Old Union May Need a Restructure
On 26 April 2024, Tanzania celebrated 60 years of the union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar. The union, which created the present-day United Republic of Tanzania, stands out among… Read more »
Kenya: Kenyan President Will Receive White House Praise Over Troops-to-Haiti Move
Kenyan President William Ruto will attend a rare U.S. state reception for an African leader on May 23, 2024 - but much of the chat will be about a third country: Haiti. Read more »
May 21
Rwanda: UK-Rwanda Migrant Deal Challenges International Protection Law
In late April 2024 the British parliament passed a law - the Safety of Rwanda Act - enabling it to transport migrants arriving in the UK to Rwanda. When the legislation was… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya Is Badly Prepared for Floods - Four Steps to Reduce Devastation and Deaths
Floods in Kenya in April/May 2024 led to the deaths of over 250 people and caused damage estimated at 4 billion Kenya shillings (US$35 million). Read more »
May 20
Seychelles: Floating Baby Corals Can Help Save Damaged Reefs - New Study
The Seychelles archipelago of 115 islands stretches across a vast area of the western Indian Ocean. Each island is fringed by coral reefs. Read more »
May 19
Rwanda: Rwanda's Role in Eastern DRC Conflict - Why International Law Is Failing to End the Fighting
The power of international law lies in its potential to offer alternatives to force and violence. The ideal is that states submit their grievances to a court rather than duke them… Read more »
May 17
Kenya: Kenya's Flood Evictions May Violate the Law - Scholar
Recent floods in Kenya have left at least 270 people dead, displaced more than 200,000 and destroyed property, infrastructure and livelihoods across the country. In Nairobi,… Read more »
May 16
Kenya: TikTok in Kenya - the Govt Wants to Restrict Its Use, but My Study Shows It Can Be Useful and Empowering
Every day, 750 million people around the world engage with Tiktok - the short-video sharing app. Kenyans are among its top users. Read more »
May 13
Tanzania: Tanzania's Political Parties Have Few Women in Leadership and Candidate Lists - Some Solutions
Tanzania, in keeping with global political trends, reserves 30% of seats in parliament for women. These so-called special seats were introduced with multiparty politics in 1992, in… Read more »
May 12
Madagascar: Madagascar's Ancient Baobab Forests Are Being Restored By Communities - With a Little Help From Ai
Six of the world's eight baobab species are indigenous to Madagascar, where the distinctive trees with giant trunks have historically grown in huge forests. But these forests are… Read more »
May 08
Africa: Playing With the Kids Is Important Work for Chimpanzee Mothers
Wild chimpanzees have been studied for more than 60 years, but they continue to delight and surprise observers, as we found during the summer of 2017 in Kibale National Park in… Read more »
May 10
Sudan: Sudan's Descent Into Chaos Sets Stage for Al-Qaida to Make a Return to Historic Stronghold
"Sudan's moment has come; chaos is our chance to sow the seeds of jihad," warned Abu Hudhaifa al-Sudani, a high-ranking al-Qaida leader, in an October 2022 manifesto. Read more »
May 09
Kenya: Kenya Floods - As the Costs Add Up Pressure Mounts On a Country in Economic Crisis
There were early warnings that Kenya's long rain season - between March and May - was going to bring above-normal rainfall. The extreme intensity of the rain has resulted in… Read more »
May 06
Kenya: Kenya's Public Universities - Financing Model Overhaul Fails to Address Biggest Challenge - Funding
Kenya adopted a new approach to public university funding beginning with the 2023-24 academic year. Rapid student enrolment growth and declining state revenues have triggered the… Read more »
May 01
Kenya: Kenya's Devastating Floods Expose Decades of Poor Urban Planning and Bad Land Management
Floods in Kenya killed at least 169 people between March and April 2024. The most catastrophic of these deaths occurred after a flash flood swept through a rural village killing 42… Read more »
April 30
Uganda: Business and Management Graduates Can Become Climate Change and Sustainability Champions - Lessons From Uganda and Tanzania On How Universities Can Support This
There is no doubt about it: the world is in the grips of a climate crisis. The headlines are full of reports about extreme weather events and the negative effects of the fossil… Read more »
April 29
Uganda: Uganda's Tax System Isn't Bringing in Enough Revenue but Is Targeting Small Business the Answer?
Uganda, with a fiscal deficit of 5.6% in 2023, has increasingly turned to local resources to make up for its revenue shortfall since the World Bank suspended its funding on 8… Read more »
April 26
Kenya: Kenyan Doctors' Strike - the Govt Keeps Failing to Hold Up Its End of the Bargain
At least 4,000 doctors are employed in Kenya's public healthcare sector. Almost all of them went on strike on 14 March 2024, demanding the implementation of a labour agreement… Read more »
April 25
Sudan: Sudan's Civil War Is Rooted in Its Historical Favouritism of Arab and Islamic Identity
The current civil war in Sudan goes beyond a simple power struggle between two generals. It reflects a deep-rooted crisis within the country's governing structure that's been… Read more »
April 24
Rwanda: Rwanda's Post-Genocide Model Prioritises Security Over Freedom and Equality - a Risk to Future Stability
Rwanda, a small and landlocked central African country, has made remarkable socio-economic progress since the 1994 genocide in which an estimated 500,000 people died. But the… Read more »
April 23
Sudan: Civil War Stretches Into a Second Year With No End in Sight
In the early hours of April 15 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - a Sudanese paramilitary force - attacked the military airstrip in the town of Merowe and deployed troops… Read more »
April 21
Seychelles: Blue Whales - First Discovery Near Seychelles in Decades - What Our Study Found
Blue whales are fascinating animals. At 24-30 metres in length (longer than a basketball court) they are the largest creatures on Earth. They are also among the rarest. Estimates… Read more »
April 16
Kenya: Kenya's Shilling Is Gaining Value, but Don't Expect It to Last - Expert
Shortly after Kenya's 2022 elections, the shilling depreciated rapidly against the US dollar - the country's main currency for international transactions - fuelling a wave of… Read more »
April 15
East Africa: East Africa's 'Soda Lakes' Are Rising, Threatening Their Iconic Flamingos
Huge pink flocks of millions of flamingos - flamboyances of flamingos - are one of nature's great spectacles. But colleagues and I have uncovered worrying trends in the salty and… Read more »
Tanzania: Tanzanians Go to the Polls in 2025 - President Samia Has Changed the Landscape, but Magufuli's Legacy Persists
It's been three years since the death of Tanzania's president John Magufuli and the rise to power of current president Samia Suluhu Hassan. Read more »