February 19
Congo-Kinshasa: Expert Explains Why Congolese Anger Against the West Is Justified
Since early February, the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, has been rocked by protests directed against western embassies. Protests took place in front of the… Read more »
February 18
South Africa: HIV Among Older South Africans in Rural Areas - Big Study Shows There's a Problem That's Being Neglected
South Africa continues to have a high prevalence of HIV among all age groups. About 8.2 million people or 13.7% of the population live with HIV, one of the highest rates in the… Read more »
Mali: Slums and Guns in Bamako - What's Driving the Illegal Weapon Trade in Mali's Capital City
As west Africa urbanises, many cities have become interconnected through trade, travel and technology, and crime has increased in complexity and scope. The proliferation of arms in… Read more »
Ethiopia: Oromia Makes Up a Third of Ethiopia's Landmass and Is Key to Its Fortunes - Expert Unpacks Its Significance
Ethiopia's largest and most populous region, Oromia, has been in the news following reports of a rise in kidnappings for ransom. The region is no stranger to war and strife. Its… Read more »
South Africa: Corruption and Clean Energy in South Africa - Economic Model Shows Trust in Government Is Linked to Takeup of Renewables
South Africa relies heavily on energy from coal-fired power stations, which emit large quantities of carbon. But making the transition to greater use of renewable energies, such as… Read more »
February 16
Africa: Ai Will Let Us Read 'Lost' Ancient Works in the Library At Herculaneum for the First Time
On 19 October 1752, a discovery was made 20 metres underneath the town of Resina, near Naples in Italy. Peasants digging wells in the area around Mount Vesuvius had struck marble… Read more »
Africa: Extraction of Raw Materials Could Rise 60 Percent By 2060 - and Making Mining 'Greener' Won't Stop the Damage
The United Nations' flagship Global Resources Outlook report is the portrait of a juggernaut. Due to be published later this month by the UN's International Resource Panel, it… Read more »
Africa: A Brief History of the Diss Track - From the Roxanne Wars to Megan Thee Stallion
Released last month, Houston-born rapper Megan Thee Stallion's hit song Hiss is a textbook diss record. Fans and critics have suggested the track takes aim at multiple artists… Read more »
Africa: What's Behind the Astonishing Rise in LGBTQ+ Romance Literature?
A major transformation is underway in Romancelandia. Read more »
Africa: State-Owned Energy Companies Are Among the World's Most Polluting - Putting a Price On Carbon Could Help
Existing measures to cajole companies to decarbonise, with subsidies for renewable energy and carbon taxes, have failed to prevent global emissions rising. Does state ownership,… Read more »
February 15
Ghana: New Vehicle Tax Aims to Tackle Pollution - Expert Unpacks How It'll Work and Suggests Reforms
Ghana has introduced an annual carbon levy on vehicles and industrial emissions. It's only the third African country to introduce an explicit carbon tax, after South Africa and… Read more »
Southern Africa: Rhinos Can't Sweat, Making Them Vulnerable to Overheating - Global Warming Could Wipe Them Out in Southern Africa
Southern Africa is home to 22,137 of the world's 23,432 white and black African rhinos. But they're facing grave threats because of a warming planet. Now, the first study of how… Read more »
February 14
West Africa: West Africa Trade Will Take a Hit As Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso Leave Ecowas
The membership of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has been whittled down from 15 to 12 following the unilateral withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso in… Read more »
Africa: Wagner Group Is Now Africa Corps. What This Means for Russia's Operations On the Continent
In August 2023, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died after his private jet crashed about an hour after taking off in Moscow. He had been Russia's pointman in Africa since the… Read more »
Africa: African Football Won the 34th Afcon, With Côte d'Ivoire a Close Second
The 34th Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) came to an end in Côte d'Ivoire with millions of viewers around the world shouting at TV screens, and an astonishing performance by… Read more »
Africa: Why Banning Gym Selfies Could Do Us All a Lot of Good
Taking selfies to document daily life is now a completely normalised activity across all ages and demographics. Read more »
February 13
Africa: Why Is Free Time Still So Elusive?
There have been massive gains in productivity over the past century. Read more »
Africa: 'Analog Uncanny' - How This Weird and Experimental Side of Tiktok Is Forging the Future of Horror
Director Kyle Edward Ball's feature film debut, Skinamarink, achieved unexpected commercial success last year after going viral on TikTok. Read more »
Ethiopia: Donkeys Are Unsung Heroes in Ethiopia's Humanitarian Crisis - and They Could Do Even More With Better Support
Conflict and drought in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia has triggered a humanitarian crisis. The Ethiopian government says 16 million people across the country are facing… Read more »
South Africa: 17 Million South Africans Live On Communal Land - New Study of a Rural Valley Offers Insights On How to Manage It
The Tyhume River, flowing from the forested Amathole Mountains in South Africa's Eastern Cape province, gives its name to a valley of 20 villages on communal land. Much of the land… Read more »
Kenya: Kelvin Kiptum - the Kenyan Runner Who Redefined What It Takes to Win Marathons
Kenyan athletics has lost Kelvin Kiptum, the marathon world record holder who was destined to be the first person to run the race in under two hours. The runner, aged only 24, died… Read more »
Africa: The World's Coral Reefs Are Bigger Than We Thought - but It Took Satellites, Snorkels and Machine Learning to See Them
The world's coral reefs are close to 25% larger than we thought. By using satellite images, machine learning and on-ground knowledge from a global network of people living and… Read more »
Africa: Why Having Human Remains Land On the Moon Poses Difficult Questions for Members of Several Religions
Sending human remains to the Moon on the first commercial lunar lander, Peregrine 1, on Jan. 8, 2024, along with scientific instruments, caused a controversy. Read more »
February 12
Kenya: Kenya's Sex Workers Have Solutions to Their Problems, but International NGOs Aren't Hearing Them
In Kenya, rights organisations run by sex workers have gone into numerous partnerships with international organisations over the past decade. In recent research, I set out to… Read more »
Africa: The SAN People of Southern Africa - Where Ethics Codes for Researching Indigenous People Could Fail Them
There is a long and often complicated history of researchers studying Indigenous people. In 1999, the education scholar Linda Tuhiwai-Smith, in her book Decolonizing Methodologies:… Read more »