March 28
Gambia: The Gambia May Allow Female Genital Mutilation Again - Another Sign of a Global Trend Eroding Women's Rights
The Gambia's ban on female genital mutilation (FGM) since 2015 is under threat. Proposed changes before parliament could permit medicalised female genital cutting and allow it for… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's New Energy Plan Needs a Mix of Nuclear, Gas, Renewables and Coal - Expert
South Africa's economy has been hard hit by 15 years of loadshedding (rolling blackouts). The country's coal-fired power plants have a maintenance backlog and frequently experience… Read more »
South Africa: Protected Products - What Makes Lamb From South Africa's Karoo and France's Mont Saint-Michel So Special
A meal or food shopping experience can be more interesting and enjoyable when you know more about a particular product, like what region it came from and the culture that shaped… Read more »
March 27
Africa: New TB Skin Test Could Offer Cheaper and Easier Way to Detect the Disease
Detecting tuberculosis early could play a significant role in eradicating the world's most deadly infectious disease. The World Health Organization says 1.5 million people die from… Read more »
South Africa: What Political Parties Say in Their Election Manifestos About Solving the Electricity Crisis
South Africa is in the middle of a deep electricity crisis. In 2023 the public, many of whom are voters, experienced the worst loadshedding to date, losing power for an average of… Read more »
Africa: Venomous Snakes Could Start Migrating in Large Numbers If We Hit 5ºc Warming
A global group of scientists has predicted that climate change may cause dramatic movements in venomous snake populations across many countries in Africa. The scientists took into… Read more »
Africa: Hazardous Mould Contaminates Many Food Staples - What You Should Know About Mycotoxins
Mycotoxins are substances produced by mould that poison food. They are harmful to humans and animals when consumed. According to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), about… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya Has Tightened Its Laws to Stop Money Laundering - Why Banks Are the Focus
Kenya's banking industry has in recent years been in the crosshairs of national, regional and international watchdogs, given the country's role as a financial hub in eastern… Read more »
March 26
Africa: Exploring the Roots of Stupidity - First Understand the Psychology of What Lies Behind Irrational Opinions
Most people, at one time or another, act foolishly. However, truly ignorant individuals exhibit a lack of introspection and stubbornly cling to their opinions, regardless of how… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigerian Bandits Strategically Target School Children for Kidnappings - Here's Why
It is every parent's worst nightmare: armed criminals attacking their child's school, kidnapping students and teachers. Read more »
South Africa: Zulu Culture and Sexual Orientation - South African Study Reveals the Health Costs of Stigma
Same-sex relationships are legal in South Africa and protected by the constitution. Unfair discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is against the law. Read more »
Madagascar: We Built an AI Tool to Help Set Priorities for Conservation in Madagascar - What We Found
Artificial Intelligence (AI) - models that process large and diverse datasets and make predictions from them - can have many uses in nature conservation, such as remote monitoring… Read more »
March 25
Africa: Rural Schools in South Africa Can Produce Good Exam Results Too - Study Shows What's Behind One Success Story
Each weekday, hundreds of thousands of children and teenagers in South Africa's rural areas (which make up just over 31% of the country's total area) make the journey to school.… Read more »
Ghana: Ghana's Decades-Old Ambition to Build an Integrated Aluminium Industry Faces a New Hurdle - the Clean Energy Transition
It has been more than 60 years since Ghana's first post-independence leader Kwame Nkrumah first mooted the idea that Ghana should produce aluminium from the country's ample supply… Read more »
Senegal: Macky Sall's Reputation Is Dented, but the Former President Did a Lot At Home and Abroad
Macky Sall's legacy as Senegal's president since 2012 became more complex in his last year in office. The year was so filled with transgressions that they appeared to have… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya's Greylisting for Weak Action On Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing
Kenya and Namibia are the latest African countries to be placed on the Financial Action Task Force's grey list over their weak measures against money laundering and terrorism… Read more »
South Africa: South Africans Fighting for Israel in Gaza - What Does the Law Say?
South Africa's foreign minister, Naledi Pandor, said the country's citizens fighting for the Israel Defence Forces in Gaza faced prosecution upon their return. This statement… Read more »
Africa: Cardiovascular Risks and Covid-19 - New Research Confirms the Benefits of Vaccination
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease. Yet, from the earliest days of the pandemic, the cardiovascular risks associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection were clear: individuals with severe… Read more »
March 24
Kenya: Why Do Identical Informal Businesses Set Up Side By Side? It's a Survival Tactic - Kenya Study
The population on the African continent will have nearly doubled by 2050, according to UN projections. About 800 million more young Africans will enter the job market by then.… Read more »
South Africa: Parents Who Believe Their Children Can Have a Better Future Are More Likely to Read and Play With Them - South African Study
Every day, a small group of women make their way through the community of Sweetwaters, near the South African city of Pietermaritzburg, with bags of toys and books. They work as… Read more »
Africa: Worried About How to Support Your Child's Education? Here Are Four Useful Steps You Can Take
Parents play a crucial role in supporting their children's learning. Their involvement lays the foundation for success both inside and outside the classroom. This makes a parent's… Read more »
March 22
Nigeria: Hundreds of Nigerian Children Are Being Kidnapped - the Govt Must Change Its Security Strategy
School abductions have been a trend in Nigeria. The latest took place in Kaduna and Sokoto states, both in the north-west region, when over 300 children were abducted at different… Read more »
Burkina Faso: Bird Flu - What Is It, How Does It Spread and How Can We Protect Ourselves From It?
There has been an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso's capital. The viral disease, also called avian influenza, killed 441 chickens out of a flock of 641 on a… Read more »
South Africa: Medical Science Has Made Great Strides in Fighting TB, but Reducing Poverty Is the Best Way to End This Disease
Every year, 10 million people fall ill with tuberculosis. Even though the disease is both preventable and curable, it kills 1.5 million people each year, making it the world's… Read more »
March 21
Morocco: Duckbill Dinosaur Discovery in Morocco - Expert Unpacks the Mystery of How They Got There
Why are fossils of duckbill dinosaurs, a North American family, found in North Africa? Read more »