February 05, 2023
Nigeria: Nigeria and Ghana Are Prone to Devastating Floods - They Could Achieve a Lot By Working Together
Many countries in Africa suffer from disasters annually, but the adverse effects are grossly under-reported compared with coverage of more developed nations. Read more »
South Africa: Weed in South Africa - Apartheid Waged a War On Drugs That Still Has Unequal Effects Today
Cannabis is being commercialised into a multibillion-dollar global industry and South Africa wants a piece of the pie. In his 2022 state of the nation address, President Cyril… Read more »
February 04, 2023
South Africa: Robberies Surge As Criminals Take Advantage of Power Outages
The acute energy crisis in South Africa has adversely affected all aspects of the society. Regular and lengthy power outages - which started in 2007 are also contributing to an… Read more »
February 03, 2023
Africa: The BBC Has a Long History of Failed Attempts to Rid It of Political Influence
Most people probably don't know who the BBC's chairman is, or even that the BBC has a chairman. Yet this normally obscure figure has recently hit the headlines. Richard Sharp, BBC… Read more »
Africa: Nipple Ban On Instagram and Facebook Reveals How Bizarre Our Attitude Is Towards Different Genders
Some women consign themselves to breastfeeding in public toilets to prevent their apparently sexually explosive nipples causing offence. On hot days, meanwhile, males of all ages,… Read more »
Tanzania: Samia Suluhu Hassan Is Reforming Tanzania - It's Winning Her Fans but Boosting the Opposition
A series of political manoeuvres by Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan have set the east African country on an unfamiliar, yet hopeful, political path. Since her elevation to… Read more »
East Africa: The Incredible Story of How East African Culture Shaped the Music of a State in India
The term Siddi refers to Afro-Indians - Africans who mixed with Indians through marriage and relationships. Africans crossed the Indian Ocean and arrived in India during the 1200s,… Read more »
South Africa: South African Tourism Wants to Sponsor Football Club Tottenham Hotspur - Is It a Good Idea?
South African Tourism (SA Tourism) is reported to be planning to spend US$52 million (about R900 million) to sponsor UK football team Tottenham Hotspur over three years. The… Read more »
February 02, 2023
Africa: Why Social Media Makes You Feel Bad - and What to Do About It
Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media and noticed you felt a bit down? Maybe a little envious? Why aren't you on a yacht? Running a startup? Looking amazing… Read more »
Africa: Guinea Worm - a Nasty Parasite Is Nearly Eradicated, but the Push for Zero Cases Will Require Patience
A painful, parasitic disease that once infected 3.5 million people per year is tantalizingly close to being eradicated. Read more »
Ghana: Water ATMs Are Changing the Way People Can Access This Vital Resource
Universal, safe and reliable water access is a pressing need in the global south. One-quarter of the world's population don't currently have access to clean drinking water. In… Read more »
South Africa: Remote Working Improves the Lives of Women Managers - But At a Cost
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a question that would have been unthinkable a few years ago: do we really need to be in the office all the time? Read more »
South Africa: Travelling While Black - 7 South African Travelogues You Should Read
Travel writing in Africa is often associated with colonial ventures of the past or white adventure pursuits of today. But Africans themselves have long produced captivating travel… Read more »
Africa: Vitamins and Supplements - What You Need to Know Before Taking Them
If you were to open your medicine cabinet right now, there's a fair chance that you'd find at least one bottle of vitamins alongside the painkillers, plasters and cough syrup. Read more »
Africa: ChatGPT Is Great - You're Just Using It Wrong
It doesn't take much to get ChatGPT to make a factual mistake. My son is doing a report on U.S. presidents, so I figured I'd help him out by looking up a few biographies. I tried… Read more »
Africa: The 'Kraken' Subvariant Xbb.1.5 Sounds Scary. But Behind the Headlines Are Clues to Where Covid's Heading
The XBB.1.5 subvariant, known informally as "Kraken", is the latest in a menagerie of Omicron subvariants to dominate the headlines, following increasing detection in the United… Read more »
Kenya: The Body Choosing Kenya's Election Commission Is Being Overhauled - How This Could Strengthen Democracy
Kenya has new rules for choosing the people who run its elections. Read more »
February 01, 2023
Africa: City Planners Are Questioning the Point of Parking Garages
For the past century, the public and private sector appear to have agreed on one thing: the more parking, the better. Read more »
Africa: Covid Still a Global Emergency, WHO Says, but We're At a Transition Point. What Does This Mean?
As we enter the fourth year of living with COVID, we are all asking the predictable question: when will the pandemic be over? Read more »
Nigeria: Nigerian Elections - 5 Major Challenges Facing the Country's Next President
Nigerians will soon determine who their next president will be in a general election. Polling is due at the end of February and inauguration is scheduled for 29 May 2023. Read more »
Benin: Angelique Kidjo - the Diva From Benin Could Win a Record Sixth Grammy Award
Angelique Kidjo, the energetic singer-songwriter and activist from the Republic of Benin, represents a rare African phenomenon. Read more »
Zambia: Direct Support to Small Scale Farmers Reduces Poverty - What Zambia Is Doing Right
Over half of Zambia's population lived below the national poverty line in 2015. In rural areas, where 89% of households are engaged in agriculture, the poverty rate was even… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa and Russia - President Cyril Ramaphosa's Foreign Policy Explained
January was a busy diplomatic month for South Africa. The country hosted Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US treasury secretary Janet Yellen. Josep Borrell,… Read more »
Seychelles: Seychelles Is Becoming Overwhelmed By Marine Plastic - We Now Know Where It Comes From
More than 1,000km southwest of Mahé, the main inhabited island in Seychelles, lies a ring of coral islands called the Aldabra Atoll. The islands are a Unesco world heritage… Read more »
Kenya: George Magoha Was a Force for Better Education in Kenya. but He Had His Flaws
The death of former Kenyan education minister Professor George Magoha, 71, closes a vibrant chapter in education policymaking and leadership. It was a chapter marked by unmatched… Read more »