March 04
Congo-Kinshasa: Congo Style - How Two Dictators Shaped the DRC's Art, Architecture and Monuments
What kind of art is left behind by totalitarian regimes? A new free-to-read book called Congo Style: From Belgian Art Nouveau to African Independence explores the visual culture,… Read more »
Africa: Ultra-Processed Foods - Largest Ever Review Shows Many Ill Effects On Health - How to Understand the Evidence
Ultra-processed foods, such as cereals and fizzy drinks, have been linked to 32 harmful health effects, according to the largest review of the evidence to date. Read more »
March 03
Uganda: Bobi Wine - The Documentary Up for Oscar 2024
This year, all the Oscar nominees for best documentary feature come from outside of the United States. Read more »
South Africa: Big Companies, Like Nestlé, Are Funding Health Research in South Africa - Why This Is Wrong
In 2021, the director of the African Research University Alliance Centre of Excellence in Food Security at the University of Pretoria was appointed to the board of the… Read more »
March 02
Tanzania: Ali Hassan Mwinyi - the Tanzanian Former President Who Oversaw the Transition to Market Economy
Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Tanzania's second president who has died aged 98, pushed through tough economic and political reforms that transformed the East Africa nation from socialism to… Read more »
March 01
Africa: Wild Solitary Bees Offer a Vital Pollination Service - but Their Nutritional Needs Aren't Understood
As I walk around the supermarket, I pick up vegetables for tomorrow's dinner, eggs and bread for tonight and some sweet treats for the week. By choosing a range of different food… Read more »
Africa: Measles Is One of the Deadliest and Most Contagious Infectious Diseases - and One of the Most Easily Preventable
"You don't count your children until the measles has passed." Dr. Samuel Katz, one of the pioneers of the first measles vaccine in the late 1950s to early 1960s, regularly heard… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya's Had Unusually Hot Weather - an Expert Unpacks What Could Be Causing It
In early 2024 most parts of Kenya, including Nairobi, experienced unusually high temperatures. The World Meteorological Organisation described the hot weather as a global… Read more »
Ghana: Ghana's New Anti-Homosexuality Bill Violates Everyone's Rights, Not Just LGBTIQ+ People - Expert
Ghana's new anti-homosexuality bill infringes several rights and freedoms, not only of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) people but of heterosexuals… Read more »
Africa: Covid-19 Rapid Tests Still Work Against New Variants - Researchers Keep 'Testing the Tests,' and They Pass
By September 2020, just six months after COVID-19 triggered shutdowns across the U.S., it was clear that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, had mutated from its original… Read more »
February 29
Ghana: Can Contract Farming Help Smallholder Farmers Build Resilience to Climate Change?
In northern Ghana, many smallholder farmers who grow crops on less than one hectare of land each are entering into contract farming. This gives them guaranteed buyers for their… Read more »
Rwanda: DRC-Rwanda Crisis - What's Needed to Prevent a Regional War
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South African, Burundian and Tanzanian troops are fighting against the Rwandan army, which has deployed in support of the… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Business Students Want Their Own Industry Superheroes and Success Stories in the Syllabus - Study
In the past few years there's been much discussion globally about the need to decolonise education. Decolonisation is the process of undoing the impact of colonial thinking and its… Read more »
Tanzania: Serengeti Migration - Fire and Rain Affect How Zebras, Wildebeest and Gazelles Make the Journey
Tanzania's Serengeti ecosystem is like a time machine. As one of the world's last remaining fully intact grazing ecosystems it provides a glimpse of what others in Australia,… Read more »
Africa: How Teens Benefit From Being Able to Read 'Disturbing' Books That Some Want to Ban
Should we worry, as massive book-banning efforts imply, that young people will be harmed by certain kinds of books? For over a decade and through hundreds of interviews, my… Read more »
Africa: Why and How Often Do I Need to Wash Makeup Brushes and Sponges?
From the bristles of brushes to the porous surfaces of sponges, your makeup kit can harbour a host of bacteria and fungi. Read more »
February 28
Africa: Understanding How the Brain Works Can Transform How School Students Learn Maths
School mathematics teaching is stuck in the past. An adult revisiting the school that they attended as a child would see only superficial changes from what they experienced… Read more »
Africa: Mounting Research Shows That Covid-19 Leaves Its Mark On the Brain, Including With Significant Drops in IQ Scores
From the very early days of the pandemic, brain fog emerged as a significant health condition that many experience after COVID-19. Read more »
Africa: The True Cost of Food Is Far Higher Than What You Spend At the Checkout Counter
After several years of pandemic-driven price spikes at the grocery store, retail food price inflation is slowing down. That's good news for consumers, especially those in… Read more »
Ghana: Street Vending Helps Migrants to Survive in Accra, but It's Illegal
Moving to the city is a common strategy for the rural poor in the global south. Economic hardship pushes individuals out of their rural communities in search of opportunities.… Read more »
Africa: Alarming Africa-Wide Report Predicts 30% Drop in Crop Revenue, 50 Million Without Water
African countries will suffer significant economic loss after 2050 if global warming is not limited to below 2°C, a new study by the Center for Global Development has found. Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria's Security Problems Deepen As Anglophone Insurgency in Cameroon Spills Across Border
Over the past two decades, Nigeria has grappled with multiple and complex national security threats, each posing a significant challenge to its stability. Read more »
Somalia: Why Turkey Is Helping Somalia Defend Its Waters
Somalia and Turkey recently announced that they would expand the terms of a defence agreement first signed on 8 February 2024 to include the maritime sector. This came as tensions… Read more »
South Africa: It Took 16 Years but South Africa Has Impeached a Senior Judge
Former Western Cape judge president John Mandlakayise Hlophe has become one of the first two members of South Africa's judiciary to be impeached since the country became a… Read more »
Africa: Why Developing Countries Must Unite to Protect the WTO's Dispute Settlement System
The World Trade Organisation's dispute settlement mechanism has, for decades, provided stability and predictability to the resolution of disputes between member countries. As… Read more »