March 22
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 »
Africa: Pangolins in Africa - Expert Unpacks Why Millions Have Been Traded Illegally and What Can Be Done About It
Pangolins are fascinating creatures known for their unique appearance and distinctive scales. They are mammals belonging to the order Pholidota and are native to Africa and Asia.… Read more »
South Africa: This Is How President Ramaphosa Got to the 25% Figure of Progress in Land Reform in South Africa
Nearly three decades into democracy, land reform remains central to South Africa's transformation policies and agricultural policy. Read more »
Ghana: Ghana's Free High School Policy Is Getting More Girls to Complete Secondary Education - Study
Education drives economic growth and individual well-being. Secondary education, in particular, plays a crucial role. In recent decades, this recognition has encouraged several… Read more »
March 20
Africa: Chimpanzees Stayed in an 'Invisible Cage' After Zoo Enclosure Was Enlarged - South African Study
Captive chimpanzees are one of the most popular species kept in zoos because of their charismatic appeal and similarity to humans. They are the closest living relatives of humans… Read more »
South Africa: Dehydration - How It Happens, What to Watch Out for, What Steps to Take
Dehydration is a big issue during unusually hot weather and outbreaks of diseases such as cholera that lead to life-threatening diarrhoea. Anastasia Ugwuanyi is a family physician… Read more »
March 19
Niger: Niger Has Cut Military Ties With the U.S. - Why This Is Bad for the Sahel's Security
Niger - a landlocked country of 25 million people in one of the most unstable parts of the world - recently announced it was suspending military cooperation with the United States. Read more »
West Africa: Cocoa Beans Are in Short Supply - What This Means for Farmers, Businesses and Chocolate Lovers
A shortage of cocoa beans has led to a near shutdown of processing plants in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, the two countries responsible for 60% of global production. With… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria's Forests Are Fast Disappearing - Urgent Steps Are Needed to Protect Their Benefits to the Economy and Environment
Nigeria's forest cover has been dwindling fast for decades. With one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, there are concerns about the survival of its forest… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria's Fuel Subsidy Removal Was Too Sudden - Why a Gradual Approach Would Have Been Better
Nigeria removed fuel subsidies entirely in May 2023. This came as a surprise because of the political risks associated with subsidy removal. Previous administrations were reluctant… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Election Management Body Has Done a Good Job for 30 Years - Here's Why
More than in previous elections, South Africa's Electoral Commission (IEC) will be tested to the hilt in this year's national and provincial elections on 29 May. For the first time… Read more »
March 18
Chad: Assassination of Main Opposition Figure Casts Doubt On Country's Return to Democracy
The assassination of Chad's main opposition leader, Yaya Dillo, is hanging heavy over presidential elections due in early May. Dillo was killed on 28 February when the headquarters… Read more »
Senegal: 2024 Senegal Election Crisis Points to Deeper Issues With Macky Sall and His Preferred Successor
The botched attempt by Senegalese president Macky Sall to postpone the presidential election has stirred unnecessary tension in an already strained electoral process. The move… Read more »
Rwanda: Press Freedom in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda - What Journalists Have to Say About Doing Their Jobs
A majority of the world's population has experienced a decline in press freedom in recent years, according to a UN report. In east Africa, the results are mixed and debatable. Read more »
Malawi: Malawi and Maize - Prices Have Spiked On the Back of Bad Weather and Trade Bans
Maize is the leading staple food in Malawi and crucial for food security. Typically, local production from smallholder farmers meets and exceeds annual requirements of around 3… Read more »
Africa: 76% of Africa's Energy Could Come From Renewable Sources By 2040 - Here's How
Over half of Africa's people - about 600 million - lack access to even the bare minimum of electricity. The tough question to answer is how access can be extended without adding to… Read more »
Africa: Do You Have 7,513 Unread Emails in Your Inbox? Research Suggests That's Unwise
How do you manage your emails? Are you an "inbox zero" kind of person, or do you just leave thousands of them unread? Read more »
March 17
Cameroon: Cameroon's Rebels May Not Achieve Their Goal of Creating the Ambazonian State - but They're Still a Threat to Stability
Cameroon's separatist insurgency is an armed conflict in the country's North West (NW) and South West (SW) regions that began in 2017. It pits government forces against several… Read more »
Africa: Something Felt 'Off' - How AI Messed With Our Human Research, and What We Learned
All levels of research are being changed by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Don't have time to read that journal article? AI-powered tools such as TLDRthis will summarise… Read more »
South Africa: Almost 50% of Adult South Africans Are Overweight or Obese. Poverty and Poor Nutrition Are Largely to Blame
Malnutrition, in all its forms, includes undernutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight), inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight and obesity. Read more »
Africa: Snakebites - We Thought We'd Created a Winning New Antivenom but Then It Flopped. Why That Turned Out to Be a Good Thing
Snakebites kill over 100,000 people each year, and hundreds of thousands of survivors are left with long-term disabilities such as amputations. Read more »
March 15
Africa: Undersea Cables for Africa's Internet Retrace History and Leave Digital Gaps As They Connect Continents
Large parts of west and central Africa, as well as some countries in the south of the continent, were left without internet services on 14 March because of failures on four of the… Read more »
March 14
Africa: If You're 65 or Older, It's Time for Another Covid-19 Shot
In my mind, the spring season will always be associated with COVID-19. Read more »
Burkina Faso: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger Hint At a New West African Currency - What It'll Take for It to Succeed
On 11 February 2024, the head of Niger's ruling military junta, General Abdourahmane Tiani, spoke of the possible creation of a common currency with Burkina Faso and Mali. "The… Read more »