February 03
Africa: Private Credit Rating Agencies Shape Africa's Access to Debt. Better Oversight Is Needed
Africa's development finance challenge has reached a critical point. Mounting debt pressure is squeezing fiscal space. And essential needs in infrastructure, health and education… Read more »
February 01
Africa: Should Private Sector Executives Sit On the Boards of Non-Profits? There Are Risks and Benefits
Serving on a non-profit board can be deeply fulfilling and beneficial to the cause - but only if you're fully committed and prepared for the role. Read more »
January 31
Africa: U.S. Exit From the World Health Organization Marks a New Era in Global Health Policy - Here's What the U.S., and World, Will Lose
The U.S. departure from the World Health Organization became official in late January 2026, according to the Trump administration - a year after President Donald Trump signed an… Read more »
January 27
Africa: Great White Sharks Grow a Whole New Kind of Tooth for Slicing Bone As They Age
A great white shark is a masterwork of evolutionary engineering. These beautiful predators glide effortlessly through the water, each slow, deliberate sweep of the powerful tail… Read more »
January 26
Africa: Most AI Assistants Are Feminine - and It's Fuelling Dangerous Stereotypes and Abuse
In 2024, artificial intelligence (AI) voice assistants worldwide surpassed 8 billion, more than one per person on the planet. These assistants are helpful, polite - and almost… Read more »
January 23
Africa: Are Meat Eaters Really More Likely to Live to 100 Than Non-Meat Eaters, As a Recent Study Suggests?
People who don't eat meat may be less likely than meat eaters to reach the age of 100, according to a recent study. But before you reconsider your plant-based diet, there's more to… Read more »
January 26
Africa: The Invisible Bubbles That Spread Cancer Could Also Help Stop It
Cancer is transported from one organ to another by invisible bubbles. Understanding these microscopic messengers could change the fight against metastasis. Read more »
January 29
Africa: What Is Nipah Virus? and What Makes It So Deadly?
An outbreak of the deadly Nipah virus in India has put many countries in Asia on high alert, given the fatality rate in humans can be between 40% and 75%. Several countries,… Read more »
Africa: Rafiki Unbanned On Appeal - Why It's an Important Moment for African Film
The film Rafiki is a charming love story that plays out in urban Kenya. It follows two teenage girls whose close friendship slowly turns into first love. Directed by rising… Read more »
Africa: Africa, Rating Agencies and the Cost of Debt
How much we pay for the debt that we incur determines a great deal in our lives. This is true of countries too. In the world of sovereign debt - money raised or borrowed by… Read more »
Africa: African Migration - Focusing On Europe Misses the Point - Most People Move Within the Continent
Images of rubber dinghies overcrowded with refugees heading for Europe and narratives about mistreatment and exploitation of migrants on unsafe migration routes have come to… Read more »
January 28
Africa: Small-Scale Farmers Produce More of the Rich World's Food Than Previously Thought - New Study
Who grows our food? This seemingly simple question is getting harder to answer in a world where our food crosses borders to get to our plate. Read more »
Africa: Life in Fossil Bones - What We Can Learn From Tiny Traces of Ancient Blood Chemicals
Blood tests are useful tools for doctors and scientific researchers: they can reveal a lot about a body's health. Usually, a blood sample is taken to get a picture of the large… Read more »
January 26
Africa: Malaria Researchers Are Getting Closer to Outsmarting the World's Deadliest Parasite
Every year, malaria kills more than 600,000 people worldwide. Most of them are children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa. But the disease isn't confined to poor, rural areas - it's a… Read more »
January 25
Africa: Africa's Critical Minerals Are a Huge Economic Opportunity - G20 Framework Sets Out Ways to Seize It
As the world shifts to clean energy, minerals such as lithium, cobalt and manganese have become as important as oil once was. Africa holds large reserves of these critical… Read more »
Africa: Global Demand for Shea Butter Is Growing - but It's Not All Good News for the Women Who Collect the Nuts
Shea butter has become a highly sought-after ingredient in cosmetics and food manufacturing worldwide. Since the early 2000s its use as a substitute for cocoa butter has driven a… Read more »
January 22
Africa: The Pandemic's Hidden Toll - Millions of Chronic Conditions Left Undiagnosed
When COVID hit, healthcare systems around the world were turned upside down. Hospitals cleared beds, routine appointments were cancelled and people were told to stay at home unless… Read more »
January 20
Africa: The World Is in Water Bankruptcy, UN Scientists Report - Here's What That Means
The world is now using so much fresh water amid the consequences of climate change that it has entered an era of water bankruptcy, with many regions no longer able to bounce back… Read more »
Africa: How the U.S. Withdrawal From WHO Could Affect Global Health Powers and Disease Threats
Hours after Donald Trump began his second term as United States president on Jan. 20, 2024, he signed an executive order to end American membership in the World Health Organization… Read more »
January 15
Africa: Global Power Struggles Over the Ocean's Finite Resources Call for Creative Diplomacy
Oceans shape everyday life in powerful ways. They cover 70% of the planet, carry 90% of global trade, and support millions of jobs and the diets of billions of people. As global… Read more »
January 18
Africa: AI Can Make the Dead Talk - Why This Doesn't Comfort Us
For as long as humans have buried their dead, they've dreamed of keeping them close. The ancient Fayum portraits - those stunningly lifelike images wrapped in Egyptian mummies -… Read more »
Africa: Ransomware - What It Is and Why It's Your Problem
Ransomware is a type of malicious software that makes a victim's data, system or device inaccessible. It locks the target or encrypts it (converting text into an unreadable form)… Read more »
January 12
Africa: The Solar Boom Has a Dirty Secret. Here's How to Avoid Another Mountain of Waste That Can't Be Recycled
Solar power has a dark side: panels are still built to be thrown away, and we risk creating a mountain of waste that locks away valuable minerals. Read more »
January 18
Africa: Africa's Human Rights Institutions Are Electing Leaders. Why This Matters
Member states of the African Union (AU) will hold their most consequential election of the year in February 2026, to fill ten vacancies in continental human rights institutions. Read more »
January 14
East Africa: Another War in the Horn of Africa Would Be Disastrous for One of the World's Most Repressed Nations
The geopolitical temperature is rising in the Red Sea. Read more »
The Conversation Africa (Johannesburg)
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