April 08
Africa: Global Trade in Wild Birds Is Poorly Monitored - the Risks to Wildlife, Ecosystems and Human Health
Birds have, for centuries, been captured from the wild to be kept in cages - valued for their looks, songs and ability to imitate sounds. Data compiled by the Convention on… Read more »
Africa: Credit and Credibility - Rating Agency Errors Come With a Cost
The rating agency S&P Global's Africa Credit Rating Trends 2025 reviews the past year's rating activities and analyses the continent's prospects for 2026. It is an important… Read more »
March 31
Africa: Artemis II's Long Countdown - a Space Historian Explains Why It Has Taken Over 50 Years to Return to the Moon
While I was leading a tour of the National Air and Space Museum in January 2026, a visitor posed this insightful question: "Why has it taken so long to return to the Moon?" Read more »
April 07
Africa: Planting Trees to Remove Carbon Can Harm the Environment - or Protect It - Study Highlights Trade-Offs
Global efforts to limit climate change require deep cuts to carbon emissions. However, global emissions are still growing. Currently, we emit roughly 42 billion tonnes of carbon… Read more »
April 06
Africa: Should Wildlife Parks Be Fenced? We Studied 60 African Examples for an Answer
Fences are among conservation's most controversial interventions. Read more »
April 01
Africa: EU 'Return Hubs' - What Are They, and How Will They Change the Rights of Migrants and Asylum Seekers?
The EU is in the process of creating a new system that will make it easier to return irregularly present migrants to their country of origin. The legislation, known as the Returns… Read more »
Africa: Superbugs On Your Plate - How Antimicrobial Resistance Spreads Through Food
From the moment raw ingredients are harvested to when you cook and eat a meal, an invisible process is taking place: the growth of antimicrobial resistance. This happens when… Read more »
Africa: Iran War - What African Countries Can Do to Get Through the Crisis and Emerge in a Better Place
By Easter 2026 it was still not clear when - or how - the war initiated by Israel and the US against Iran would end. But what was already clear was that it would harm Africa in a… Read more »
Africa: Insects in the Tropics Are Already Near Their Heat Limits - Climate Change Could Push Many Beyond Survival
Insects make up to 90% of all animal species on the planet, and most of them can be found in the tropics, the regions around the equator. Yet we still know surprisingly little… Read more »
March 30
Africa: Africa's Electric Motorbike Future Can Be Built Locally and Powered By Solar - Our 6,000km Ride Shows What's Possible
Across much of Africa, motorcycles are not leisure vehicles. They are workhorses. They carry commuters, schoolchildren, goods, medicines and deliveries. For millions of people,… Read more »
Africa: China Is Helping Build Africa's Cities, but Its Approach Sidelines Local Urban Planners and Residents
As African cities experience some of the fastest urban growth rates in the world, China has become a major bilateral financier for urban infrastructure. Read more »
March 26
Africa: Mosquitoes Carrying Malaria Are Evolving More Quickly Than Insecticides Can Kill Them - Researchers Pinpoint How
The fight against infectious disease is a race against evolution. Bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. Viruses adapt to spread more quickly. Diseases transmitted by insects… Read more »
March 29
Africa: Handpumps Bring Water to Rural African Communities, but Many Are Broken - Study Models How Best to Maintain Them
In rural sub-Saharan Africa, access to clean drinking water often depends on a simple technology: the handpump. Read more »
Africa: AI-Driven Border Surveillance Is Spreading Across West Africa. What This Means for Migrants' Rights
West Africa as a region has long had one of the most mobile populations in the world. Since 1979, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has allowed citizens of its… Read more »
Africa: Development Finance in Africa - Economist Explains How Private Savings Could Be Unlocked
Africa holds abundant private savings, but much of it remains informal. As a result, its contribution to development financing is limited. Read more »
March 26
Africa: Could This Energy Crisis Be Worse for the Global Economy Than Covid?
Despite reports of negotiations between the US and the Iranian regime, the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to most oil tankers, with only a small number of vessels… Read more »
March 24
Africa: The World's Waste Mountain Is Rising At an Alarming Rate
The world is struggling to deal with ever-growing quantities of waste. Read more »
March 26
Africa: The Transatlantic Slave Trade Is the Gravest Crime Against Humanity - Why the UN Declaration Matters
The resolution passed by United Nations General Assembly on 25 May 2026 seeking recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as the "gravest crime against humanity" potentially… Read more »
March 25
Africa: Heatwaves Will Be Worst for Rural Parts of Africa - New Model Shows Tens of Millions Face Dangerous Warming By 2100
Ask people where heatwaves hit hardest and most will probably say cities, which trap heat in concrete and metal and generate warmth from traffic and industry. Read more »
March 24
Africa: A Host Nation At War With a Participant - Uncertainty and Tension Swirl Around Soccer's World Cup
On March 11, Iranian Sports Minister Ahmad Donyamali announced he saw "no possibility" of the country's men's national soccer team taking part in the World Cup scheduled for North… Read more »
March 25
Africa: A Connection to Nature Fuels Well-Being Worldwide, According to a Study of 38,000 People
When life feels overwhelming, many people instinctively turn to nature. A walk in a park. Sitting by the ocean. Watching a sunset. Is this just a pleasant feeling, or is there… Read more »
March 22
Africa: A Million New Spacex Satellites Will Destroy the Night Sky - for Everyone On Earth
More than 10,000 Starlink satellites currently orbit the Earth. We see them crawling across dark skies, no matter how remote our location, and streaking through images from… Read more »
March 24
Africa: Dengue Fever Is a Growing Problem - Why It's So Hard to Beat With Vaccines
Dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, affects millions of people every year across Asia, Africa and Latin America. And it's expanding geographically as warmer temperatures and urban… Read more »
Africa: Africa Needs to Fight for a Better Deal On World Trade Rules - It Should Lead the Charge On These 3 Priorities At This Week's WTO Meeting
African countries face many trade barriers today. Wealthier countries subsidise their farmers, making African agricultural exports less competitive. Global trade rules promise… Read more »
March 23
Africa: What Is 'Air Hunger'? and Can It Be Treated?
Can you hold your breath until you're almost bursting to take another breath in? This urgent feeling that you need to get more air is called "air hunger". Read more »
