May 05, 2023
East Africa: Sudan Conflict Will Have a Ripple Effect in an Unstable Region - and Across the World
Sudan, Africa's third largest country by land mass, shares borders with seven countries in an unstable region. This means that Sudan's current conflict will have economic, social… Read more »
May 04, 2023
Nigeria: Nigeria's Fuel Subsidy - It's Time to Kill It and Spend the Money in Ways That Benefit the Poor
Nigerians are being hit from all sides by a combination of factors that are making their lives increasingly difficult. These include rising cost of living which is reflected in… Read more »
Africa: Working in an Office Can Harm Your Health - Depending On Where It Is and the Length of Your Commute
In the past year, a growing number of companies have asked employees to return to the office either full- or part-time after years of pandemic-induced remote working. While this is… Read more »
May 03, 2023
South Africa: 47% of South Africans Use Social Grants to Generate More Income - Study
South Africa has one of the world's most expansive social grant system: 47% of the population relies on a monthly grant. Of these, 18 million are permanent beneficiaries and about… Read more »
May 01, 2023
Africa: Generative AI Is Forcing People to Rethink What It Means to Be Authentic
It turns out that pop stars Drake and The Weeknd didn't suddenly drop a new track that went viral on TikTok and YouTube in April 2023. The photograph that won an international… Read more »
April 24, 2023
Africa: Much Wow, Very Meme - What the Revival of the Ancient Doge Meme Tells Us About the Lifecycle of the Internet
In early April, when Elon Musk randomly and very briefly replaced the Twitter bird logo with the face of the "doge" meme, the value of the dogecoin both rose and fell by a matter… Read more »
May 02, 2023
Nigeria: Nigeria and Digital Banking - a Revolution Still Waiting to Happen
At the end of 2022 the Central Bank of Nigeria launched new banknotes. At the same time it also capped withdrawal of the new banknotes. The rollout of the currency change was… Read more »
April 27, 2023
Africa: Why Menstrual Leave Could Be Bad for Women
Spain recently adopted a menstrual leave policy, which makes additional (paid or unpaid) days off work available to "only and all cisgender women". Read more »
May 01, 2023
South Africa: Power Cuts and Food Safety - How to Avoid Illness During Loadshedding
South Africa has been grappling with power cuts for 15 years, which have worsened in recent years. The persistent power outages have disrupted every facet of life, including food… Read more »
Libya: Libya Lost, Then Found, 2.5 Tonnes of Uranium - a Red Flag for Nuclear Safety
Earlier this year the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi reported that about 2.5 tonnes of uranium ore concentrate had gone missing from a site in… Read more »
April 30, 2023
Africa: Child Labour On Farms in Africa - It's Important to Make a Distinction Between What's Harmful, and What Isn't
Children across the vast expanse of rural Africa hoe, dig, plant, carry, tend livestock, cook, scrub, care for their siblings, and undertake many other farm and domestic tasks.… Read more »
South Africa: Health Workers Cope With a Huge Amount of Stress - How to Build a Resilient Health System in South Africa
Popular and academic literature is replete with examples of how to cope with daily stresses. Mental health professions have also long researched and implemented strategies to deal… Read more »
April 26, 2023
Sudan: Sudan's Conflict Has Its Roots in Three Decades of Elites Fighting Over Oil and Energy
Sudan stands on the brink of yet another civil war sparked by the deadly confrontation between the Sudan Armed Forces of General Abdelfatah El-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces… Read more »
April 24, 2023
Africa: The Dirty Truth About Your Phone - And Why You Need to Stop Scrolling in the Bathroom
We carry them everywhere, take them to bed, to the bathroom and for many people they're the first thing they see in the morning - more than 90% of the world owns or uses a mobile… Read more »
April 19, 2023
Africa: Generative AI - 5 Essential Reads About the New Era of Creativity, Job Anxiety, Misinformation, Bias and Plagiarism
The light and dark sides of AI have been in the public spotlight for many years. Think facial recognition, algorithms making loan and sentencing recommendations, and medical image… Read more »
April 18, 2023
South Africa: South Africa's Power Outages Could Reach Critical Levels This Winter - Likely Scenarios
Over the past 15 years South Africa has been experiencing a gradually worsening number of electricity cuts. This state of affairs has prompted frustration among citizens, negative… Read more »
April 17, 2023
Africa: Debt Dangers in Africa - How Defaults Hurt People, and Why Forgiveness Isn't the Answer
Public debt repayments in some African countries are at their highest levels since 1998. The Conversation Africa's founding editor Caroline Southey talks to dean and economics… Read more »
April 16, 2023
Ghana: Ghana's Fishing Industry Has a 'Golden Seaweed' Problem - How Citizen Science Can Help
Sargassum is a genus of brown seaweed. Over 300 species are distributed across the world in both temperate and tropical climates. The species fluitans and natans are unique because… Read more »
April 12, 2023
Ethiopia: Community Health Workers in Ethiopia Set Out to Promote Health
Ethiopia has made significant progress in supporting gender equality and girls' empowerment. Rates of child marriage and teenage pregnancy have decreased substantially. Access to… Read more »
April 10, 2023
Africa: Energy Sector Will Need to Transform Radically - These Are the Five Biggest Challenges
The future of Africa's energy sector is getting increasing attention from policymakers and the private sector. As demand for energy rises, current energy systems must grow rapidly… Read more »
April 05, 2023
South Africa: Astronomers Used Machine Learning to Mine Data From South Africa's Meerkat Telescope - What They Found
New telescopes with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution are being unveiled around the world - and beyond. Among them are the Giant Magellan Telescope under construction in… Read more »
Africa: Several African Countries Have a Shortage of U.S. Dollars - Why This Happens and How to Fix It
A number of African countries, including Kenya, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana and Zambia, are currently experiencing shortages of US dollars. The dollar is the dominant currency… Read more »
April 04, 2023
South Africa: Green Energy - South Africa's Transition Must Avoid Deepening Inequality
Since the UN Climate Change Agreement was signed by 196 nations in December 2015, many countries have announced policies to reduce their fossil fuel emissions. Read more »
April 02, 2023
South Africa: One in Five Households Begs for Food - The Link Between Food Insecurity and Mental Health
At least ten million South Africans didn't have enough food or money to buy food in 2019, according to the country's statistics agency. This food insecurity remains a leading… Read more »
March 29, 2023
Africa: Industries Can Harm Health in Many Ways - Here Are 3 That Aren't So Obvious
A recent ground-breaking series of reports in the science journal The Lancet unpacks what commercial determinants of health are, and how they affect public health. It uses a new,… Read more »