May 24, 2023
South Africa: Former CEO's Explosive Book Exposes How State Power Utility Eskom Was Destroyed
One repeated theme of the memoir Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom, by Andre de Ruyter, former CEO of South Africa's troubled power utility, Eskom, is that "negligence… Read more »
May 22, 2023
Africa: New Research Reveals the Bittersweet Truth of Cocoa Farming in Africa's Forests
Chocolate sales have boomed in recent months. As the cost-of-living crisis bites, consumers are increasingly reaching for chocolate as a simple and affordable pleasure. Read more »
Africa: Dangote Launches Africa's Biggest Oil Refinery - 4 Ways It Will Affect Nigeria
Nigeria's new Dangote petroleum refinery is Africa's biggest - it will produce 650,000 barrels a day, giving it the potential to address the country's energy supply crisis. Read more »
May 21, 2023
Africa: Get-Rich-Quick Schemes, Pyramids and Ponzis - Five Signs You're Being Scammed
Consumers are under a lot of financial strain. The World Economic Forum reports that the cost-of-living crisis is affecting people across the globe. With food and fuel prices… Read more »
Africa: Grand Infrastructure Projects Aren't a Magic Bullet for Industrial Development - Insights From Ghana and Kenya
The African Union's flagship Agenda 2063 initiative prioritises large-scale infrastructure development and promises to "link the continent by rail, road, sea and air". Read more »
May 19, 2023
Africa: African Architects Challenge Venice Exhibition to Decolonise and Start New Conversations
Presented since 1979, the Venice Architecture Biennale (La Biennale di Venezia) is possibly the most influential architecture exhibition in the world. For the first time, this… Read more »
May 17, 2023
Ghana: Venice Architecture Biennale - How Pioneering Ghanaian Architects Reckoned With Tropical Modernism
As curator of the 2023 Venice architecture biennale, the Ghanaian-Scottish architect, Lesley Lokko, has chosen to highlight the African continent as "the laboratory of the future". Read more »
May 18, 2023
Africa: U.S. Laws to Promote Home-Grown Industries Will Hurt African Economies
The Biden administration has ratcheted up protectionism and industrial policy amid surging economic tensions with China. Legislation passed in 2022 unlocked hundreds of billions of… Read more »
May 17, 2023
Africa: 91% of Sub-Saharan African Workers Don't Save for Old Age - Why That's a Problem and How to Fix It
Less than 10% of the workers in sub-Saharan Africa save for old age, the lowest rate for any region in the world. That implies most of the breadwinners today won't be able to… Read more »
May 15, 2023
South Africa: Study Shows Networking Skills Boost Job Prospects for Unemployed South African Youth
The fact that more than half of the South African population is under 30 years could be beneficial for the country's economic growth and development. But South Africa has not been… Read more »
May 14, 2023
South Africa: Fear and Loathing in South Africa - Book Examines How Anxiety Plays Out in Everyday Life
Social scientists have shown how freedom in South Africa has lost its meaning for many in the country. Despondency about democracy is on the rise as the promise of prosperity under… Read more »
May 11, 2023
Africa: Our Research Shows Home Working Didn't Harm Mental Health At the Start of the Pandemic - but Things Changed Later On
One of the key changes to our daily lives brought about by the COVID pandemic was, for those able to do so, working from home. According to UK data, almost 60% of people were… Read more »
May 10, 2023
Africa: China's Population Has Peaked and Is Now Falling - Opportunities and Risks for Africa
China will no longer be the world's most populous nation. India's population will overtake it this year at an estimated population of 1.42 billion. Read more »
May 08, 2023
South Africa: Farmers in South Africa Face Power Cuts and a Weak Rand - but a Number of Factors Are Working in Their Favour Too
Winter is an important season for South African agriculture, with some of its key field crops being produced during the cold months of June, July and August, and maturing after… Read more »
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 »