February 22
Africa: Africa's Public Finances Are in a Mess - a New Book Explains Why and What to Do
Public finance, or how governments at all levels raise and allocate money, is in evidence everywhere you look. That pothole destroying your car. The health clinic without medicine.… Read more »
February 19
Nigeria: Streetlights in Lagos Can Boost Safety and Grow the Economy. Why Not Everyone Benefits
Nigeria is urbanising at a remarkable speed. Some of the world's fastest growing cities are in the west African country. Read more »
February 18
Ghana: Critical Mineral Mining Faces Risks If Local Communities Aren't Consulted Enough - the Case of Lithium in Ghana
Clean technologies depend on critical minerals such as lithium and cobalt. Over 65% of the world's cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Nearly 40% of the world's… Read more »
Tanzania: Young Tanzanians Are Fed Up With Not Getting a Slice of the Economic Action - Research
When young Tanzanians poured into the streets on 29 October 2025, most observers saw an election protest. Protests in Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Mwanza and other cities were met with… Read more »
February 17
Africa: Too Little, Too Concentrated - Why AI Start-up Funding in Africa Needs Rethinking
One year after the AI Summit in Paris, the international community will meet again this week in New Delhi for the Global Summit on Artificial Intelligence, whose objective will… Read more »
February 16
Kenya: Sand Mining and Kenya's Building Boom - Better Rules Are Needed, but Not From the Top Down
The sun is rising in Kenya's Kajiado county, just outside Nairobi, and a truck is rumbling over dusty ground towards a riverbank. Young men guide the driver to a parking spot and… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa Is Moving Away From Coal - How Mines and Power Stations Could Be Used for Green Energy and Farming
Globally, nearly 7,000 coal mines, more than 2,400 coal-fired power plants and hundreds of coal rail networks, trucks and port terminals all make up the world's coal industry. When… Read more »
February 15
South Africa: Ramaphosa and a Stable Electricity System in South Africa - the Devils Are in the Detail
The strategic significance of the reference to energy reform in South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address cannot be overstated. Read more »
South Africa: Does South Africa Have a Future Without Power Cuts? Ramaphosa Intervenes, but the Drama Isn't Over
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his 2026 State of the Nation address, announced that the country's electricity transmission assets would move out of state-owned Eskom.… Read more »
Africa: Africa's Trade Blocs Were Designed to Unite the Continent - Four Reasons They Haven't Delivered
In a rapidly fracturing world, regional integration could be a source of resilience for the African continent. Read more »
February 10
Africa: Women's Control Over Fertility Is Linked to Education, Money and Digital Access - Study of 16 African Countries
Many married women in sub-Saharan Africa don't have the freedom to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. Global data show that only 37% of women in the region… Read more »
Africa: Taxing Africa's Informal Economies - Technology's Promise and Pitfalls
Changes in the development finance world - especially the sharp drop in foreign aid and fewer cheap loans for low-income countries - have pushed taxation back into the spotlight. Read more »
February 09
South Africa: South Africans Are Leaving the Electricity Network - but Are Solar Mini-Grids a Fair Solution?
South Africa's electricity system is changing. After years of blackouts until 2024, the state-owned energy company Eskom is being unbundled into smaller companies, and the sector… Read more »
February 03
Africa: AI is Coming to Olympic Judging - What Makes It a Game Changer?
As the International Olympic Committee (IOC) embraces AI-assisted judging, this technology promises greater consistency and improved transparency. Yet research suggests that trust,… Read more »
February 08
Africa: Connecting Home Solar and Electric Vehicle Batteries to the Grid Could Boost South Africa's Clean Energy and Strengthen the Electricity System
South Africa has committed to reaching phasing out human-caused carbon pollution by 2050. To get there, it needs to push as much renewable energy as possible into the national… Read more »
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 »
South Africa: We Run Writing Workshops At a South African University - What We've Learnt About How Students Are Using AI and How to Help Them
Much is being said about the wonders of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it is the new frontier. And while it provides amazing possibilities in fields like medicine, academics… Read more »
February 02
Angola: Angola's Lobito Corridor Is Being Revived - but Who Stands to Gain?
The Lobito Corridor is a massive infrastructure axis linking Angola's shore on the west of Africa to the mineral-rich interior. Built in the first three decades of the 1900s to… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria's Open Borders Promised More Trade and Free Movement - but Crossings Are Chaotic and Corrupt
West Africa has pursued one of the world's most ambitious border liberalisation schemes in the past four decades. The Ecowas Free Movement Protocol, signed in 1979, enables… Read more »
February 01
South Africa: What's Stopping Sunny South Africa's Solar Industry? Court Case Sheds Light On the Wider Problem
A South African solar manufacturer, ARTsolar, is taking the government and several renewable energy developers to court. The case focuses on local content rules for renewable… Read more »
Sierra Leone: Freetown's Property Tax Is Designed to Plug Funding Gap - How Sierra Leone's Capital Went About It
Property taxes remain one of the most underperforming sources of revenue for urban development across Africa. One reason is that they are often opposed by the economic elites and… Read more »
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 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 29
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 »
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 »
