November 09, 2023
South Africa: Tourists Are Returning to South Africa - but the Sector Will Need to Go Green to Deal With the Country's Electricity Crisis
For the past 16 years South Africans have dreaded rolling power cuts euphemistically dubbed "loadshedding". These are caused by the ailing state power entity Eskom's crumbling… Read more »
November 08, 2023
Nigeria: Concrete Versus Asphalt for Nigeria's Roads - Which Is Better?
Nigeria's new works minister, David Umahi, is pushing for the use of rigid pavement in road construction, as against the flexible pavement predominantly in use. This, as the… Read more »
November 02, 2023
Ethiopia: Whose Job Will AI Replace? Here's Why a Clerk in Ethiopia Has More to Fear Than One in California
Artificial intelligence is changing the world - and one of the main areas it will affect in the short-to-medium term is the workforce. Read more »
Africa: Social Media Content in Times of War - An Expert Guide On How to Keep Violence Off Your Feeds
Social media platforms are a great source of information and entertainment. They also help us to maintain contact with friends and family. But social media can also - and has,… Read more »
November 01, 2023
South Africa: South Africa's Medium-Term Budget Reflects Difficult and Contested Decisions
The medium-term budget policy statement presented by South Africa's finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, to parliament on 1 November 2023 is intended to provide a preview of… Read more »
October 31, 2023
South Africa: South Africa Power Outages - Some Improvement but a Long Way to Go Before the Grid Is Stable
Over the past few months, South Africa's power generation sector has performed better than expected. Four factors explain this: an acceleration of solar power installations, less… Read more »
October 30, 2023
Nigeria: Niger Delta Is Rich in Resources, but Environmental Destruction Is Pushing People Into Poverty
Nigeria's Niger Delta region is rich in natural resources. Its vast oil and gas deposits are the mainstay of the country's economy. Read more »
October 29, 2023
Africa: AGOA Trade Deal Talks - South Africa Will Need to Carefully Manage Relations With U.S., China
South Africa must tread carefully in its economic relationships to avoid being caught in the escalating tension between east and west, and more specifically China and the US. The… Read more »
October 25, 2023
Africa: Men Say They Are Spending More Time On Household Chores, and Would Like to Do More
Women perform between three and seven times more caregiving tasks than men in the global south. These include household domestic work and largely focus on caring for children. Read more »
October 23, 2023
Africa: How Much Time Do Kids Spend On Devices - Playing Games, Watching Videos, Texting and Using the Phone?
Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you'd like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Read more »
October 24, 2023
Africa: In Times of War, Digital Activism Has Power. Here's How to Engage Responsibly
As armed conflict continues to play out in the Israel-Gaza war, a separate battle is raging to control the narrative being presented to the world. Read more »
October 17, 2023
South Africa: South Africa's 2022 Census - Has Johannesburg Stopped Growing, or Are the Numbers Wrong?
South Africa's census is a vital source of information for policy making, planning and research, and so the Census 2022 findings released last week were eagerly awaited. It offers… Read more »
October 16, 2023
Africa: The World Bank and the IMF Need to Keep Reforming to Become Fit for Purpose
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are being challenged to make substantial reforms so that they become fit for purpose in the 21st century. Read more »
Africa: Traditional Farming Knowledge Should Be Stored for Future Use
Indigenous knowledge and traditional practices have played a critical role in development all over the world. For centuries, various disciplines ranging from medicine to… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya's Cost of Living Crisis - Expert Unpacks What's Driving It and What Should Be Done
Kenyans are grappling with the high cost of living. Policy analyst Adan Shibia led a technical team that prepared a recent report on the state of Kenya's economy. We asked him to… Read more »
October 15, 2023
Nigeria: Nigeria Wants to Revamp Its Railway Network. Four Things It Needs to Do to Succeed
Nigeria's railway network serves only a small portion of the country. The country is 923,770km², with a railway network of 3,505km colonial narrow gauge and 669km modern… Read more »
October 13, 2023
Africa: Inequality - Troubling Trends and Why Economic Growth in Africa Is Key to Reducing Global Disparities
Inequality remains on the top of the policy priority list for most countries in the world. Branko Milanovic, a leading scholar on inequality, recently delivered a lecture titled… Read more »
October 11, 2023
South Africa: Male Domestic Workers in South Africa - Study Sheds Light On the Experiences of Malawian and Zimbabwean Migrants
An estimated 800,000 people work as domestic workers in South Africa. Most are black women from marginalised backgrounds. It's therefore not surprising that the bulk of the… Read more »
October 10, 2023
Africa: Battling to Make Ends Meet? Financial Planning Expert Offers 5 Tips On How to Build Your Budget
Every day seems to bring new headlines about rising costs. In Nigeria, unions are threatening to strike amid soaring fuel prices; the country's inflation rate hit 25% in August.… Read more »
October 05, 2023
Africa: Cautious Welcome - World Bank and IMF Return to Africa, but Questions Remain
The annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) are due to take place in Marrakech, Morocco, in mid-October. The city and country are still reeling from… Read more »
October 04, 2023
West Africa: Cocoa Prices Surge - West Africa Should Negotiate Better Deal for Farmers
The global price of cocoa is spiking, a direct response to dwindling cocoa output in West Africa. In September, cocoa futures reached a 44-year price peak due to mounting concerns… Read more »
October 02, 2023
Nigeria: Nigeria's Blue Economy Ministry to Harness Marine Resources
Nigeria's President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced a new ministerial portfolio in August: Marine and Blue Economy. This was welcome news as it renewed hope for economic development… Read more »
September 28, 2023
Zimbabwe: Zimbabweans Divided on China's Influence
China has big ambitions in Africa. Between 2000 and 2020, the economic superpower loaned African governments US$159 billion to build railroads, highways, stadiums and bridges. Read more »
September 27, 2023
Nigeria: Lagos Building Collapses - We Used Machine Learning to Show Where and Why They Happen
Building collapses have become a major menace in Lagos, Nigeria. Lagos is the business hub of the country and has its largest seaport and airport. With an estimated population of… Read more »
September 19, 2023
Africa: Chatbots for Medical Advice - Three Ways to Avoid Misleading Information
We expect medical professionals to give us reliable information about ourselves and potential treatments so that we can make informed decisions about which (if any) medicine or… Read more »