Africa: Chinese Companies Are Changing the Way They Operate in Africa - Here's How

For most of the past 25 years, Chinese construction companies operating in Africa could count on generous financial backing from Chinese banks. Between 2000 and 2019, Chinese… Read more »

South Africa: Male Circumcision Is Made Easier By a Clever South African Invention - We Trained Healthcare Workers to Use It

Voluntary medical male circumcision is one of the most important ways to reduce new HIV infections. The foreskin contains receptors that the HIV virus can attach to, and removing… Read more »

South Africa: South Africans Are Going Off the Service Grid - What Happens When Citizens Replace the State?

South Africa's constitution promises all citizens access to adequate housing and basic services - water, security, sanitation and electricity. In practice, people from rich to poor… Read more »

Africa: African Countries Gear Up for Major Push On Climate Innovation, Climate Financing and Climate Change Laws

The Second Africa Climate Summit, held in Ethiopia in September 2025, drew more than 25,000 people - from presidents and ministers to farmers, activists, business leaders and… Read more »

Nigeria: Vaccines and Motherhood - Are AI Generated Health Messages Working in Kenya and Nigeria?

Picture this: an artificial intelligence (AI) system creates a bright, youth-focused social media post for young Kenyans, complete with local slang and the phrase "YOUNG, LIT, AND… Read more »

Tanzania: Tanzania's Green Gold Rush - How Avocado Waste Is Hurting Farmers and What Should Be Done

Avocados have been grown in Tanzania since the early 1890s. The global appetite for the creamy fruit, also known as green gold, is booming. The industry's market value was over… Read more »

Africa: Dams for Development? Unpacking Tensions in the World Bank's Hydropower Policies

Dams have been emblematic of the World Bank's approach to development for many decades. From the bank's early years in the 1960s and 1970s, large-scale infrastructure projects such… Read more »

South Africa: Museum in a Box - On the Road With South Africa's Heritage

Museums are usually in cities. So, where transport is poor and it's expensive to travel, many people can't visit them. We decided to experiment with a way of getting around the… Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria At 65 - a Long Road to Economic Freedom

Nigeria turns 65 on 1 October 2025, having obtained independence from Britain on 1 October 1960. Read more »

South Africa: Will the G20 Listen to Its Own Advisors? 4 Urgent Steps On Climate Change

The world's 20 most powerful economies, the G20 - currently led by South Africa - face mounting pressure to slash greenhouse gas emissions and help nations adapt to climate change.… Read more »

Africa: Africa's Borrowing Costs Are Too High - the G20's Missed Opportunity to Reform Rating Agencies

One of the commitments the South African presidency of the G20 made in its policy priorities document at the beginning of 2025 was to push for fairer, more transparent sovereign… Read more »

Nigeria: One in Two Nigerians Live in Poverty - Why Relief Programmes Have Failed

Poverty in Nigeria has reached critical levels, recent data shows. About 31% of Nigerians lived in poverty prior to the COVID-19 epidemic. Since then, an additional 42 million have… Read more »

Africa: G20 in a Changing World - Is It Still Useful? Four Scholars Weigh in

US president Donald Trump's address to the annual gathering of the United Nations general assembly in late September 2025 set a new low in international relations. Trump delivered… Read more »

Egypt: Trump's Dip Into the Nile Waters Dispute Didn't Settle the Conflict - in Fact, It May Have Caused More Ripples

President Donald Trump chided the United Nations on Sept. 23, 2025, for failing to resolve dangerous international conflicts around the world. "All they seem to do," he groused… Read more »

Africa: AI in Africa - 5 Issues That Must Be Tackled for Digital Equality

If it's steered correctly, artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to accelerate development. It can drive breakthroughs in agriculture. It can expand access to healthcare… Read more »

Africa: Graduated, Now What? Survey of Young Africans Shows Degrees Don't Always Land Them a Job

Study hard, get your degree, and then step confidently into a stable, well-paid job. That's long been the assumption about how to secure a livelihood: in neat, predictable stages.… Read more »

Africa: Economic Sanctions Need a Rethink - Evidence Shows They Raise Food Prices and Hurt the Poor Most

Economic sanctions are widely viewed by academics and policymakers as a better alternative to military interventions to pressure governments to change objectionable policies. The… Read more »

South Africa: Deepfakes and South African Law - Remedies On Paper, Gaps in Practice

Deepfakes are forgeries of people's faces, voices and likeness generated through artificial intelligence (AI). They create a serious digital deception. Deepfakes undermine… Read more »

Ethiopia: Ethiopia's Two Bids At Democracy Have Failed - What It Will Take to Succeed

Ethiopia has attempted to transition to democracy twice. First in 1991, when a new government overthrew a dictatorial military regime. Second in 2018, when Abiy Ahmed took over as… Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria Scores Well On Electricity Reform Rankings, but Power Supply Isn't Affordable and Reliable. Here's Why

Nigeria's electricity sector remains fragile. About 85 million Nigerians (43% of the population) lack access to grid electricity. This is one of the biggest energy access gaps in… Read more »

South Africa: One in Three South Africans Have Never Heard of AI - What This Means for Policy

Artificial intelligence or AI uses computers to perform tasks that would normally have needed human intelligence. Today AI is being put to use in many aspects of everyday life,… Read more »

Cameroon: Cameroon Could Be Turning Waste to Energy - Study Uncovers Why It's Not, and Sets Out Solutions

Many African cities still struggle with litter and garbage that is not properly disposed of. This poses serious public health risks. It attracts vectors of disease like mosquitoes… Read more »

Africa: Regulating AI Use Could Stop Its Runaway Energy Expansion

Generative AI promises to help solve everything from climate change to poverty. But behind every chatbot response lies a deep environmental cost. Read more »

Africa: Inequality in Africa - What Drives It, How to End It and What Some Countries Are Getting Right

The relationship between inequality and economic growth is a complex one, especially in Africa. Inequality is the result of a host of factors, including policy choices,… Read more »

Angola: Angolans Are Fed Up With Broken Promises - Why the Ruling MPLA Keeps Stalling Local Elections

Weeks of protests in July 2025 in Angola left 30 dead and hundreds imprisoned. Sparked by a hike in fuel prices, the outcome of a governmental effort to reduce subsidies, the… Read more »