May 06
Africa: U.S.-Africa Trade Deal Turns 25 Next Year - Agoa's Winners, Losers and What Should Come Next
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) is a landmark piece of trade legislation enacted by the United States in 2000. Its goal is to promote economic growth, development and… Read more »
South Africa: Caesarean Births - South Africa's Rates Are Too High - They Can Be Dangerous for Mothers and Babies
A caesarean section is an important surgical intervention that can save the lives of mother and baby. Caesarean sections are essential in complicated labours such as prolonged or… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya's Public Universities - Financing Model Overhaul Fails to Address Biggest Challenge - Funding
Kenya adopted a new approach to public university funding beginning with the 2023-24 academic year. Rapid student enrolment growth and declining state revenues have triggered the… Read more »
South Africa: South African Elections - Research Explores How Disillusioned ANC Supporters Might Use Their Vote
The African National Congress (ANC) has been in power since South Africa became a democracy in 1994. The party has been electorally dominant since then, reaching a peak of 69.7% of… Read more »
May 05
Nigeria: Nigeria's Minimum Wage Has Never Protected Workers From Poverty - Here's Why
Wages have become the top issue for Nigeria's organised labour movements in the past year. Reacting to recent increases in the cost of living, the labour movement has been calling… Read more »
Africa: African Countries Can't Resolve Their Debt Crisis Under a System Rigged Against Them
The debt situation in many African countries has escalated again to a critical juncture. Twenty are in, or at risk of, debt distress. Read more »
May 03
South Africa: South Africa's National Student Financial Aid Scheme Has Helped Millions but Is in Trouble - Here's Why
The board of South Africa's National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has been dissolved by the country's higher education and training minister, Blade Nzimande, and the… Read more »
Egypt: The Ancient Egyptian Goddess of the Sky and How I Used Modern Astronomy to Explore Her Link With the Milky Way
What did our ancestors think when they looked up at the night sky? All cultures ascribed special meaning to the Sun and the Moon, but what about the pearly band of light and shadow… Read more »
Africa: Hadeda Ibises' 'Sixth Sense' Works Best in Wet Soil
Hadeda ibises (Bostrychia hagedash) are one of the most familiar species of birds across sub-Saharan Africa. They are large, long-legged birds with long, thin beaks for probing… Read more »
South Africa: What's the Job of a Company Chair? South Africa's Rules Aren't Clear and Need Fixing
Historically, the chair of the board of directors filled a procedural and ceremonial role. This was a low bar focusing on the chair's role in meetings. Read more »
May 02
Africa: Lessons From Covid-19 - Preparing for Future Pandemics Means Looking Beyond the Health Data
The World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 5, 2023. In the year since, only two provinces -- Alberta and Ontario -- have published… Read more »
Africa: The Challenges African Election Bodies Face Go Beyond 'Democratic Backsliding' - Analysis
Election management bodies are essential democratic institutions. To deliver national polls effectively, they need to be properly resourced, impartial and free from government or… Read more »
South Africa: South Africans Are Abandoning Smallholder Farming - History and Policy Can Help Explain Why
South African smallholders are abandoning farming. The decline in field cultivation is a problem, since many of these smallholder households struggle to make ends meet. If people… Read more »
South Africa: Great White Sharks Off South Africa's Coast Are Protected By Law, but Not in Practice. Why This Needs to Change
In less than eight years, white sharks in South Africa have all but disappeared from their historical hotspots in False Bay and Gansbaai, on the Western Cape coast. These areas… Read more »
Africa: Personalised mRNA Vaccines - a Revolutionary New Approach in Melanoma Treatment
A personalised mRNA vaccine to treat melanoma has now reached late-stage trials in the UK. This is just the latest step in improving the cure rate of cancer. Read more »
May 01
Malawi: Electricity From Farm Waste - How Biogas Could Help Malawians With No Power
In sub-Saharan Africa, over 600 million people (more than 50% of the population) are without access to electricity. Malawi has one of the world's lowest electricity access rates -… Read more »
Africa: The Covid-19 Pandemic Changed Our Patterns and Behaviours, Which in Turn Affected Wildlife
The Earth now supports over eight billion people who collectively have transformed three-quarters of the planet's land surface for food, energy, shelter and other aspects of the… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Media Have Done Good Work With 30 Years of Freedom but Need More Diversity
In 1992, two years before the end of apartheid, Nelson Mandela bemoaned the state of South Africa's print media. He said the media's domination by middle class males from the… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya's Devastating Floods Expose Decades of Poor Urban Planning and Bad Land Management
Floods in Kenya killed at least 169 people between March and April 2024. The most catastrophic of these deaths occurred after a flash flood swept through a rural village killing 42… Read more »
Africa: Cassava - the Perilous Past and Promising Future of a Toxic but Nourishing Crop
The three staple crops dominating modern diets - corn, rice and wheat - are familiar to Americans. However, fourth place is held by a dark horse: cassava. Read more »
April 30
Togo: Togo Has Adopted Major Constitutional Changes to Give Parliament More Power - How It Will Work
On 25 March 2024, Togo adopted a new constitution that transforms its presidential system into a parliamentary one. Under this new system, parliament has the authority to elect the… Read more »
Africa: Jobs for Young Africans - New Data Tool Reveals Trends and Red Flags
An estimated 23.6 million young Africans (aged 15-35) are unemployed - that's one in 22 (4.5%). With this number projected to grow to 27 million by 2030, the need for jobs is… Read more »
Uganda: Business and Management Graduates Can Become Climate Change and Sustainability Champions - Lessons From Uganda and Tanzania On How Universities Can Support This
There is no doubt about it: the world is in the grips of a climate crisis. The headlines are full of reports about extreme weather events and the negative effects of the fossil… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Lemba People - How They View Their Jewishness Challenges Zionist Ideas That Identity Is Linked to One Homeland
A man wearing a yarmulke stands on the edge of a hill, quietly taking in the landscape below as he considers his ancestors and their histories in this place. This isn't Israel. It… Read more »
April 29
South Africa: How the Mandela Myth Helped Win the Battle for Democracy in South Africa
Political history scholar Jonny Steinberg's 2023 book Winnie & Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage is a double biography of South Africa's most famous political figures - Nelson… Read more »