Africa: African Debt and Climate Change - How the ICJ's Vanuatu Ruling Could Be Used for Broader Justice

African sovereign debtors in distress face terrible choices. They are often forced to choose between fully paying their creditors and financing the needs of their populations -… Read more »

Chad: What Makes Lake Iro in Chad So Special? It's Not Just a Viral Sunglint Photo

Lake Iro in Chad was in the news in early August 2025 after a picture taken by a NASA astronaut was published showing it looking like a large, circular silver mirror as sunlight… Read more »

Africa: African Women Have Less Access to the Internet Than Men - Solutions the G20 Can Champion

Across Africa, women have less access to the internet than men. In Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania only 15%-28% of women own smartphones. Tinuade Adekunbi Ojo is a feminist… Read more »

Kenya: Christians and the British Empire - How a Church NGO Got Entangled in Colonial Violence in Kenya

In the 1950s, Kenyans fought against colonial control in what came to be known as the Mau Mau rebellion. In response, the British government announced a state of emergency in 1952… Read more »

South Africa: South Africa's New Climate Targets - Balancing Ambition With the Realities of Coal and Climate Finance

South Africa has scaled back its ambitions to cut down on the greenhouse emissions that come from burning fossil fuels and which cause global warming. Read more »

Namibia: Namibia Celebrates Independence Heroes, but Glosses Over a Painful History

Namibia celebrates 26 August as Heroes' Day. It recalls the first military encounter between the South African army and members of the South West Africa People's Organisation… Read more »

Senegal: Sex Workers in Colonial Senegal Were Policed By France - Book Explores a Racist History

Desiring Whiteness is an award-winning book by historian Caroline Séquin. It explores the intertwined histories of commercial sex work and racial politics in France and the… Read more »

South Africa: Climate Disasters Are Escalating - 6 Ways South Africa's G20 Presidency Can Lead Urgent Action

South Africa currently holds the presidency of the G20 - the group of 19 of the world's largest economies and the African Union. It has set up a Disaster Risk Reduction Working… Read more »

South Africa: South Africa's Sewage Crisis - Official Reports Don't Include Millions of Litres of Leaking Wastewater

Wastewater is the water we flush down our toilets, send down the drain from our showers and sinks or discharge from factories. It's supposed to travel through intact pipes to be… Read more »

Gambia: The Gambia's New Constitution Has Stalled Again - 5 Reasons Why and What That Means for Democracy

The Gambia's post-dictatorship democratic transition recently suffered a setback. The Constitution of the Republic of The Gambia (Promulgation) Bill, 2024 failed to pass its second… Read more »

South Africa: Data That Is Stored and Not Used Has a Carbon Footprint. How Companies Can Manage Dark Data Better

In today's world, huge amounts of data are being created all the time, yet more than half of it is never used. It stays in silos, or isn't managed, or can't be accessed because… Read more »

Ethiopia: 250,000 Ethiopians Migrate Every Year - What Drives Them and What Needs to Change

Migration is increasingly replacing the traditional, education-focused life paths that shaped previous generations in Ethiopia. In the past, becoming a civil servant after… Read more »

South Africa: Plastic Microbeads - Great in Your Face Wash, Bad in Your Food - How South Africa's Ban Can Work Better

Imagine a perfectly round, plastic ball smaller than a pinhead. That's what a microbead is. They've been included in facial scrubs, toothpaste, household cleaners and other… Read more »

Madagascar: Our Primate Ancestors Evolved in the Cold - Not the Tropics

Most people imagine our early primate ancestors swinging through lush tropical forests. But new research shows that they were braving the cold. Read more »

Africa: Wildfire Disasters Are Increasingly in the News, Yet Less Land Is Burning Globally - Here's Why

Worldwide, an estimated 440 million people were exposed to a wildfire encroaching on their home at some point between 2002 and 2021, new research shows. That's roughly equivalent… Read more »

South Africa: Grandparenting From a Distance - What's Lost When Families Are Separated, and How to Bridge the Gap

Becoming a grandparent is often envisioned as a deeply intimate, hands-on journey, holding a newborn, sharing first smiles, witnessing the first wobbly steps. It is traditionally… Read more »

Nigeria: How Nollywood Films Help Kenyan Housemaids Make Sense of Their Lives

Nollywood, Nigeria's prolific video-film industry, has been popular in Kenya since it was introduced to east Africa at around the turn of the century. Read more »

Africa: Enslaved Africans, an Uprising and an Ancient Farming System in Iraq - Study Sheds Light On Timelines

Written accounts tell the story of the Zanj rebellion - a slave revolt that took place in the late 9th century in southern Iraq. Some of the rebels were enslaved Africans working… Read more »

South Africa: Wheelchair Basketball - What Can Be Learned From a South African Athlete's Journey to France

Wheelchair basketball is one of the fastest-growing Para sports in the world. Over 100,000 athletes compete in national and international competitions and at the Paralympic Games… Read more »

Africa: 2 in 3 Africans Will Live in Cities By 2050 - How Planners Can Put This to Good Use

Africa's population is projected to nearly double by 2050, with 80% of that growth being concentrated in urban areas, leaving two out of three Africans living in cities. This… Read more »

South Africa: Most Air Cleaning Devices Have Not Been Tested On People - and Little Is Known About Their Potential Harms, New Study Finds

Portable air cleaners aimed at curbing indoor spread of infections are rarely tested for how well they protect people - and very few studies evaluate their potentially harmful… Read more »

Africa: Plastics - All Around Us and Inside Us

Plastic is one of the most remarkable materials ever created. It's cheap, lightweight and endlessly versatile. It can be shaped into anything from shopping bags to lifesaving tools… Read more »

Africa: African Migration - 5 Trends and What's Driving Them

The Donald Trump administration issued an executive order in June 2025 banning nationals from 12 countries from travelling to the United States. It also imposed entry restrictions… Read more »

Nigeria: Nigeria's Public Spaces Neglect the Country's Rich Cultural Traditions - Why This Matters

Open spaces such as parks, gardens and public squares play an important role in city life. They offer places where people can relax, meet others, and take part in community… Read more »

Africa: Elite Schools in South Africa - How Quiet Gatekeeping Keeps Racial Patterns in Place

In South Africa, children's admission to a particular public school is decided by province. Each provincial education department manages its own digital admissions system. The… Read more »