February 21
Africa: 80 Percent of Premature Baby Deaths Happen in Poorer Countries. Five Simple Measures That Can Help Save Them
Worldwide in 2020 a baby died every 40 seconds because of complications of prematurity. Preterm birth is the leading cause of death among children under 5 years old. Read more »
Kenya: Antibiotic Use On Kenya's Dairy Farms Is Putting Consumers and Animals At Risk
Farmers often use antibiotics to keep their livestock healthy. They're sometimes used as "quick fixes", to avoid more costly management measures like regular disinfection, waste… Read more »
Africa: Three Countries Leaving Ecowas Could Face Migration Hurdles
For Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, a recent decision to withdraw from the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has thrown up questions about how they will navigate… Read more »
February 20
South Sudan: South Sudan - Some Spoilers Want Peace to Fail, Putting 2024 Elections At Risk
South Sudan is expected to hold its first general election in December 2024. It became an independent state in 2011. Read more »
Ethiopia: Ethiopia's Peace Pacts With the Oromo Liberation Front Have Failed - Here's What Was Missing
Two attempts have been made over the past six years to broker peace between the Ethiopian government and the armed rebel group Oromo Liberation Front. The armed group was formed… Read more »
Africa: Women in South Africa's Armed Struggle - New Book Records History At First Hand
South Africa's young democracy was a culmination of years of sweat, blood and revolution against the apartheid regime. In the early 1960s, after decades of "non-violence" as a… Read more »
Nigeria: Lagos - Drugs, Firearms and Youth Unemployment Create Lethal Cocktail
Lagos is the most populous city in Africa and a regional economic giant, having west Africa's busiest seaport. It is the centre of commercial and economic activities in Nigeria. Read more »
Africa: Screen Time Doesn't Have to Be Sedentary - 3 Ways It Can Get Kids Moving
There have been concerns about screens making kids more sedentary and less active since TV was introduced more than half a century ago. Read more »
February 19
East Africa: What Are Sabaki Languages? How People Formed Ethnic Groups Along the Coast of East Africa
A new book called Ethnicity, Identity and Conceptualizing Community in Indian Ocean East Africa tracks the history of the coastal communities of east Africa and how the Sabaki… Read more »
Sudan: Sudan Armed Forces Are On a Path to Self-Destruction - Risking State Collapse
It is now 10 months since the outbreak of civil war in Sudan in April 2023, pitting the Sudan Armed Forces against the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group. The war,… Read more »
Zimbabwe: Nervous Conditions - On Translating One of Zimbabwe's Most Famous Novels Into Shona
The publishing journey of Zimbabwean writer and film-maker Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions wasn't easy. Yet the novel is today considered by many as one of Africa's 100… Read more »
Congo-Kinshasa: Expert Explains Why Congolese Anger Against the West Is Justified
Since early February, the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, has been rocked by protests directed against western embassies. Protests took place in front of the… Read more »
February 18
South Africa: HIV Among Older South Africans in Rural Areas - Big Study Shows There's a Problem That's Being Neglected
South Africa continues to have a high prevalence of HIV among all age groups. About 8.2 million people or 13.7% of the population live with HIV, one of the highest rates in the… Read more »
Mali: Slums and Guns in Bamako - What's Driving the Illegal Weapon Trade in Mali's Capital City
As west Africa urbanises, many cities have become interconnected through trade, travel and technology, and crime has increased in complexity and scope. The proliferation of arms in… Read more »
Ethiopia: Oromia Makes Up a Third of Ethiopia's Landmass and Is Key to Its Fortunes - Expert Unpacks Its Significance
Ethiopia's largest and most populous region, Oromia, has been in the news following reports of a rise in kidnappings for ransom. The region is no stranger to war and strife. Its… Read more »
South Africa: Corruption and Clean Energy in South Africa - Economic Model Shows Trust in Government Is Linked to Takeup of Renewables
South Africa relies heavily on energy from coal-fired power stations, which emit large quantities of carbon. But making the transition to greater use of renewable energies, such as… Read more »
February 16
Africa: Ai Will Let Us Read 'Lost' Ancient Works in the Library At Herculaneum for the First Time
On 19 October 1752, a discovery was made 20 metres underneath the town of Resina, near Naples in Italy. Peasants digging wells in the area around Mount Vesuvius had struck marble… Read more »
Africa: Extraction of Raw Materials Could Rise 60 Percent By 2060 - and Making Mining 'Greener' Won't Stop the Damage
The United Nations' flagship Global Resources Outlook report is the portrait of a juggernaut. Due to be published later this month by the UN's International Resource Panel, it… Read more »
Africa: A Brief History of the Diss Track - From the Roxanne Wars to Megan Thee Stallion
Released last month, Houston-born rapper Megan Thee Stallion's hit song Hiss is a textbook diss record. Fans and critics have suggested the track takes aim at multiple artists… Read more »
Africa: What's Behind the Astonishing Rise in LGBTQ+ Romance Literature?
A major transformation is underway in Romancelandia. Read more »
Africa: State-Owned Energy Companies Are Among the World's Most Polluting - Putting a Price On Carbon Could Help
Existing measures to cajole companies to decarbonise, with subsidies for renewable energy and carbon taxes, have failed to prevent global emissions rising. Does state ownership,… Read more »
February 15
Ghana: New Vehicle Tax Aims to Tackle Pollution - Expert Unpacks How It'll Work and Suggests Reforms
Ghana has introduced an annual carbon levy on vehicles and industrial emissions. It's only the third African country to introduce an explicit carbon tax, after South Africa and… Read more »
Southern Africa: Rhinos Can't Sweat, Making Them Vulnerable to Overheating - Global Warming Could Wipe Them Out in Southern Africa
Southern Africa is home to 22,137 of the world's 23,432 white and black African rhinos. But they're facing grave threats because of a warming planet. Now, the first study of how… Read more »
February 14
West Africa: West Africa Trade Will Take a Hit As Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso Leave Ecowas
The membership of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has been whittled down from 15 to 12 following the unilateral withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso in… Read more »
Africa: Wagner Group Is Now Africa Corps. What This Means for Russia's Operations On the Continent
In August 2023, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died after his private jet crashed about an hour after taking off in Moscow. He had been Russia's pointman in Africa since the… Read more »