October 08, 2025
Africa: The Alleged British Links to Mass Deforestation and Displacement in a Conflict Few Have Even Heard of
UK banks, energy giants and arms exporters are at the heart of one of the world's least-known human rights and environmental crises, our research has revealed. Read more »
October 07, 2025
Africa: Africa's 'Great Green Wall' Is Stalling - in Senegal Very Few Planted Areas Show Progress
Africa's Great Green Wall project began as an ambitious plan to build a 15-kilometre-wide band of trees across the north of Africa. The African Union launched the project in 2007… Read more »
South Africa: South Africans Who Blow the Whistle Face Retaliation and Murder - Their Stories Over Five Decades
South Africa's long history of wrongdoing spans from Willem Adriaan van der Stel's days of running a corrupt trading monopoly to present-day South Africa. Van der Stel was the… Read more »
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 »
October 06, 2025
Nigeria: Boko Haram On the Rise Again in Nigeria - How It's Survived and How to Weaken It
Abubakar Shekau, the erstwhile leader of the terrorist group Jama'at Ahl al-Sunna li al-Da'wa wa al-Jihad (JAS), died in 2021. The west African group, also known as Boko Haram,… Read more »
Tanzania: Tanzania's Samia Hassan Has Ushered in a New Era of Authoritarianism - Here's How
As Tanzania's national elections approach, a familiar humdrum of coverage has emerged. It goes like this. In its crackdowns, censorship and harassment of the opposition, Tanzania… 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 »
October 05, 2025
South Africa: World's First Known Butt-Drag Fossil Trace Was Left By a Rock Hyrax in South Africa 126,000 Years Ago
Rock hyraxes, known in southern Africa more often as "dassies", are furry, thickset creatures with short legs and no discernible tails. They spend much of their time sunning… 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 »
October 03, 2025
Africa: Toxic Pollution Builds Up in Snake Scales - What We Learnt From Black Mambas
Black mambas (Dendroaspis polylepis) are Africa's longest, most famous venomous snakes. Despite their fearsome reputation, these misunderstood snakes are vital players in their… Read more »
October 02, 2025
Namibia: Windhoek's Old Location Was a Place of Pain, but Also Joy - New Book
All that's left of a famous settlement called the Old Location in Windhoek, Namibia, is a graveyard and a monument to remember the residents who were killed while protesting their… Read more »
Zimbabwe: Edson Sithole - New Book Uncovers the Work of a Thinker, Lawyer and Zimbabwean Freedom Fighter Who 'Disappeared'
Edson Sithole was born in what was then Southern Rhodesia in 1935. He was the first black person in southern Africa to obtain a Doctor of Laws degree. He was the second black… Read more »
South Africa: Nature's Not Perfect - Fig Wasps Try to Balance Sex Ratios for Survival but They Can Get It Wrong
Television nature programmes and scientific papers tend to celebrate the perfection of evolved traits. But the father of evolution through natural selection, Charles Darwin, warned… 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 »
October 01, 2025
Africa: Jane Goodall, the Gentle Disrupter Whose Research On Chimpanzees Redefined What It Meant to Be Human
Anyone proposing to offer a master class on changing the world for the better, without becoming negative, cynical, angry or narrow-minded in the process, could model their advice… 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: South African Students Still Don't Feel Safe On Campus - How Protection Can Be Stepped Up
Students at South African universities have to deal with a disturbing reality. They face the threat of violent crime, in particular gender-based violence. They also battle with… Read more »
Africa: Palm Trees in Africa Are in Decline - These Botanists Made a Plan to Do Something About It
Palm trees grace the landscape across Africa, thriving in environments as diverse as deserts and rainforests. Central Africa holds the richest variety, home to 52 species, while… Read more »
September 30, 2025
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 »
Tanzania: Tanzania's Ruling Party Has Crushed the Opposition - the Elections Are a Mere Formality
Tanzania has conducted regular polls since the first multiparty elections in 1995. But they have often failed to meet democratic standards. The opposition has been persistently… 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 »
Africa: University Ranking Systems Are Being Rejected. African Institutions Should Take Note
The Sorbonne University, founded in Paris in 1253 and known globally as a symbol of education, science and culture, has just announced that, starting in 2026, it will stop… 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 »
