January 13
Africa: Viruses Aren't All Bad / In the Ocean, Some Help Fuel the Food Web - A New Study Shows How
Virus. The word evokes images of illness and fears of outbreaks. Yet, in the oceans, not all viruses are bad news. Read more »
Uganda: An Interview With Scholar Mahmood Mamdani
In his latest book, Slow Poison: Idi Amin, Yoweri Museveni, and the Making of the Ugandan State, anthropologist Mahmood Mamdani explains the factors and characters - Idi Amin and… Read more »
January 12
Africa: The Solar Boom Has a Dirty Secret. Here's How to Avoid Another Mountain of Waste That Can't Be Recycled
Solar power has a dark side: panels are still built to be thrown away, and we risk creating a mountain of waste that locks away valuable minerals. Read more »
Nigeria: Mangrove Loss Is Making the Niger Delta More Vulnerable
Rivers State on Nigeria's coastline has some of Africa's largest mangrove ecosystems. The Niger Delta itself contains the third-largest mangrove forest in the world. These trees… Read more »
South Africa: High Cholesterol and Insulin Resistance Are Rising Among Young South Africans
In a small mining town in South Africa's Limpopo province, young people are showing worrying signs of diseases that were once thought to affect only older adults. Read more »
Kenya: Two Kenyan Women Rebuild Libraries in a Quietly Powerful New Documentary
Two Kenyan women - Wanjiru Koinange and Angela Wachuka - set out in 2017 to do something both ordinary and radical: rebuild neglected libraries in Nairobi. Read more »
Africa: Stablecoins Are Gaining Ground As Digital Currency in Africa - How to Avoid Risks
A notification popped up on my LinkedIn the other day. Africans were doing a traditional celebratory dance at the Africa Stablecoin summit in Johannesburg. Read more »
January 11
Africa: Africa's Climate Finance Rules Are Growing, but They're Weakly Enforced - New Research
Climate change is no longer just about melting ice or hotter summers. It is also a financial problem. Droughts, floods, storms and heatwaves damage crops, factories and… Read more »
Africa: Nigeria and South Africa Risk Breaking Climate Change Pledges
Just 20 countries produce 80% of the world's oil, gas and coal. Since 2019, researchers have released regular reports analysing how these governments plan to continue drilling and… Read more »
Ghana: Ghanaian Celebrities Are Dealing With Mental Illness Stigma Behind Closed Doors - Why Speaking Up Matters
Imagine living in a country where talking openly about depression or anxiety can cost you your job, your reputation, or even your freedom. That is still the reality in Ghana, where… Read more »
Africa: The G20 Was Built to Stabilise the World's Economy - but It's Failed On Climate, Debt and Inequality
The Group of Twenty (G20) emerged from the financial turmoil that followed the collapse of the Thai currency in 1997, which rapidly spread financial instability from Thailand to… Read more »
January 08
Africa: Climate Adaptation Has a New Global Plan
At the 2025 global climate summit, COP30, held in Belém, Brazil, one decision stood out with major consequences for Africa: countries agreed on a new set of progress… Read more »
South Africa: Arrow Tips Found in South Africa Are the Oldest Evidence of Poison Use in Hunting
The oldest evidence for the use of arrow poison globally was long thought to come from Egypt, dating to 4,000 years ago. It was a black, toxic residue on bone arrowheads from a… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's Addressing System Is Still Not in Place
"Turn right after the first big tree; my house is the one with the yellow door." In parts of South Africa, where settlements have grown without formal urban planning due to rapid… Read more »
January 07
Africa: Viral Outbreaks Are Always On the Horizon
A new year might mean new viral threats. Read more »
Africa: Risks Young Chimps Take As They Swing Through the Trees Underscore Role of Protective Parenting in Humans
Adolescents are known for risky behavior, with teenagers in the U.S. more likely than younger children to die from injury. But what's responsible for this uptick in risk-taking… Read more »
West Africa: Sahel Farmers Do Better When They Combine Innovations Rather Than Using Them One By One
Smallholder farmers in west Africa's Sahel face a harsh and worsening climate. Rainfall is erratic, temperatures are rising, soils are degrading, and droughts have become more… Read more »
Namibia: A Namib Desert Beetle Runs to Stay Cool - How Scientists Solved the Puzzle of This Unique and Speedy Species
The Namib desert of south-western Africa can be extremely hot - the surface temperature can be over 50°C. But a surprising number of around 200 beetle species live on its bare,… Read more »
South Africa: Land Reform in South Africa - How New Landholders Could Prosper From Wildlife and Not Just Farming
South Africa has a thriving wildlife economy - enterprises like trophy and meat hunting, ecotourism, live wildlife sales and game meat production. Read more »
Africa: Measures of Academic Value Overlook African Scholars Who Make a Local Impact - Study
Academics today, around the world, are confined by the way their research output is measured. Indicators that count the number of times their work is cited by other academics, and… Read more »
January 06
West Africa: Nigeria Has a High Poverty Rate - What This Has to Do With Ethnic Conflicts
Nigeria has endured decades of violent insurgencies and ranks 6th on the 2025 Global Terrorism Index. Numerous people have been killed and millions displaced. The number of… Read more »
January 05
South Africa: Johannesburg Has Failed Its Informal Traders - Policies Are in Place, but Action Is Needed
Johannesburg's inner city is a bustling hub of economic life - a dense, dynamic web of informal traders, adjacent businesses and other users. Informal trading remains an essential… Read more »
South Africa: Why Do South African Teachers Still Threaten Children With a Beating? A Psychologist Explains
Corporal punishment - usually referring to adults hitting children - was abolished in South Africa in 1997. The Constitutional Court had already ruled it incompatible with the bill… Read more »
January 04
Uganda: Political Policing in Museveni's Uganda - What It Means for the 2026 Elections
Uganda's police have long faced criticism for politically charged interventions. These include episodes in which lethal force has been used in ways that observers describe as… Read more »
Africa: HIV Funding Still Falls Short of Targets After Pledges - What's At Stake
The US government paused all foreign assistance in January 2025. This abrupt decision affected the delivery of life-saving HIV medicines and the provision of HIV prevention… Read more »
