June 05, 2025
Africa: Ocean Currents Can Generate Electricity - and Our Study Shows Africa's Seas Have Some of the Strongest
The world's oceans cover more than 70% of Earth's surface. They're filled with currents, some much stronger than the fastest flowing large rivers. These currents can be harnessed… Read more »
South Africa: Rashid Lombard - the Photographer Who Documented Both Resistance and Celebration in South Africa
The click of a camera shutter and the improvisation of a jazz saxophone may seem worlds apart. Yet, in the hands of South African photojournalist and cultural organiser Rashid… Read more »
June 04, 2025
Africa: 3 Things Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o Taught Me - Language Matters, Stories Are Universal, Africa Can Thrive
Celebrated Kenyan writer and decolonial scholar Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o passed away on 28 May at the age of 87. Many tributes and obituaries have appeared across the world, but we… Read more »
June 03, 2025
Nigeria: Nigerian Children Don't Imagine Women As Political Leaders - What Shapes Their View
A new ranking by UN Women and the Inter-Parliamentary Union puts Nigeria 179th out of 185 countries for the percentage of women in the national legislature. Read more »
Africa: Climate Justice for Africa - 3 Legal Routes for Countries That Suffer the Most Harm
Climate change lawsuits have become a new way for countries to assert their rights against actions that degrade the environment. But African countries have yet to fully exploit… Read more »
Africa: Preventing the Next Pandemic - One Health Researcher Calls for Urgent Action
The world is facing daunting health challenges with the rise of zoonotic diseases - infections that are transmissible from animals to humans. These diseases - which include Ebola,… Read more »
Africa: Africa Has the Highest Rate of Forest Loss in the World - What the G20 Can Do About It
Africa needs its forests for sustainable development, poverty reduction, food security, and to make the continent more resilient to climate change. They take up 23% of the… Read more »
June 02, 2025
Mauritius: Chagos Islands - How Mauritius Can Turn a Diplomatic Triumph Into Real Economic Growth
The decades-long Chagos islands dispute has finally entered a new chapter. The UK officially agreed to return the sovereignty of the archipelago to Mauritius. Read more »
Africa: Fruit Peels Could Help Power Your Smartphone's Camera Flash - Here's How
Imagine turning fruit waste into technology that stores electricity. This would reduce food waste and promote clean energy storage. Postdoctoral researcher Vianney Ngoyi Kitenge… Read more »
South Africa: Algae Can Clean Sewage Without Electricity or Chemicals - We Put It to the Test in South Africa
Across Africa, many rural communities face a growing sanitation crisis. Wastewater treatment systems, where they exist, are often old, overloaded, or broken. In some towns,… Read more »
Africa: Africa's New Credit Rating Agency Could Change the Rules of the Game. Here's How
For governments, a credit rating is more than a financial signal. It is a verdict that can influence the cost of borrowing, access to markets and, ultimately, the ability to… Read more »
June 01, 2025
South Africa: Airbnb Scams - New Book Explores Thriving Criminal Activity On Big Tech Platforms
Big tech sharing economy platforms like Airbnb and Uber are marketed as trustworthy, but a new book by a South African media scholar argues that they are highly vulnerable to… Read more »
Africa: Sexism in Science - 7 Women Whose Trailblazing Work Shattered Stereotypes
Seven women were part of a trailblazing network of feminist scientists in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s in the Boston area in the US. Christa Kuljian is a science writer and… Read more »
May 30, 2025
South Africa: Young Men On South Africa's Urban Margins - New Book Follows Their Lives Over 10 Years
South Africa's young people, aged 15 to 34, who make up more than 50% of the country's working age population, bear a disproportionate burden of unemployment. They have done so for… Read more »
May 29, 2025
Kenya: Choosing to Be an Orphan - for Some Kenyan Families It's a Strategy for Survival
In the world of international child development and orphan care, it's not uncommon for children with families to declare themselves orphans. In fact, this practice can be traced… Read more »
Zimbabwe: Mbare Art Space - a Colonial Beer Hall in Zimbabwe Has Become a Vibrant Arts Centre
In southern Africa townships were built as segregated urban zones for black people. They were created under colonial and white minority rule policies that controlled movement,… Read more »
Algeria: Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina Put African Cinema On the Map With His Bold, Political Films About Algeria
Legendary Algerian film-maker Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina has passed away at the age of 91. He is most commonly remembered as the first (and only) African to win the coveted Palme d'Or… Read more »
South Africa: Waiting for Godot Has Been Translated Into Afrikaans - What Took So Long
At last, the most infamous latecomer in all of literature has arrived - not in the flesh, but in South Africa's Afrikaans language. Irish playwright Samuel Beckett's best-known… Read more »
South Sudan: Is Sudan's War the Reason for South Sudan's Economic Crisis? What's Really Going On With Oil Revenue
The civil war in Sudan between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which began in April 2023, has had an impact on its neighbours. One of the most keenly… Read more »
May 28, 2025
South Africa: Initiation Season in South Africa - Why State Regulation Clashes With Customary Laws
It's nearly winter in South Africa, which means the opening of winter initiation schools is approaching. These rituals mark a transition to adulthood and are deeply ingrained… Read more »
Congo-Kinshasa: DR Congo's Plan for the World's Largest Tropical Forest Reserve Would Be Good for the Planet - Can It Succeed?
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo passed a law in January 2025 to lead efforts to establish the largest tropical forest reserve in the world. It will be set up as… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigerian and Kenyan Farmers Can Be First Step to Making Rural Mini Grids More Profitable and Affordable
In Nigeria and Kenya, many small to medium farms and rural grain-milling businesses are not connected to the national electricity grid. They still use petrol or diesel generators… Read more »
South Africa: Most South African Farmers Are Black - Why Trump Got It So Wrong
When world leaders engage, the assumption is always that they engage on issues based on verified facts, which their administrative staff are supposed to prepare. Under this… Read more »
South Sudan: 'Killing Is Part of Their Life' - the Men Raised On Violence Who Are Both Perpetrators and Victims As South Sudan Faces Return to Civil War
*Some pseudonyms are used to protect the identities of interviewees. Read more »
May 27, 2025
Africa: Sugary Drinks, Processed Foods, Alcohol and Tobacco Are Big Killers - Why the G20 Should Add Its Weight to Health Taxes
By 2030, non-communicable diseases will account for 75% of all deaths annually. Eight percent of these will be in the global south. Most of these diseases are what we call silent… Read more »
