May 25, 2023
Africa: Soaring Risk of Flash Droughts in Every Major Food-Growing Region - New Research
Flash droughts develop fast, and when they hit at the wrong time, they can devastate a region's agriculture. Read more »
Zimbabwe: Education in Zimbabwe Should Strive for Inclusion - How the Philosophy of Ubuntu Can Help
The notion of inclusive education began to emerge during the 1950s and 1960s. At first it focused on integrating students with disabilities into mainstream classrooms, but it… Read more »
South Africa: Arms-to-Russia Row Raises Doubt About South Africa's Compliance With Arms Control. It Could Face Tougher Scrutiny in Future
The recent furore over accusations by the US ambassador to South Africa, Reuben Brigety, that South Africa was supplying arms to Russia despite its declared policy of… Read more »
Morocco: Abdellah Taïa Is Morocco's First Openly Gay Writer - His Work Reimagines Being Muslim, Queer and African
Abdellah Taïa was born in 1973 in Rabat, Morocco. He currently lives in Paris. He is the first writer from north Africa - and in fact the Arab world - to openly declare that… Read more »
Africa: Africa Is Getting Renewed Attention From Washington - and Some African States Are Courting African Americans
Recent allegations by the U.S. ambassador to South Africa that the African nation gave ammunition and weapons to Russia in December 2022, amid Russia's war on Ukraine, illustrate… Read more »
Africa: Greenwashing - Energy Companies Make False Claims About Sustainability - They Should Be Held to Account
Companies implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a way to present an environmentally responsible image and therefore gain legitimacy in the eyes of their stakeholders.… Read more »
Africa: Doctor Dog - How Our Canine Companions Can Help Us Detect Covid and Other Diseases
While we humans generally experience the world through sight, dogs use scent to learn about the environment around them. What their nose knows is crucial for finding food, mates… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigerian Architect Demas Nwoko On His Award-Winning Work - 'Whatever You Build, It Should Suit Your Culture'
Demas Nwoko, born in Nigeria in 1935, has been awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, arguably the world's most prestigious… Read more »
May 24, 2023
Africa: Continent's Russia-Ukraine Peace Mission - What Can It Achieve?
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to lead an initiative of six African heads of state to explore an end to the year-long Russia-Ukraine war. The announcement followed… Read more »
Sudan: Peace in Sudan Depends On Justice for the Darfur Genocide
I asked the pilot to deviate from our approved flight path and go low over Darfur. It was 2003 and I was the United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in Sudan… Read more »
Africa: Africa's Scientists Need to Use Wastewater to Find Drug-Resistant Bacteria
People often think of wastewater as serving no purpose. But it can be a valuable source of information. Wastewater is increasingly recognised as a significant environmental… Read more »
Africa: 60 Years of African Unity - What's Failed and What's Succeeded
Africa Day this year marks 60 years since the founding of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The anniversary begs the question: How much of the vision of the OAU's founding… Read more »
South Africa: Former CEO's Explosive Book Exposes How State Power Utility Eskom Was Destroyed
One repeated theme of the memoir Truth to Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom, by Andre de Ruyter, former CEO of South Africa's troubled power utility, Eskom, is that "negligence… Read more »
Africa: Male Video Game Characters Speak Twice As Much As Females, Largest Study of Its Kind Reveals
Video games are played by nearly three billion people worldwide and make more money annually than the film industry. Around 50% of gamers are female but gaming has chronic problems… Read more »
May 23, 2023
South Africa: Sign Language Is Set to Become Country's 12th Official Language
Sign language is on its way to become the 12th official language in South Africa after parliament recently agreed to amend the constitution to this end. The move will bring to… Read more »
Africa: Ancient Humans May Have Paused in Arabia for 30,000 Years On Their Way Out of Africa
Most scientists agree modern humans developed in Africa, more than 200,000 years ago, and that a great human diaspora across much of the rest of the world occurred between perhaps… Read more »
Africa: Building a Nutrition Programme? Understanding How People Behave Is Key
Undernutrition contributes to up to 45% of child deaths in African countries. At the same time, child obesity rates have doubled between 2006 and 2016. More than 40% of women of… Read more »
South Africa: Cholera - a Symptom of Two Decades of Continued Sewage Pollution and Neglect
South Africans have expressed outrage at the deaths of at least 15 residents of Hammanskraal, in the city of Tshwane. The deaths were caused by cholera - a diarrhoeal disease… Read more »
Sudan: Sudan's Peace Mediation Should Be Led By the African Union - 3 Reasons Why
Questions about who mediates in a conflict - and when - are crucial. Mediation is about trust, an awareness of regional realities and insights into complex politics. It should… Read more »
Africa: Alluring, Classic, Glamorous - The History of the Martini Cocktail
The martini cocktail has existed in a range of guises throughout its ice-cold, crisp life. Read more »
South Africa: World's Oldest Homo Sapiens Footprint Identified On South Africa's Cape South Coast
Just over two decades ago, as the new millennium began, it seemed that tracks left by our ancient human ancestors dating back more than about 50,000 years were excessively rare. Read more »
May 22, 2023
Africa: Dangote Launches Africa's Biggest Oil Refinery - 4 Ways It Will Affect Nigeria
Nigeria's new Dangote petroleum refinery is Africa's biggest - it will produce 650,000 barrels a day, giving it the potential to address the country's energy supply crisis. Read more »
Africa: New Research Reveals the Bittersweet Truth of Cocoa Farming in Africa's Forests
Chocolate sales have boomed in recent months. As the cost-of-living crisis bites, consumers are increasingly reaching for chocolate as a simple and affordable pleasure. Read more »
Somalia: Somaliland Crisis - Delayed Elections and Armed Conflict Threaten Dream of Statehood
With a presidential election delayed for months and deadly clashes between security forces and clan militias, Somaliland's reputation for stability lies in ruins. Violence erupted… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's 10 Year-Olds Are Struggling to Read - It Can Be Fixed
More than 80% of South Africa's grade 4 pupils - who are on average nine or 10 years old - cannot read for meaning. That means they can't answer basic questions about or draw… Read more »