July 03
Kenya: Kenya Unrest - Ruto Awakened Class Politics That Now Threatens to Engulf Him
Many of the grievances of Kenya's Gen-Z, young people who took to the streets in late June, have been palpable for years. Read more »
Africa: HIV Breakthrough - Drug Trial Shows Injection Twice a Year Is 100 Percent Effective Against Infection
A large clinical trial in South Africa and Uganda has shown that a twice-yearly injection of a new pre-exposure prophylaxis drug gives young women total protection from HIV… Read more »
Africa: What Can You Do If You Think Your Teen Already Has Unhealthy Social Media Habits?
Many parents are worried about how much their children use social media and what content they might encounter while using it. Read more »
Ghana: Ghana's Schools Don't Teach Enough About Geoscience - Why Kids Need to Know How the Planet Works
Over the last few decades Ghana has seen a rise in environmental degradation such as pollution, deforestation and land degradation. These have been driven by urbanisation,… Read more »
July 02
South Africa: South Africa's 70,000kg Rhino Horn Stockpile Must Be Burnt to Prevent Illegal Trading
Despite a global ban on international buying and selling of rhino horn since 1977, the South African government and owners of private rhino reserves continue to stockpile it. A new… Read more »
Nigeria: The Road to the Village - Novelist Chigozie Obioma On Nigeria's Brutal Civil War, Love and Redemption
Chigozie Obioma is the Nigerian author of the novels The Fishermen (2015) and An Orchestra of Minorities (2019), both shortlisted for the Booker Prize for their unique, folkloric… Read more »
Kenya: The IMF Is Failing Countries Like Kenya - Why, and What Can Be Done About It
The recent Kenyan protests are a warning that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is failing. The public does not think it is helping its member countries manage their economic… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa's New Agricultural Leadership Should Focus On Getting Things Done, Not Designing New Policies
South Africa's primary agriculture sector accounts for nearly 3% of GDP and about 8% when considering the value of agro-processing. But it can contribute even more to economic… Read more »
July 01
South Africa: How Democracy Can Work At Community Level - 3 Lessons From a South African Protest Movement
Popular protests have surged around the world over the last decade. But do they work? And what lessons can be learnt from communities who have a history of militant protests? Read more »
Nigeria: Boko Haram and Western Education - the Surprising Views of Some Nigerians Who Left the Insurgency Group
The world has come to associate the insurgency in north-east Nigeria with the slogan "western education is forbidden". This is how "Boko Haram" - the name given to the insurgents -… Read more »
Africa: Honey Bees Vote to Decide On Nest Sites - Why We Should Listen
When people think of honey bees, they often think of classic wooden hives, in which beekeepers are having to breed more and more bees just to keep managed populations stable. These… Read more »
June 30
Africa: We Research Online 'Misogynist Radicalisation'. Here's What Parents of Boys Should Know
Many parents are worried about their children using social media. But these concerns tend to focus on privacy, exposure to explicit material or contact with strangers. Read more »
South Africa: Why Liberation Movements Fail When They Come to Power
Decreased support for the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa's elections on 29 May was expected. But a decline from 57% to 40% marked a turning point in the country's… Read more »
Kenya: Violence Is the Language of the Kenyan State - 5 Strategies It Uses to Control Citizens
Since the early 2000s, Kenya has come up with legislative changes and thrown a tremendous amount of funding at a range of reforms to improve the relationship between police and… Read more »
Africa: Fossil Insects Help to Reconstruct the Past - How I Ended Up Studying Them (And You Can Too)
When I tell people that I study fossils, many assume I am talking about dinosaurs or some equally impressive extinct creatures. But there's far more to be found in the global… Read more »
June 28
Africa: Alzheimer's Risk Higher If Your Mother Had Cognitive Problems
The genetic risk of developing Alzheimer's disease is more strongly influenced by the mother's side than the father's side, a recent study has discovered. Read more »
Africa: We Finally Know Why Some People Got Covid While Others Didn't
Throughout the pandemic, one of the key questions on everyone's mind was why some people avoided getting COVID, while others caught the virus multiple times. Read more »
South Africa: Ordinary White South Africans and Apartheid - Bound to a Racist System They Helped Prop Up
In South Africa, apartheid was a divisive political system entrenched by a white minority who regarded other ethnic groups as inferior, creating townships on the outskirts of… Read more »
Kenya: Hotbed of Corruption - Kenya's Elite Have Captured the State - Unrest Is Inevitable
A strong undercurrent driving the unprecedented anti-tax protests in Kenya is outrage over theft of public resources coupled with the extravagant lifestyles of public servants. Read more »
Kenya: Kenya Unrest - the Deep Economic Roots That Brought Gen-Z Onto the Streets
The generation of Kenyans born between 1997 and 2012 - the Gen-Zs - have borne the brunt of the country's slow economic growth. If a country has slow economic growth, it typically… Read more »
June 27
Africa: Mpox - What to Watch Out for, Treatment and What to Worry About
The new strain of the mpox virus is spreading quickly along the eastern border of the Democratic Republic of Congo and is "the most dangerous yet", says the World Health… Read more »
Africa: A 'Trilobite Pompeii' - Perfectly Preserved Fossils of Ancient Sea Critters Found Buried in Volcanic Ash
If you've ever visited the fossil gallery of a natural history museum -- or its gift shop, for that matter -- you've probably seen the armoured body remains (or exoskeletons) of an… Read more »
Kenya: Kenyan Police Use Excessive Force Because They're Serving Political Elites, Not the Public - Policy Analyst
Public protests in Kenya have often been criminalised, leading to brutal police crackdowns. This played out in recent protests against the cost of living in Kenya, and amid an… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya's Protests Happened in Every Major Urban Centre - Why These Spaces Are Explosive
Kenya has a long history of protests. Mass protests took place during the colonial period and continued in the post-independence era. Read more »
South Africa: Peter Randall - a Pioneering Publisher Who Established the Radical Ravan Press in South Africa
Peter Randall, a pioneering South African activist publisher and educator, passed away on 5 June 2024 in Johannesburg. He was the co-founder of Ravan Press, which published books… Read more »