November 18, 2022
South Africa: LGBTIQ+ Learners At Risk As Conservative Christian Groups Fight Plans for Safer Schools
Advocacy groups in South Africa are intensifying their efforts to prevent the country's education department from creating safer environments for children of diverse gender… Read more »
November 17, 2022
Africa: Can an African Team Win the World Cup?
Many football lovers hope an African team will finally win the men's 2022 Fifa World Cup. The world has been waiting for this since the great Brazilian player Pelé predicted… Read more »
Africa: African Mountains Are Feeling the Heat of Climate Change
Mountains are special places. They have distinctive climates that are generally cooler and wetter than surrounding lowlands, and they host plants, animals and landscapes that are… Read more »
South Africa: Nation Needs Strategic Leadership to Weather Its Storms. Its Presidents Have Not Been Up to the Task
South Africa is in a state of crisis. Its current reality is necessarily shaped by historical events, not least the outcomes of the political settlement process that led to the end… Read more »
Senegal: Wolof Is Reclaiming Ground in Senegal As the French Language Wanes
The French language was introduced into Senegal through colonisation. According to Papa Alioune Ndao, professor of linguistics at the Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar: Read more »
Ethiopia: Civet Musk, a Precious Perfume Ingredient, Is Under Threat.
The African civet -- an animal closely related to the mongoose and widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa -- is among four mammals known to secrete scented compounds. Civets… Read more »
November 16, 2022
Africa: Senegal and Cameroon Carry Continent's Best Hopes at World Cup 2022
The men's Fifa World Cup kicks off on 20 November in Qatar. Africa is allocated five spots in the month-long final stage of this elite competition, held every four years. Cameroon,… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa Can Reduce Emissions and Create Jobs. a Tough Task, but Doable
South Africa has the dubious distinction of having one of the highest rates of unemployment and inequality in the world. It is also one of the world's most emissions-intensive… Read more »
Nigeria: Asake, the Breakout Pop Star From Nigeria Who Owned 2022
Asake's first commercial releases, beginning with the song Lady in 2020, didn't really portend a seismic shift in Nigeria's teeming Afrobeats scene. The 27-year-old genre-blending… Read more »
Africa: Renewable Energy Will Need More Investment, or Africa Will Stay Dependent On Fossil Fuels
Renewable energy technologies such as solar photovoltaics and onshore wind power can help sub-Saharan Africa meet its energy requirements from sources that have lower emissions… Read more »
November 15, 2022
Egypt: Why the Discovery of Cleopatra's Tomb Would Rewrite History
It couldn't have been a case of better timing. Egyptologists celebrating the centenary of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, now have a promising new archaeological… Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria Has Too Many Prison Inmates Awaiting Trial. Technology Could Achieve Swifter Justice
Nigeria's prison population is more than 76,000, housed in 240 correctional centres. About 70% of these inmates are still awaiting trial. They have been arrested and charged, but… Read more »
Africa: Woman King Is Set in Benin but Filmed in South Africa - in the Process It Erases Real People's Struggles
The latest film by director Gina Prince-Bythewood, The Woman King, is about a legendary all-woman African army in the 1800s, the Amazons of Dahomey. It takes place in what is today… Read more »
Africa: U.S. Midterm Elections Deserve Africa's Attention - but Not for Reasons of Foreign Policy
Africans normally pay little attention to American elections when the presidency is not at stake. But the midterm polls - such as the 8 November 2022 one - deserve Africa's… Read more »
Africa: 8 Billion People - How Evolution Made It Happen
November 15 2022 marks a milestone for our species, as the global population hits 8 billion. Just 70 years ago, within a human lifetime, there were only 2.5 billion of us. In AD1,… Read more »
Africa: Africa Has Vast Gas Reserves - Here's How to Stop Them Adding to Climate Change
The question of whether Africa should be allowed to exploit its gas reserves, estimated at more than 17.56 trillion cubic meters (620 trillion cubic feet) in 2021, has been much… Read more »
Africa: Global Climate Finance Leaves Out Cities - Fixing It Is Critical to Battling Climate Change
Under the Paris Agreement, which came into force in 2016, countries agreed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and work together to adapt to the effects of climate change. To… Read more »
Tunisia: 80 Years Ago, Nazi Germany Occupied Tunisia - but North Africans' Experiences of World War II Often Go Unheard
Eighty years ago, in November 1942, the Nazis occupied Tunisia. For the next six months, Tunisian Jews and Muslims were subjected to the Third Reich's reign of terror, as well as… Read more »
Africa: Why It's Important to Understand the Unique Plight of Internally Displaced People in Africa
The African Union adopted an agreement more than 13 years ago to prevent the arbitrary displacement of people and to uphold the dignity of such victims. Read more »
November 14, 2022
South Africa: Mangrove Forests Won't Be Able to Spread Further in South Africa, So Protecting Them Is Crucial #AfricaClimateCrisis
Mangrove forests are a common sight in some tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world like Indonesia, Florida in the US, parts of Brazil and Australia. They can also be found on… Read more »
Africa: As the 8 Billionth Person Is Born, Here's How Africa Will Shape the Future of the Planet's Population
In mid-November 2022 the eight billionth person will be born, according to the United Nations. In its analysis of this milestone, the UN makes two key observations. The first is… Read more »
Africa: Worker Organisations Can Survive the Digital Age. Here's How
There is a widespread view that labour has become irrelevant as a force for change. The argument goes that the proliferation of digital labour platforms - and the rise in job… Read more »
Ghana: Informal Residents Show How Social Innovation Can Solve Urban Challenges
Local governments across the world have turned to what is called "urban innovation" in a bid to manage urban problems. The term refers to the use of smart data collection, digital… Read more »
South Africa: Juby Mayet, Legendary South African Writer and Journalist, Remembered Through New Book
South African writer Juby Mayet passed away in 2019 at the age of 82. She wrote her autobiography in 1997 but it has only now been published, 25 years later. Freedom Writer: My… Read more »
Africa: 'Gain of Function' Research Can Create Experimental Viruses. It Should Be More Strictly Regulated - or Banned
The United Nations Environment Programme recently published a scientific review that looks at environmental threats and risks in light of the COVID pandemic. It analyses links… Read more »