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 »
South Africa: Over 12 Percent of South African Adults Have Diabetes - Education Is Critical to Achieve Good Outcomes
Over 12% of adults in South Africa have diabetes. Since 2019, researchers at the University of Pretoria have been working on the Tshwane Insulin Project. The project consists of… Read more »
November 13, 2022
Egypt: COP27 Shines Light On Civil Liberties in Egypt, but It'll Take Work to Achieve Real Freedom
The ability to speak freely in Egypt is currently very constrained. Individuals, groups and NGOs face significant barriers to participation in the political process. And the same… Read more »
South Africa: South Africa Is Hooked On Fossil Fuels - How It Got Here and How It Can Get Out
South Africa has experienced power shortages with rolling blackouts on an unprecedented scale in 2022. This state of affairs is largely due to technical failures at its ageing… Read more »
Africa: Climate Change and Wildlife - 3 Studies That Reveal the Devastating Toll On Africa's Animals
Climate change has produced a number of threats to wildlife. Over time, changing rainfall patterns have transformed habitats and forced animals to move. Increasing temperatures are… Read more »
November 11, 2022
Africa: How the Energy Crisis Is Pressuring Countries' Climate Plans
Russia's war on Ukraine has cast a shadow over this week's meetings of world leaders at the G-20 summit in Bali and the United Nations climate change conference in Egypt. Read more »
Kenya: Presidential Term Limits Will Be Hard to Scrap - Here's What It Would Take
A member of parliament in Kenyan president William Ruto's governing coalition created a firestorm by suggesting that there was a plan to remove presidential term limits in the… Read more »
Africa: 'Black Panther - Wakanda Forever' Continues the Series' Quest to Recover and Celebrate Lost Cultures
As someone who teaches and writes about Afrofuturism, I've been eagerly awaiting the release of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." I'm particularly excited about the introduction of… Read more »
Africa: How the Energy Crisis Is Pressuring Countries At the UN Climate Summit - While Some Race to Renewables, Others See Natural Gas Wealth, but It May Be Short-Lived #AfricaClimateCrisis
Russia's war on Ukraine has cast a shadow over this year's United Nations climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where officials from around the world are discussing the costs… Read more »
Nigeria: Africa's Largest Democracy Goes to the Polls in 2023 Amid Rising Insecurity
Africa's biggest election will be held in February 2023 in Nigeria. It's the seventh successive general election in the country's 23 years of unbroken democratic government. Read more »
November 10, 2022
Kenya: Kenya Standard Gauge Railway Contracts - What Released Documents Say, and What They Don't
A media frenzy has erupted in Kenya over the November 5, 2022 release of three Chinese loan contracts signed between the Kenyan government and China Export Import Bank (Eximbank),… Read more »