insert_link Business / Economics South Africa has spent billions in 4 years to create jobs for young people: how their wages affect the broader economy By Joshua Budlender, UMass Amherst and Ihsaan Bassier, London School of Economics and Political Science In October 2020 the South African government launched a collection of public employment programmes, initially intended as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative, called the Presidential Employment Stimulus, has been extended since then. The total budget allocation to March 2024 was R42 billion (US$2.1 billion). By December 2023 it had […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 3
insert_link Opinion Pieces Wagner Group is now Africa Corps. What this means for Russia’s operations on the continent By Alessandro Arduino, King's College London In August 2023, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died after his private jet crashed about an hour after taking off in Moscow. He had been Russia’s pointman in Africa since the Wagner Group began operating on the continent in 2017. The group is known for deploying paramilitary forces, running disinformation campaigns and propping up influential political leaders. It has had a […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 7
insert_link Business / Economics The rise of robo-retail: Who gets left behind when retail is automated? By Mathew Iantorno, University of Toronto Canada’s first robotic cafe, RC Coffee, opened in Toronto in October 2020. The flagship location of the coffee chain revived the long-dormant retail concept of the automat: a restaurant where food and drinks are served by technology, rather than human staff. The new coffee automat consisted of a touchscreen for placing orders, a window that allows customers to watch a […] todayFebruary 15, 2024 21
insert_link Health / Medical Why forgetting is a normal function of memory – and when to worry Cast Of Thousands/Shutterstock, CC BY Alexander Easton, Durham University Forgetting in our day to day lives may feel annoying or, as we get older, a little frightening. But it is an entirely normal part of memory – enabling us to move on or make space for new information. In fact, our memories aren’t as reliable as we may think. But what level of forgetting is actually normal? Is it OK […] todayFebruary 15, 2024 15
insert_link Namibia Nedbank and AMT mobile planetarium school excursions commence The UNAM/Africa Millimetre Telescope (AMT) programme began late last month with school excursions in Windhoek to provide hands-on astronomical education and inspire young minds in the field of astrophysics and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). The UNAM/AMT Mobile Planetarium is an inflatable, interactive facility designed to bring the wonders of the cosmos directly to learners in Namibia. Senior AMT team member Emmy Iiyambo told Nampa on Thursday […] todayFebruary 15, 2024 51
insert_link Africa From Dreaming to Drawing: Omotunde Akiode’s Journey from Screenwriter to Acclaimed Animator By Gbemisola Esho, via bird story agency Omotunde Akiode sits at her workstation in Lagos, appearing to doodle. To the occasional visitor, this may look like play but the result of the creative session will be a very real cartoon character, possibly for an acclaimed African cartoon series -- like Supa4. “I grew up watching Sesame Street, the Muppet show animations on television. I saw the […] todayFebruary 15, 2024 11
insert_link Africa AU summit seeks to raise Africa’s voice on global stage Addis Ababa, Feb 15, 2024 (AFP) - The African Union's annual summit will open on Saturday against the backdrop of coups in Gabon and Niger and a political crisis in Senegal, posing challenges for the bloc as it seeks to amplify its international presence. Set up more than two decades ago, the 55-member bloc has long been criticised for being ineffectual and for taking little decisive action in the […] todayFebruary 15, 2024 12
insert_link Africa Nigerian E-payments eclipse South Africa’s 2022 GDP, in latest surge When the Nigerian Central Bank introduced newly designed currency notes in November 2022 and a month later put a cap on the maximum amount of hard cash that individuals and corporations could withdraw, the idea was to tame money laundering in the country. During that year’s Christmas festive season and in the run-up to the 2023 Nigerian presidential election in February 2023 –– two high spending seasons –– the country […] todayFebruary 15, 2024 10
insert_link Africa Zambia’s Kundananji lifts the earnings power of Africa’s women footballers with a world record transfer fee By Bonface Orucho, bird story agency Racheal Kundananji, a Zambian woman professional footballer, has become the first African football player -- male or female -- to break a world transfer record. This milestone reaffirms the growth of African women’s football, not only in skills and development but also in commercial terms. The forward from Spanish women’s league side Madrid CFF signed to California-based women’s soccer club Bay […] todayFebruary 15, 2024 15
