Africa

60% of Africa’s food is based on wheat, rice and maize – the continent’s crop treasure trove is being neglected

By Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine African countries have become reliant on a few food items. Just 20 plant species now provide 90% of our food, with three – wheat, maize and rice – accounting for 60% of all calories consumed on the continent and globally. This deprives the continent of diverse food sources, at the very time when research has found massive food and […]

January 15, 2024 12

Africa

More than 30 killed in strikes on Sudan capital: NGO

Fighting between rival Sudanese forces including air strikes on the capital Khartoum have killed at least 33 civilians, pro-democracy lawyers said overnight to Friday. Sudan has been gripped by nearly nine months of war pitting army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan against his former deputy, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The war has claimed at least 12,190 lives according to a conservative estimate by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data […]

January 12, 2024 34

Africa

Cape Verde becomes third African country to eliminate malaria

Cape Verde has become the third African nation to be declared malaria free, even as the disease continues to kill hundreds of thousands of people on the continent, the World Health Organization said Friday. The Atlantic archipelago of about 500,000 inhabitants follows Mauritius in 1973 and Algeria in 2019. Worldwide some 43 countries have been certified as malaria-free by the WHO, which requires showing that the domestic chain of transmission […]

January 12, 2024 23

Africa

IMF working with several African countries

https://youtu.be/c7ZwwF1-f84 The IMF is working with authorities in several African countries to provide help stabilizing their economies and financial situations spokesperson Julie Kozack told reporters Thursday (March 23) in Washington, DC. Ghana is seeking funding from the Fund with The West African country, struggling with its worst economic crisis in a generation. Ghana secured a staff-level agreement with the IMF in December for a $3 billion loan, but approval is contingent […]

January 12, 2024 33

Africa

Empowering Dreams: Pwani Teknowgalz in Mombasa, Kenya, Breaking Barriers in STEM Education for Young Women

By Velma Pamela and Irene Mumbi, via bird story agency It's quiet at Pwani Teknowgalz. Really quiet. You'd almost think no one was home. Across from the reception counter, a handful of young women are engrossed in activities on their laptops. Many are wearing coloured hijabs; brown and black are the predominant colours, initially making it difficult to identify Latifah Noor. It turns out that the 25-year-old is seated […]

January 12, 2024 37

Africa

DR Congo capital in tumult as river bursts banks

Burst riverbanks are causing turmoil in DR Congo's capital Kinshasa, with dark and foul-smelling water pouring into homes across working-class neighborhoods in the central African megacity. The impoverished metropolis of some 15 million people sits on the Congo River -- the second largest in Africa after the Nile -- which has swollen to near-record levels over the past several weeks. Kinshasa is crisscrossed with small rivers and waterways, which often […]

January 12, 2024 23

Africa

South Africa’s new intelligence bill is meant to stem abuses – what’s good and bad about it

By Jane Duncan, University of Glasgow When South Africa became a constitutional democracy in 1994, it replaced its apartheid-era intelligence apparatus with a new one aimed at serving the country’s new democratic dispensation. However, the regime of former president Jacob Zuma, 2009-2018, deviated from this path. It abused the intelligence services to serve his political and allegdly corrupt ends. Now the country is taking steps to remedy the situation. […]

January 12, 2024 5

Africa

Coca-Cola in Africa: a long history full of unexpected twists and turns

By Sara Byala, University of Pennsylvania A new book called Bottled: How Coca-Cola Became African tells the story of how the world’s most famous carbonated drink conquered the continent. It’s a tale of marketing gumption and high politics and is the product of years of research by critical writing lecturer Sara Byala, who researches histories of heritage, sustainability and the ways in which capitalist systems intersect with social and […]

January 12, 2024 12

Africa

Former Gambian minister goes to trial in Switzerland

Gambia's former interior minister, Ousman Sonko is starting his trial in Switzerland after facing charges of crimes against humanity for nearly 6 years. Campaigners say the trial is a step forward towards seeking justice for people who suffered abuses under former president Yahya Jammeh's regime. Nabil Ahmed Rufai reports.

January 11, 2024 47