insert_link Africa Chad households get free water and electricity Chad's government has declared free water and electricity for households until year-end, capping monthly consumption at 15,000 litres of water and 300 kWh of electricity. According to the BBC, Chad's junta leader and interim President Mahamat Déby sanctioned the policy "to assist households", but Chadians perceive the move as Déby's attempt to endear to voters. The government on Monday said it would also clear water and electricity bills for residents […] today12 March, 2024
insert_link Africa Lagos bans single-use plastics – why I think Nigeria should have taxed them instead By Kehinde Allen-Taylor, Technical University Braunschweig Waste pollution is a huge problem in Nigeria, with serious impacts on the environment. In response, the Lagos state government has banned styrofoam (a type of plastic widely used as food containers) and other single-use products. Following a three-week moratorium for producers and sellers to mop up styrofoam containers, enforcement began on 4 March 2024. In 2019, Nigeria was estimated to […] today12 March, 2024
insert_link Africa What’s behind the worldwide shortage of cholera vaccines? For starters, they’re only made by one company By Edina Amponsah-Dacosta, University of Cape Town In February 2024 the World Health Organization announced southern Africa was suffering the deadliest regional outbreak of cholera in at least a decade. At the epicentre of the disaster were Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique, where cholera cases surged more than four-fold between 2022 and 2023. Over 1,600 deaths were reported in the three countries. Already 2024 is threatening to be […] today12 March, 2024
insert_link Africa Africa’s horticultural exports surge on By Bonface Orucho, bird story agency An upsurge in demand for horticultural products across global markets, particularly in Europe, spurred a significant increase in agricultural export revenues for several African countries last year. Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz), reported via his blog that South Africa's agricultural exports surged to a record US$13.2 billion in 2023, a 3% increase from […] today12 March, 2024
insert_link Africa Locally assembled handsets begin to drive Africa’s low-end smartphone shipments By Conrad Onyango, bird story agency As Africa’s major currencies weaken against the US dollar, consumers are opting for more affordable smartphones with ‘premium features’ that are either locally assembled or made in China. According to two mobile phone tracking reports, local assembly initiatives for low-end smartphones have contributed to strong growth, particularly in Kenya. The International Data Corporation (IDC) has also listed the East African economy […] today12 March, 2024
insert_link Africa Nigeria risks losing all its forest elephants – what we found when we went looking for them By Rosemary Iriowen Egonmwan, University of Lagos and Bola Oboh, University of Lagos Nigeria is one of 37 African countries where elephants are found in the wild. Savannah elephants (Loxodonta africana) can be found in the north and forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis) in the south. It’s not clear how many elephants there are in Nigeria. Eighteen years ago, the African Elephant Study Report estimated that there were […] today12 March, 2024
insert_link Africa Fintech is sold as the answer to Africa’s problems, but digital money services have downsides which media often overlook The research assessed newspaper coverage of fintech in Kenya, Uganda and South Africa. Tony Karumba/AFP via Getty Images By Cathleen LeGrand, University of Leeds; Chris Paterson, University of Leeds, and Jörg Wiegratz, University of Leeds The online financial products and services known as “fintech” have become deeply embedded in the economic and social life of many African countries over the past decade. Headlines across the continent often extol […] today12 March, 2024
insert_link Africa East Africa must prepare for more extreme rainfall during the short rainy season – new study By David MacLeod, Cardiff University; Erik W. Kolstad, Uni Research; Katerina Michaelides, University of Bristol, and Michael Singer, Cardiff University East Africa has recently had an unprecedented series of failed rains. But some rainy seasons are bringing the opposite: huge amounts of rainfall. In the last few months of 2023, the rainy season known as the “short rains” was much wetter than normal. It brought severe flooding to […] today11 March, 2024
insert_link Africa In climate-related flooding, a Ugandan river turns poisonous By Ashoka Mukpo Uganda’s Nyamwamba river, in the Rwenzori Mountains, has begun to flood catastrophically in recent years, partly due to climate change. Along the river are copper tailings pools from an old Canadian mining operation, which are becoming increasingly eroded by the flooding. According to a series of studies, these tailings have been washing into the water supply and soil of the Nyamwamba River Basin, contaminating human tissue, food […] today11 March, 2024
