insert_link Africa Visa-free regimes to bolster African tourism growth in 2024 By Conrad Onyango via bird African countries are set to record an increase in tourism numbers in 2024, as more countries continue to open their borders to other African countries by abolishing visa requirements. In 2023, most African countries made significant strides to liberalize their visa regimes, with Rwanda and Kenya being the latest to completely remove visa requirements for all African travellers, joining Gambia, Benin, and Seychelles. Kenya's transition […] todayJanuary 9, 2024 38
insert_link Sport African female running greats are empowering young women to ‘Achieve’ Stephen Granger, SPNA via bird Running greats, Mary Keitany and Elana van Zyl with Rhonda Vetere, Nolene Conrad and the Achieve Team at Makupula Secondary School in Kayamandi, Stellenbosch. Photo - Stephen Granger. Derartu Tulu, the first African athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in female competition and now president of Ethiopia’s Athletics Federation; Kenyan marathon super-stars and former world record holders, Tegla Leroupe and Mary Keitany; and former […] todayJanuary 9, 2024 4
insert_link Africa Africans discovered dinosaur fossils long before the term ‘palaeontology’ existed By Julien Benoit, University of the Witwatersrand; Cameron Penn-Clarke, University of the Witwatersrand, and Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University Credit for discovering the first dinosaur bones usually goes to British gentlemen for their finds between the 17th and 19th centuries in England. Robert Plot, an English natural history scholar, was the first of these to describe a dinosaur bone, in his 1676 book The Natural History of Oxfordshire. Over […] todayJanuary 8, 2024 14
insert_link Africa Young Africans could disrupt authoritarian states but they don’t – here’s why By Lovise Aalen, Chr. Michelsen Institute and Marjoke Oosterom, Institute of Development Studies Africa has the world’s largest youth population. By 2030, 75% of the African population will be under the age of 35. The number of young Africans aged 15-24 is projected to reach 500 million in 2080. While population dynamics vary across the continent, most sub-Saharan countries have a median age below 19. Niger is the youngest country […] todayJanuary 8, 2024 33
insert_link Africa Ambassador Naanda supports Africa’s bid for a UN Security Council seat Ambassador Penda Naanda, the executive director of the Ministry of International Relations led the Namibian delegation to the 10th High-Level Seminar on Peace and Security in Africa, in Oran, Algeria. Speaking at the seminar, Naanda said that Africa is ready to take a permanent seat in the council to take back the continent's power. todayDecember 21, 2023 45
insert_link Business / Economics Unpacking FinTech: A financial journalism deep dive By Angie Scholtz 1. INTRODUCTION: The world over, the inclusion and advancement of technology in the financial services sectors and markets have become more and more prevailing to the extent where the accepted acronym for this has been determined to be FinTech which essentially relates to Financial Technology as a designated term. The world is aware of the various levels of information technology infrastructure in various countries which would by […] todayDecember 21, 2023 27
insert_link Africa Gavi approves $1.8B African vaccine manufacturing accelerator for self-reliance By Bonface Orucho, bird story agency Recent approval by the Vaccine Alliance (Gavi) of a US$1.8 billion African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator (AVMA), a financing instrument that will support sustainable vaccine manufacturing in Africa is being hailed as a game changer for the continent. “The targeted US$1 billion from Gavi to African manufacturers is a game changer for the continent and advances our efforts towards vaccine self-reliance,” said Jean Kaseya, Africa […] todayDecember 21, 2023 36
insert_link Africa World’s tallest wood building signals growing investor confidence in sustainable construction practices By Seth Onyango, via bird story agency Wooden buildings like the engineered timber construction planned for the world's tallest wood building in Zanzibar may only be starting to appear in cities worldwide but that is not stopping investors from betting on wood becoming a key building block in African construction. "About 200 years ago, everyone was building with timber, then it shifted to cement, steel, and stones. Now people […] todayDecember 21, 2023 48
insert_link Africa Cameroon and Zimbabwe Lead Christmas Spending Across Africa African households will focus on gifts and decorations as they take a more cautious approach to their Christmas holiday spending this year, on the back of a rising cost of living, according to the Cost of Christmas report. A new ‘Cost of Christmas’ study by WorldRemit shows Cameroon (US $650 and Zimbabwe( US$ 254) will be the continent’s biggest spenders this season, with bulk of their expenditure going to […] todayDecember 20, 2023 8
