East Africa

BES-Net Trialogue Promotes Biodiversity Solutions

Windhoek is hosting the BES-Net Regional Trialogue for East and Southern Africa, organized by the Environment, Forestry and Tourism ministry, UNDP, and BES-Net. The event aims to strengthen collaboration among experts to address biodiversity challenges. Executive Director Teofilus Nghitila emphasizes the importance of science-driven policies informed by real-world practices. Meanwhile, Alka Bhatia, the UNDP's Resident Representative said the trialogue embodies a spirit of cooperation which is needed to drive meaningful […]

19 February, 2025 79

Africa

South Sudan floods: the first example of a mass population permanently displaced by climate change?

Abandoned homes in South Sudan. rameesha bilal shah / shutterstock By Liz Stephens, University of Reading and Jacob Levi, Charité – Berlin University of Medicine Enormous floods have once again engulfed much of South Sudan, as record water-levels in Lake Victoria flow downstream through the Nile. More than 700,000 people have been affected. Hundreds of thousands of people there were already forced from their homes by huge floods […]

12 September, 2024 68

Africa

Tanzania investigates kidnappings of opposition figures ahead of elections

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has ordered an investigation into the abductions of political figures and government critics ahead of upcoming elections in the East African nation. According to Bloomberg Africa, the investigation follows the kidnapping and murder of a senior member of the main opposition Chadema party, Ally Mohamed Kibao.

9 September, 2024 55

Africa

Scattered anti-government protests in Kenya

By Hillary Orinde Hundreds of protesters took to the streets across Kenyan towns on Tuesday in defiance of a police ban, the latest in a series of demonstrations that have rocked the East African nation. Activists led by young Gen-Z Kenyans launched peaceful rallies last month over steep tax increases but they spiralled into deadly violence, before morphing into wider anger against President William Ruto's government. […]

23 July, 2024 22

Africa

How old are South African fossils like the Taung Child? New study offers an answer

By Francis Thackeray, University of the Witwatersrand One hundred years ago the discovery of a skull in South Africa’s North West province altered our understanding of human evolution. The juvenile skull was dubbed the Taung Child by Raymond Dart, an anatomist at the University of the Witwatersrand, who first described it. In 1924 Dart could not say exactly how old it was, but he […]

15 July, 2024 22

Africa

Lake Victoria: why so many fishers are dying and what can be done about it

By Ranaivo Rasolofoson, University of Toronto and Kathryn Fiorella, Cornell University Small-scale fishers on Lake Victoria (Africa’s largest freshwater lake, shared by Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda) are drowning. Safety issues such as storms, a lack of available life jackets, and a shortage of navigational equipment and rescue services are a major cause of this. Existing studies have found that climate change is projected to […]

26 June, 2024 32

Africa

AU approves force shift amid Somalia security concerns

The African Union has endorsed the creation of a new force to replace more than 13,000 troops due to leave Somalia by year-end, amid fears that al Qaeda militants in the country are growing in power. Bloomberg Africa reports that troops from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, and Djibouti, part of the so-called African Union Transition Mission, are due to leave by the end of December.

24 June, 2024 36

Africa

Kenyan schools reopen after devastating floods

Schools in Kenya have reopened after flooding in the country killed more than 250 people. Kenya and other parts of East Africa have been battered by torrential rains, claiming lives and destroying property. Human Rights Watch says that Kenyan authorities have not responded adequately to flash floods resulting from heavy rains. The floods have left at least over 200, 000 people displaced, destroyed infrastructure, and livelihoods across the country; and […]

14 May, 2024 69

Africa

Subsea cable cut causes Internet slowdown in East Africa

Several countries in East Africa including Kenya are experiencing slow internet connections after at least one sub-sea cable serving the region was cut. Ben Roberts, group chief technology and innovation officer at Liquid Intelligent Technologies told Bloomberg Africa, “One of the subsea cables seems cut 45 kilometers north of Durban, is causing the internet to be sluggish.”

13 May, 2024 26