The Soundtrack to Algeria’s Liberation
Thirty-year-old Algerian rapper Soolking was just hitting his stride before the world was put on lockdown. His commercially appealing blend of pop, reggaeton and Algerian raï (think Arabic and then add Auto-Tune) has generated a dizzying one billion streams on YouTube, with millions of them generated in the UK; hailing from the small coastal neighbourhood […]
South African Firms Fuse Creative Skills and Digital Technologies to Drive Growth
Researchers have examined the links and connections between digital technologies, innovation, intellectual property, and diversity in the cultural and creative industries. Our findings showed that there is an agile group of mostly small, highly innovative, firms that combine cultural and digital skills to meet market demand. Cape Town was chosen for a pilot study because […]
Rwandan Instigator Resurfaces after Two Decades
Genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga, indicted in his absence on charges of bankrolling ethnic militias that massacred some 800,000 people in 1994, was brought before a French court on Wednesday. In his first appearance in public in more than two decades, the octogenarian was brought into the courtroom in a wheelchair, dressed in jeans and a […]
Kenya Called Out for Forced Evictions during Lockdown
Authorities have forcibly evicted more than 7,000 people from land in Nairobi slums over the last month, defying a court order. Authorities say they demolished homes because they were built on public land, but critics say mass evictions during a pandemic are inhumane and could further spread the coronavirus. Forty-two-year-old Daniel Ndungu saw the three […]
Maputo’s Impassioned Plea for Help
Mozambique called for regional help in fighting an emboldened group of insurgents in the country’s gas-rich north who have aligned with the Islamic State (IS). The appeal by President Filipe Nyusi is the government’s strongest admission yet that it’s struggling to contain an insurgency that began in 2017 and has grown rapidly in both sophistication […]
Building A Recycling Culture in West Africa
Nigeria’s Recyclan, a tech-enabled recycling company, has established operations across Africa as it collects waste and exports it to the rest of the world. Launched in 2018 by Chime Okwuokenye, Rob Homan and Molawa Adesuyi, Recyclan is on a mission to reduce Africa’s carbon footprint and make the world greener by recycling plastic waste. The […]
Madagascar Provides Safe Deliveries during the Coronavirus Pandemic
The bus is part of a free transport service organized by the United Nations Population Fund and Madagascar’s Ministry of Health. On March 23, President Andry Rajoelina ordered a four-week lockdown in two cities — Antananarivo and Taomasina — as Covid-19 spread in the East African country. As a result, public transport was not allowed. […]
A Team of Robots Joins Kigali’s Frontline
Five humanoid robots have been delivered to Rwanda where they will assist in coronavirus screening, deliver food and drugs to patients, as well as act as video-conferencing links between patients and doctors. Each robot has been given a Rwandan name: Akazuba, Ikizere, Mwiza, Ngabo and Urumuri. Their main purpose was to reduce health workers’ exposure […]
Maseru Welcomes New Prime Minister
Moeketsi Majoro has been sworn in as Lesotho’s prime minister following the resignation of his embattled predecessor. Thomas Thabane’s decision to step down on Tuesday came amid mounting pressure over a case in which he and his current wife are suspected of involvement in the 2017 murder of his estranged wife. They both deny this. […]
Burundi Risks it All to Hold Anticipated Poll
More than five million eligible voters in the east African nation of Burundi headed to the polls Wednesday to choose a successor to longtime President Pierre Nkurunziza. The country is holding its first competitive presidential election since a 1993 civil war, with Nkurunziza stepping down after 15 years in power. But political analysts and rights […]
