South Africa’s Film Industry Ditches the Old Way of Doing Things
South Africa’s film industry is the oldest in Africa and one of the oldest in the world, having started in 1896, soon after the Lumiere brothers’ famous first commercial film screening in 1895. The industry is one of the more established and commercially viable on the continent. It doesn’t produce as many films as Nigeria’s […]
Khartoum Takes Charge of its Peanut Value Chain
Sudan has surprised its international customers by banning the export of raw peanuts. The country is one of the world’s leading peanut producers, but has decided it wants to process raw nuts within the country and export what it claims will be more profitable secondary products. Many of Sudan’s leading exporters companies were wrongfooted by […]
Meet the Leader of South Africa’s Old School Pride Activism
Growing up in 80s Soweto, Beverley Ditsie was immersed in the struggle against apartheid. But she knew racial oppression was only part of the fight – and organised the first Pride march in Africa. On her 16th birthday, Ditsie decided to have a coming-out party. One of her friends there told her about Simon Tseko […]
Gaborone Considers Firepower to Battle Poaching
Botswana has decided to re-arm its wildlife rangers as the southern African country battles increased cases of poaching. In the last six months, at least 17 poachers have been killed in gunfire exchanges with the army. The government had disarmed wildlife rangers in 2018, saying that under the law, only the military was allowed the […]
Migrant Tragedy Raises the Alarm about Rescue Missions
At least 45 people including five children died earlier this week in the worst shipwreck reported so far this year off Libya’s coast. In a joint statement, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN’s refugee agency (UNHCR) said 37 survivors from Monday’s shipwreck reported that at least 45 others had died when the […]
Ghanaian Entrepreneur Creates Tool to Spot Fake Consumables
For more than a decade, Sproxil’s mobile authentication technology, called “Defender,” has helped consumers detect counterfeit medicines. Now the US startup is using its technology to spot fakes in all kinds of industries — from agriculture to beverages. Ghana-born entrepreneur Ashifi Gogo, who moved to the United States in 2001 as a student, founded the […]
DRC’s Peace Activist Threatened
The international community has strongly condemned the death threats against Congolese Nobel Peace Prize winner Denis Mukwege. Mukwege, 65, has recently faced a barrage of threats over his campaign for accountability, justice, and end to violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In a tweet last week, he condemned the relentless violence in the […]
How Dance Pirouetted this Nigerian Boy’s Life
Eleven-year-old Anthony Mmesoma Madu, Nigeria’s viral ballet dancer, has received multiple scholarships from around the world to pursue his passion. One of those scholarships came from the prestigious Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School at American Ballet Theatre in the US. As Anthony prepares to embark on a journey of a lifetime in 2021, he describes how […]
Efforts to Flatten the Curve in Africa Seem to be Working
Africa is beginning to slowly “bend the curve” of COVID-19 infections as measures like mask-wearing and social distancing slow down the spread of the pandemic on the continent, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. Although the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak was slow in Africa in the early stages of […]
Mali Update: What Will ECOWAS Do?
West African presidents plan to fly to Mali as regional powers escalate efforts to block a coup-driven regime change, after an opposition coalition there joined the junta in rejecting foreign interference. Leaders of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convened over the crisis on Thursday, after it suspended Mali, shut off borders and […]
