All Roads Lead to the Holy City of Touba
Huge throngs of people traveled in recent days to Touba, 120 miles west of Senegal’s capital of Dakar, for West Africa’s largest religious gathering — the Magal — which commemorates the exile of a Muslim spiritual leader. It is expected to be one of the biggest events to be held anywhere in the world since […]
Tanzanian Agri-tech Startup Gets Major Funding
Kilimo Fresh, a digital distributor of fresh produce to hotels, restaurants, supermarkets, institutions, wholesalers and export markets, was in August named winner of the MEST Africa Challenge, winning US$50,000 in equity investment. Kilimo Fresh is a B2B produce distribution platform that connects smallholder farmers and produce buyers to a fair and reliable market, enabling buyers […]
Regreening Africa Aims to Resolve Land Degradation
In sub-Saharan Africa approximately 83% of people depend directly on land for survival. However, approximately two-thirds of the continent’s productive land is degraded – it has lost its productive capacity – to some degree. This is driven by years of overgrazing, inappropriate agricultural practices, extreme weather events and the conversion of forest land into farm […]
Chakwera’s 100 Days: Expectations vs Reality
Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera has backtracked on his campaign promise to create one million jobs, saying the government can only employ 200,000 people. President Chakwera said the government could not create jobs on its own and needed the private sector’s help. He said every entrepreneur needed to employ more people. The president spoke during his […]
When it Comes to Medical Ethics, Different Rules Apply to Africa and Europe
At the turn of the 20th century, epidemics of trypanosomiasis, or “sleeping sickness” as it is more commonly known, started to appear across Africa. A vector-borne parasitic disease causing apathy, slow movement, speech disorders, physical weakness and death, sleeping sickness raised alarm among European colonisers on the continent who feared that its spread could slow […]
Can France Repair the Cultural Links with African States?
French members of parliament were voting on Tuesday on the possible restitution of art and cultural treasures to Senegal and Benin. The 26 items of the “Behanzin Treasure”, taken during the looting of the Abomey palace by the French in 1892 are displayed at the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum in Paris, but they could soon […]
Rwandan Hotelier to Be Tried for Forming a Rebel Group
Rwanda’s prosecution says it intends to hold a joint trial of Paul Rusesabagina together with 16 prisoners alleged to be rebel fighters. Rusesabagina, 66, is a founder of the Rwanda Movement for Democratic Change, a coalition of opposition groups, which has an armed wing known as the National Liberation Front. The government accuses the rebel […]
Last French Hostage in Mali Might be Released
Sophie Pétronin, 75, was abducted in Mali in December 2016 and after almost four years in detention is known as the last French hostage in the world. Now, there are reports of her imminent release, alongside a veteran Malian politician, as part of a prisoner swap for more than 100 jihadists. Charity worker Ms Pétronin […]
Cape Town’s Reservoirs have Topped 100% for the First Time in Six Years
A magnificent change in the “Mother City” compared to its dire situation just two years ago. In 2018 Cape Town was on the precipice of becoming the world’s first major metropolitan area to run out of water, prompting what officials referred to as “Day Zero.” A combination of strict water rationing, infrastructure changes and above-average […]
Nigeria’s Rogue Security Unit in the Spotlight
Graphic footage showing officers from Nigeria’s “Sars” police unit dragging two men from a hotel in Lagos and shooting one of them in the street has sparked mass fury across the country and fuelled long-held demands for reform. In the disturbing footage taken by visitors at a hotel and posted on to social media on […]
