Coming Out from the Shadows of Nigeria’s Prejudice
Nigeria continues to be largely homophobic, mainly as a result of cultural and religious conventions. Negative perceptions of homosexuality led to the criminalisation of same-sex relations in 2014. The Nigerian environment is therefore toxic for LGBTI people. They become easy prey to oppressive and exploitative state security apparatus. They are also vulnerable to public “moral […]
A Chat with the CEO of Africa’s Best Bank
The Trade and Development Bank (TDB) was named African Bank of the Year 2020 at the African Banker Awards in August. A stellar performance in 2019 comes on the back of a 10-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23% in the Banks’ capital base, with total assets having grown eightfold to $6.7bn and net profits by […]
A Mission to Insure the Homes of Millions of South Africans
Sugar, the company he launched earlier this year, sidesteps the need to produce a title deed by simply asking homeowners to name a replacement value. “They know how much it’ll cost to build a new one. The off-the-peg shack insurance, in contrast to the traditional type he offers for brick homes, is a case in […]
Nigerian Lending Marketplace Gets Noticed
Evolve Credit has raised a pre-seed round of funding to help scale its product, which allows users to compare loans and access unbiased insights from experts. Using Evolve Credit, users can see which loan pays faster, is easier to pay back, and offers the lowest rates, all in one place. The marketplace brings lenders and […]
Protecting Ghana’s Coastline from Disappearing
Ghana has started building seawalls at key points along its shore to stop coastal erosion and protect beaches, communities and historic buildings. But fishermen say the walls make it hard to pull in their nets, while coastal resorts say the walls hurt their businesses. Ben Idun set up a resort in the coastal town of […]
Angola’s President Recovers Bad Debts Created by Previous Administration
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Joao Lourenço estimated that the country lost up to US$24 billion dollars under the former administration of President José Eduardo dos Santos. According to the president, over half of the figure US$13.5 billion dollars, were diverted through fraudulent contracts with state oil company Sonangol, one of Angola’s […]
Zimbabweans Make Tough Choices about How to Allocate their Power Usage
Hit by a combination of man-made and natural challenges, the state power company simply could not generate enough electricity to keep up with demand, forcing it to institute blackouts for up to 17 hours a day. Since last fall, though, routine outages have been minimised to a few hours and only on isolated days, but […]
Lockdowns and Coronavirus Take a Toll on Families
Malawi is seeing a sharp rise in suicide rates this year, with some attributing it to the economic stresses of the Covid pandemic. Malawi police service reports an increase of as much as 57% on the same period last year. Suicide mortality rate (per 100,000 population) in Malawi was reported at 3.7% in 2016 by […]
Africa’s Highest Peak is On Fire
Efforts are continuing in Tanzania to extinguish a fire that has broken out on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa. Members of the Tanzania National Parks Authority (Tanapa) and local people have been struggling to put out the blaze which began on Sunday. Their efforts have been hampered by the altitude […]
Nigerian Citizens Stand Up to A Bully and Win
A controversial Nigerian police unit accused of brutality will be disbanded, following nationwide protests demanding an end to police violence in the country. Nigeria’s Inspector General of Police announced that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, known as SARS, will be dissolved, according to a police statement. “IGP M.A Adamu … has today, 11th October, 2020, dissolved […]
