Are Mobile Operators The Next Fintech Startups?
Eric Osiakwan Africa’s leading Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), MTN, Vodacom and Safaricom, have recently made bold plans to venture into the increasingly dynamic world of fintech. On 23rd June 2021, Safaricom launched its super app, which creates an ecosystem of mini apps from the network operator as well as third party apps that feed off […]
Charcoal Production Risks Future of Zimbabwe’s Native Forests
By Busani Bafana once a week a tonnage of fresh charcoal is dropped off at Sibangani Tshobe’s rugged, pit-stop stall by a hired, battered old Bedford lorry. Small, makeshift trolleys — nicknamed Scania’s — quickly cart off small loads and disappear into Old Pumula, the oldest suburb in the country’s second-largest city of Bulawayo. Electricity blackouts have […]
A Basic Guide to Start Investing – How to Build Wealth in Africa
Written by Lewis Humphries, freelance journalist Like most developing countries across the globe, a lot of countries in Africa are presenting a raft of exciting investment opportunities across a range of markets. To this end, new research from PwC projects that the value of traditional assets under management in 12 African markets peaked at around […]
Making Inroads In The Manufacturing Sector
By Tanya McClean Making inroads in the manufacturing sector Both young entrepreneurs in the chemicals industry, Andile Mncwabe, 27 and Kwakho Madikwa, 27 were determined they were not going to end up sitting up home, being a statistic among unemployed youth. Mncwabe, who is based in a rural area just outside Greytown, said she started […]
The Scientific Study of Tattooed Mummies
For thousands of years, tattoos were more than just body decoration for Inuit and other Indigenous cultures. They served as symbols of belonging, signified coming-of-age rituals, channeled spiritual beliefs or conferred powers that could be called upon while giving birth or hunting. Yet starting around the 17th century, missionaries and colonists intent on “civilizing” Indigenous […]
Maghreb Farmers’ Lifeline Cut Off
The main crossing between Morocco and Algeria is called Zouj Beghal, which translates as “Two Mules”. Legend has it that a pair of mules were harnessed to a yoke in Morocco and ordered to march eastwards until they effectively traced what would end up being the borders that delineate Morocco and Algeria. Naturally, the border […]
Plea to Protect Ivorian Cashew Producers
Cashew nut processors in Ivory Coast have asked for government aid and protection from competition coming from deeper-pocketed Asian exporters that they say are driving them towards bankruptcy. The Ivory Coast Cashew Industry Group (GTCI), which represents 15 cashew processors, said in a letter to the sector regulator on June 23 the companies have only […]
Another Kidnapping Makes Headlines in Nigeria
About 140 students are missing after armed men raided a boarding school in Nigeria’s Kaduna state on Monday, and police said they were in hot pursuit alongside military personnel. The attack is the 10th mass school kidnapping since December in northwest Nigeria, which authorities have attributed to armed bandits seeking ransom payments. Police said gunmen […]
Trailblazing Archaeologist Puts South African Women in SET on the Map
South African archaeologist and biological anthropologist Keneiloe Molopyane, also known as Bones, was recently named a 2021 Emerging Explorer by the National Geographic Society. The 33-year-old first made a name for herself as a member of the second group of “underground astronauts” — so called because “we are going into spaces that very few people […]
Why Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is Under-performing
Many reasons have been put forward for this state of affairs. These have ranged from the continent’s biophysical environment to the ineptitude of its farmers. Several aspects of Africa’s environment present challenges for its farmers. Rainfall patterns are extremely varied and unpredictable. African soils are geologically very old, and most are infertile and respond poorly […]
