A Transcultural Blend of Jazz, Soul and African Music
Togolese French singer Laura Prince’s début album Peace of Mine is a transcultural blend of jazz, soul and African music. She is pushing for new instrumentation that builds on her dual heritage, and on her many influences from around the world. Prince’s dual Togolese and French sensibilities continue to shape her approach to creating music. […]
Egyptian Startups are the Most Accelerated in Africa
That is according to the newly-released Egyptian Startup Ecosystem Report 2021 from Disrupt Africa, which dives into the local ecosystem by analysing active startups, local support networks, and funding and exit activity over the last seven years. The first geographically-focused publication released by the company, the report is made possible by support from key partners […]
Kenya’s Ambitious Path to Achieving a Zero Emissions Public Transportation System
A startup company called Opibus is on a mission to refit electric engines into diesel and petrol buses that have the capacity to travel over 250 kilometres a day on a single charge. Filip Lovstrom is the Founder of OPIBUS. “We remove the internal combustion engine, we replace that with an electric motor, and then we […]
China Ditches Coal Projects in Zimbabwe
Plans by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, to restore Zimbabwe as one of the fastest developing economies in Africa, have been hit hard by China’s announcement that it will stop funding coal mining projects outside its borders – a precautionary measure to limit carbon emissions, as the world grapples with the crisis of climate change and […]
Insecurity Threatens Gold Mining in Burkina Faso
Terror attacks on gold mining operations in Burkina Faso are becoming a regular occurrence. Burkina Faso is the fastest growing producer of gold in Africa. While informal mining is estimated to employ and indirectly support about 3 million people, large-scale commercial mining by foreign companies brought in $300 million of revenue for the government in […]
Meet the Fastest Group of Siblings in the World
The Dibaba sisters — Tirunesh, Genzebe, and Ejegayehu— are the only siblings in recorded history to hold concurrent world records. Tirunesh is the most decorated, with three Olympic gold medals. She made history at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where she became the first woman to win gold in the 5,000 meters and 10,000-meter races. […]
Senegalese Author Wins Landmark Prize
The Prix Goncourt – the oldest and most prestigious literary prize in France – has been awarded to 31-year-old Mohamed Mbougar Sarr from Senegal. He’s the youngest winner since 1976 and the first from sub-Saharan Africa. Critics have been raving about The Most Secret Memory of Men, his novel about a young Senegalese writer living […]
Kigali’s Switch to Green Vehicles
Ampersand is a startup pioneering Rwanda’s switch to electric vehicles and hopes that over the next five years almost all of Rwanda’s motorbikes will be electric. It is an ambitious dream – there are around 25,000 motorbike taxis operating in Kigali, some driving up to 10 hours a day, often covering hundreds of kilometres daily. […]
Nigeria’s Oil has been More of a Curse than a Blessing
Weak institutions of state and poor governance in managing the vast revenues have led the country to fail to realise its full potential in a textbook example of what academics know as the “resource curse”. The subject of extensive research, the resource curse, or “paradox of plenty”, points to an inverse relationship where wealth brings […]
Macron Returns Benin’s Treasures
France has handed back 26 treasures that were looted from Benin during the colonial period, fulfilling a promise made by President Emmanuel Macron to restore a lost part of Africa’s heritage. Benin President Patrice Talon and Culture Minister Jean-Michel Abimbola travelled to Paris to bring home the artefacts that were snatched by French forces 130 years […]
