The MVPs of Kenya’s Esports Industry
Once a fringe sport, organized competitive gaming—known as esports—will this year hit revenues of over $1.1 billion with an audience of 474 million people. It’s even up for debate, whether esports will join the Olympics and if it even needs the Olympics given it has built its own legitimacy. Africa is a hub of opportunities […]
Making Eco-friendly Stoves Across West Africa
A clutch of university degrees could have led to a cosy job in Paris. Instead, Ermann Zannou decided he could do more by living closer to the country of his birth, Benin. So he set up Green Ker in Abidjan. Now, his stainless-steel stoves are saving lives. In a large workshop located in Ivory Coast’s […]
Freak Floods Cause Chaos in Egypt
Heavy rain and flooding in southern Egypt has left three people dead and more than 500 others hospitalized from scorpion stings, state-run media reported. Downpours, hail and thunder in the province of Aswan over the weekend forced local authorities to suspend school classes on Sunday, Aswan Governor Major General Ashraf Attia said. The storms forced […]
Abuja’s Economy Takes a Knock
Nigerian inflation slowed to a ten-month low in October, giving the central bank scope to leave interest rates on hold next week. Consumer prices increased 15.99% from a year earlier, compared with 16.63% in September, statistician-general Simon Harry told reporters Monday in Abuja, the capital. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of seven economists […]
South Africa Distances itself from Pageant in Israel
The South African government has said it is distancing itself from a decision by the Miss South Africa pageant organisers to participate in the annual Miss Universe contest, due to be held next month in Israel. The decision on Sunday came after growing calls for the reigning Miss South Africa, Lalela Mswane, to boycott the […]
Eritreans Slapped with Sanctions Over Ethiopia
The Biden administration sanctioned Eritrea’s military and its sole political party for their involvement in the ongoing crisis in northern Ethiopia as Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concern about “the potential for Ethiopia to implode.” These are the first sanctions imposed under a new executive order signed by President Joe Biden to target those […]
Justice is Served for British Family Whose Son was Murdered in Mombasa
A Kenyan court has jailed four police officers for the manslaughter of British aristocrat Alexander Monson, who died in custody after being arrested near Mombasa in 2012. Judge Eric Ogola ruled that Monson was brutally tortured and had cannabis planted on him after he died. He said the officers had covered up what happened to […]
Gaddafi Puts his Name in the Presidential Race
The son of late Libyan strongman Col. Moammar Gaddafi has registered his candidacy for president of Libya. Seif al-Islam Gaddafi submitted his paperwork Sunday in the southern oasis town of Sabha. The move comes ahead of elections set for December 24th. Arab media showed video of Seif al-Islam Gaddafi formally registering to run for president […]
A Community in Somalia Shows How the Informal Sector can Fund Service Delivery
The citizens of volatile regions often play an outsize role in directly financing essential public goods and services. Little is known, however, about how informal revenue generation works in practice and the implications it may have for both development and state building. To better understand informal public finance in fragile contexts, we conducted two pieces […]
Unpacking The Mercer Report
Many African companies have realised that life will never be the same again post Covid-19. Business survival will, to a large extent, depend on how organisations embrace the future, use technology, invest in skilling and re-skilling employees, develop tailor-made employee benefits, incorporate mental well-being into HR models, develop sustainable working models, and embed Environmental, Social […]
