Senegal’s First Female Professional Graffiti Artist
When Dieynaba Sidibé discovered graffiti, it was love at first sight. She was 17 and had already begun experimenting with painting and drawing. Her parents wanted her to focus on her studies, but Sidibé, who adopted the name Zeinixx, sought out Senegal’s budding graffiti community, finding her way to the Africulturban cultural association – a […]
The Woman Who Brought Ankara to the Socials
Vibrant. Intricate. Versatile. These are some of the words that come to mind when thinking about Ankara, one of Africa’s most popular fabrics. With roots in Dutch and Indonesia, the fabric has come a long way from gaining reception in West Africa in the 1880s to invading global fashion in recent years. Several things led […]
The World’s Biggest Miner Invests in Tanzania’s Mines
Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP has invested $50m in Tanzania’s Kabanga Nickel, with a further $50m investment agreed subject to conditions, as demand for the metal used to make electric vehicle batteries grows. The investment marks a re-entry into Africa’s mining sector after BHP unbundled Perth-based metals miner South32 in 2015 which operates mines in South […]
Mogadishu Set for the Polls
Somali leaders have struck a deal to wrap up parliamentary elections by February 25, after repeated delays that have threatened the stability of the troubled country. The agreement was reached after several days of talks hosted by Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble with state leaders to try to defuse a bitter political crisis. “The ongoing […]
The Regional Origins of Africa’s Graduates
While several recent papers have highlighted considerable social inequalities in access to higher education in African countries today, there’s little work that looks at how and why such inequalities have changed over time. Research shows that regional inequality fell in the first two decades of independence. However, from the 1980s regional inequality remained stagnant or […]
Gems Coming from the African Cup of Nations
Salima Mukansanga made history at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Cameroon, by becoming the first woman to referee at the men’s tournament. The 33-year-old Rwandan made her officiating debut on Monday. In the past she has presided over matches in the Fifa Women’s World Cup, 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Africa Women’s Cup of […]
Ethiopia’s Ongoing Crisis Shows No Signs of Ceasing
U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Monday, expressing his concern about ongoing hostilities in the country and recent airstrikes that killed dozens of civilians in the Tigray region. The White House said the two leaders “discussed ways to accelerate dialogue toward a negotiated ceasefire” after a year of civil […]
ECOWAS’ Hardened Stance towards Mali
West African nations will close their borders with Mali, sever diplomatic ties and impose tough economic sanctions in response to its “unacceptable” delay in holding elections following a 2020 military coup, the 15-state regional bloc said on Sunday. In a communique issued after an emergency summit in the Ghanaian capital Accra, ECOWAS said this schedule […]
The EU is Lifting Air Travel Bans on Southern African Countries
Following in the footsteps of the UK, US and others in reducing measures they had adopted to curb the spread of covid-19’s omicron variant. In a tweet, France said EU member states agreed on Jan. 10 to lift the restriction to allow air travel to resume with the African countries. Travelers from southern African, it […]
Uganda has Ended the World’s Longest School Closure
Some 15 million pupils have not attended school in Uganda since March 2020 when classrooms were shuttered as COVID-19 swept the world. Education Minister John Muyingo said all students would automatically resume classes a year above where they left off. Child rights groups had criticised Uganda’s decision to keep schools fully or partially shuttered for […]
