Something important happened in Kigali last week, and it had little to do with the size of the crowd. At the second edition of the Umurage International Books & Art Festival, held under the theme “The Future Is Written: Human Voices, Intelligent Tools,” African publishers, writers, educators, artists and policymakers asked questions the continent’s book…
Way back in 1901, Western scientists celebrated the sensational ‘discovery’ of a very strange, unicorn-like creature in the dark and humid depths of an African rainforest. Now, more than 125 years later, that famous animal is in trouble, and seemingly slipping off the global conservation radar. Hands up if you’ve ever seen, or heard of,…
South African employees are adopting AI at work faster than their organisations can respond, according to Oliver Wyman research. Short-term risks linked to AI and cyber security have increased significantly, according to Marsh Africa, which this week presented research showing South Africans are adopting AI faster than institutions can respond. Marsh Africa is part of…
Despite demand, the potential of the renewable energy sectors in these countries is being held back by unstable demand, limited localisation enforcement, deficits in decent job creation and persistent gender biases, according to new reports. Far too few countries on our continent have seized the opportunity to leverage the growth in renewable energy demand to…
10 Quarantined After Kenya’s First Ebola Case Kenya is facing its first confirmed Ebola case after a man who travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo died in a Nairobi hospital. Health officials have quarantined ten people who came into contact with him, while tracing 57 others who may have been exposed. Concern is…
Denied Due Process; Some Returned to Danger in Home Countries The United States has sent more than 500 people whom it cannot deport to their own countries, because of the danger they would face, there to various countries in Africa where they have no connections, without giving them a meaningful chance to contest their removals…
As the 2026-27 El Niño intensifies, WFP climate expert Richard Choularton explains why millions could face hunger and food insecurity, which regions are most at risk from droughts, floods and storms, and why early action is essential. WFP has been warning for months about this 2026-27 El Niño. Now that it’s arrived, what are we…
World Cotton Day should measure more than output. It should ask how much manufacturing, employment and African-owned value the continent creates from every bale it grows. A cotton boll is light enough to sit in the palm of a hand. The economy wrapped around it is not. Before cotton becomes a shirt, a uniform, a…
Nairobi — Global integrated services company Alliad has launched the first season of its Empowering Africa podcast, seeking to spotlight practical solutions for translating the continent’s economic potential into sustainable and inclusive growth. The new platform brings together business leaders, entrepreneurs and other changemakers to discuss some of Africa’s most pressing development priorities, including infrastructure,…
Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, has called for a fundamental shift in Africa’s development model, urging the continent to move away from dependence on foreign aid toward trade, investment, entrepreneurship and private sector-led growth. Elumelu made the call during a fireside chat held on the sidelines of the 2026 United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)…
