John Iliffe, the distinguished scholar renowned for his life’s work in African history, died on 20 August 2026 at the age of 87. He shed light on big themes in Africa’s history. His 12 books were scrupulously researched, many of them being pioneering works that set out new areas of scholarship. He taught hundreds of…
Addis Ababa — Ethiopia’s progress in infrastructure, urban development, agricultural transformation and climate resilience has earned praise from African experts, who say the country is offering practical lessons for the continent’s development agenda. In an exclusive interview with ENA, Principal Programme Officer for Agriculture and Rural Transformation at the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Clement…
Reformers keep asking governments to raise the ceilings on where domestic institutional capital can go. The ceilings are nowhere near being reached and one December in Ghana explains why. This article is published on African Arguments ahead of the African Development Summit which takes place on 18 September 2026. Nigeria’s pension regulator permits funds to…
Facing a projected shortage of more than six million health professionals by 2035, African countries are stepping up efforts to strengthen their workforce, with a new decade-long plan announced on Wednesday during a meeting of health ministers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Key points The new plan calls for coordinated investment to ensure countries have a…
Local cotton manufacturing moves into surgical textiles as Africa seeks import alternatives and channels more fibre into homegrown factories. African manufacturers are increasingly turning locally grown cotton into high-value medical textiles, offering a domestic alternative to raw exports and expensive imports. The shift is still small compared with the size of the continent’s cotton industry….
A man looks inside the Changan Deepal S05 REEV during a press conference for the unveiling of the Chinese model at the WesBank Festival of Motoring. Nqobile Dludla/Reuters Chinese car makers launched a raft of electric, hybrid and bakkie models at South Africa’s biggest motor show last week, betting on growing demand for electrified vehicles…
The AfCFTA offers African cotton, textile and clothing businesses the opportunity to build cross-border production networks, attract investment and retain more value on the continent. And it can do so while providing the shared rules and larger market needed to strengthen factories and trade corridors. More than five years after trading began under the African…
When energy minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said recently that “coal is going nowhere” and that scientists were perfecting technology to burn it cleanly, he was making two promises at once. The first is political: that South Africa will not abandon the resource that still keeps the lights on, nor the communities that mine it. The second…
BSG and Technologies founder Bonisiwe “Thandoh” Gumede with Iris. Image: Supplied At the launch of Iris in Durban in August last year, government’s own news service reported the commitment that the AI humanoid tutor would be in every classroom in South Africa by the end of that October. Eleven months past that deadline, five schools…
Africa has a proud history in the men’s football tournament at the Olympic Games, highlighted by gold medals for Nigeria in 1996 and Cameroon in 2000. The Under-23 tournament has seen reputations forged and a number of star names from the continent come to the fore in the pursuit of Olympic success. With the draw…
