The last 18 months have seen a historic decline in development aid budgets from various donor countries, in a period where many of them are earmarking more funds for rearmament. The biggest waves have been made by the abrupt and massive reduction in American aid. Less than a week after President Donald Trump’s inauguration in…
African governments must avoid replacing one dependency with another while building more accountable, fit-for-purpose security systems. Given slow economic growth, a large youth bulge and destabilising external engagement such as from Russia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Africa is set to become more unstable in the next few years. Both the Armed Conflict Location…
The Israeli and Lebanese governments have agreed to renew a ceasefire, both sides said Wednesday, after weeks of deadly fighting between Israel and the militant group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon had imperiled broader negotiations between the U.S. and Iran to end their conflict. The U.S.-brokered deal is contingent on Hezbollah cutting off attacks and evacuating…
From Ebola outbreaks in Central Africa to the complex evacuation of passengers aboard a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) opened its annual assembly on Monday as countries grapple with disease outbreaks, deep funding cuts and growing geopolitical tension. Health ministers and diplomats are in Geneva for the 79th World Health Assembly…
Trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau has substantially raised the monetary thresholds at which mergers must be notified to the Competition Commission, in a move that a senior competition lawyer has said will accelerate many transactions but risks leaving fast-moving tech and artificial intelligence deals beyond the regulator’s reach. In a notice published in…
Jeremy Engelbrecht, Managing Director, SoftiDoc. For banks, insurers and retailers, onboarding customers has long been a time-consuming and costly process, prone to delays and possible errors and risk. AI-enabled automation allows organisations to slash the time taken to onboard new customers, dramatically reduce costs and improve accuracy and efficiency. This is according to Jeremy Engelbrecht,…
Azhar Said, chief data officer at Capitec The era of artificial intelligence is not merely a technological trend but a fundamental shift in the economics of decision-making, where the cost of intelligence is plummeting while the value of human reasoning is reaching an all-time high. Speaking at the ITWeb AI Summit in Johannesburg on Tuesday,…
The German airline says 20,000 short-haul flights would be removed from its schedule through October. Published On 23 Apr 202623 Apr 2026 German aviation company Lufthansa Group says it would cut 20,000 short-haul flights up until October as the Iran war drives up oil prices and deepens worries that some countries may run low on…
From election support in the Central African Republic to patrols in the disputed Abyei region, UN peacekeepers are operating in increasingly volatile environments – but shrinking resources and new threats, including drone warfare, are testing their ability to keep communities safe. Briefing ambassadors in the Security Council, senior Headquarters and field officials warned that peacekeeping…
Snap Inc. has announced a significant workforce reduction, laying off approximately 1,000 employees, which is roughly 16% of its total staff. In a company-wide memo, CEO Evan Spiegel framed the cuts as a move to increase operational velocity by replacing repetitive manual tasks with advanced artificial intelligence. In addition to the layoffs, the company is…
