Africa: Navigating the 2026 El Niño – Turning Forecasts Into Early Action in the Horn of Africa

Africa: Navigating the 2026 El Niño – Turning Forecasts Into Early Action in the Horn of Africa

The Horn of Africa is approaching the final months of 2026 with an increasingly important climate signal that is a strengthening El Niño that could bring substantially wetter conditions to parts of the region while increasing the risks of flooding, landslides, crop damage, disease outbreaks and infrastructure disruption. El Niño is a recurring climate phenomenon…

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Africa: Navigating the 2026 El Niño – Turning Forecasts Into Early Action in the Horn of Africa

Africa: Early Mammals Weren’t All Loners, As Scientists Thought – Some Already Lived in Pairs Alongside the Dinosaurs

About 200 million years ago, furry little egg-laying creatures evolved the ability to feed their offspring with a secretion from some special glands: milk. Their evolutionary journey continued and by about 160 million years ago, the first mammals with a real placenta had come into being. Instead of laying eggs, they gave birth to live…

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Africa: Navigating the 2026 El Niño – Turning Forecasts Into Early Action in the Horn of Africa

Africa: The Soil’s Early Warning System – Microbes Can Predict Desertification Before Plants Start to Die

Microbial ecology (the study of how tiny microbes interact with each other and their environment) underpins the health of every ecosystem on Earth. The microbes living in soil recycle nutrients, support plant growth and help ecosystems respond to environmental change. In this explainer, microbial ecologist Marc Van Goethem tells us why microbes are critical to…

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Nedbank COO Nkuhlu takes early retirement

Nedbank COO Nkuhlu takes early retirement

Mfundo Nkuhlu, Nedbank COO. Mfundo Nkuhlu, chief operating officer (COO) of Nedbank Group and executive director of Nedbank Group Limited and Nedbank Limited, has elected to take early retirement at the end of the year, having reached the age of 60. In a statement, the bank says Nkuhlu joined Nedbank in April 2004 as managing…

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AI-powered app aims to boost early childhood learning outcomes

AI-powered app aims to boost early childhood learning outcomes

The Unlimited Child has launched an AI-powered app to assist learners in low-resource environments. The Unlimited Child, a South African early childhood development (ECD) non-profit organisation, has launched an AI-powered app designed to provide personalised coaching, classroom support and monitoring for practitioners. The app, built for low-resource and offline environments, delivers AI-generated development plans, classroom preparation tools,…

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