By Douglas Okwatch This report is a slightly modified version of the original published in the January 2024 issue of Africa Renewal. NAIROBI | 3 February 2024 (IDN) — Digital technologies will be key in addressing the three persistent problems in Africa’s agricultural industry—inefficiency, exclusivity, and unsustainability, according to the 2023 Africa Agriculture Status Report, […]
ECOWAS: Behind the Surprise Exit of Three Countries
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA | 1 February 2024 (IDN) — Mali and Burkina Faso obviously have a lot more in common than squaring off in a game of football like they just did in the Round of 16 knockout stage of the […]
Auction of Mandela’s Belongings Slated for February
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 29 January 2024 (IDN) — Some 70 treasured belongings of former South Africa president Nelson Mandela are slated to travel to New York next month for an auction sale that sparked a firestorm between his eldest daughter Makaziwe Mandela-Amuah, his son and South Africa’s Heritage and […]
Zimbabwe Opposition Leader Quits, Blames Election Fraud
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 29 January 2024 (IDN) — Zimbabwe’s popular opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, has resigned from the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), saying his party had been “contaminated” and “hijacked” by an imposter who fraudulently removed dozens of his party members and councilors without the party’s consent. “I […]
Start-Ups Powering Up Africa’s Solar Energy Ecosystem
By Finbarr Toesland This report was published in Africa Renewal. LONDON | 27 January 2024 (IDN) — Often referred to as the “Sun continent,” Africa receives more hours of bright sunlight than any other continent. But even with 60 per cent of the world’s solar resources, Africa has only one per cent of solar generation […]
A Crisis-Stricken Africa Described as “Epicentre” of Terrorism
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 27 January 2024 (IDN) — The African continent, comprising 55 states with a total population of over 1.4 billion people, continues to undergo a rash of political, economic and humanitarian crises—including food shortages, poverty, a breakdown in the health care systems, along with droughts and floods triggered by climate […]
French Police Found Guilty of Racist Brutality, but Sentence is Light
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 22 January 2024 (IDN) — Three officers who received suspended jail sentences over their violent assault of a French Black man are symbols of out-of-control racist police violence tolerated by the government in France. The officers were convicted on 19 January of “voluntary violence” towards the […]
Ghana Blocks Student Confab of the ‘Nkrumahs of Africa’
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | ACCRA | 22 January 2024 (IDN) — Ghana’s political leaders are facing heat for their last-minute cancellation of a conference of students and populist leaders, one activist called “the Nkrumahs of Africa.” After receiving news of the last-minute cancellation, hundreds of student leaders, locked out of […]
Gaza War: How South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel Is Shaping Up
By Carlo Aldrovandi* The writer is an Assistant Professor in International Peace Studies at Trinity College, Dublin. DUBLIN | 17 January 2024 (IDN) — Over the past few days, South Africa has made its case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, accusing the Israeli government of committing genocide with its 100-day assault […]
MLK Would Have Backed a Ceasefire in Palestine, Daughter Bernice Maintains
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 15 January 2024 (IDN) — The many familiar words and deeds of Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most important and influential civil rights leaders in the United States, will be recalled this month by people of diverse ages, beliefs and nationalities. King also advocated […]