By Busani Bafana BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (IDN) – Horticulture farmer Prosper Chikwara, grows cabbages, spinach and kale on the idyllic family farm, 20km north of the city of Bulawayo. Word of mouth is no longer enough to sell his produce. He now grows on order because it no longer guaranteed there will be buyers at his […]
COVID-19 Crisis Underlines the Importance of Economic Diversification in Africa
Business as Usual Will Only Reinforce Economic Hardship Viewpoint by Njuguna Ndung’u* NAIROBI (IDN) – Africa’s low level of economic diversification is a leading factor in the continent’s economic fragility. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the risks of countries’ over-dependence on a single natural resource such as oil. Africa is endowed with abundant natural […]
U.S. Effort to Block Ethiopian Dam Recalls Legacy of British Colonialism
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Based on guidance from President Trump, the State Department is suspending $130 million in security-related aid to Ethiopia over a nearly-completed dam that would lift Ethiopia from poverty and end the shadow of British colonialism that favoured Egypt. Programs on the chopping block include security […]
Shakespeare Festival in South Africa Performed by An All Woman Cast
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | JOHANNESBURG (IDN) – “Theatre will rise again,” declared James Ngcobo, artistic director of the renowned Market Theatre in Johannesburg. “COVID hasn’t stifled our passion, just moved it into another space.” This month, Ngcobo is spotlighting speeches from some of Shakespeare’s iconic plays, mostly written for male […]
Senegal Sees Dollar Signs in New Construction Underway in Dakar
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | DAKAR (IDN) – Can a fish and peanut-based economy ramp up to become a world-class industrial powerhouse when money is tight and oil discoveries may not bring the hoped-for rewards? That’s the question for Senegalese people to consider as hopes placed in their president, Macky Sall, […]
Migrants Prefer Returning to Libya Than Staying in Tunisia
By Morgane Wirtz* This year, hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers settled in Tunisia have packed up to risk their lives again in Libya. For them, “It is better to die for something than to live for nothing”. BRUSSELS (IDN) – It is a large white house with blue shutters in Al-Maharas, a small town […]
Legal Loopholes May Deny Mauritius Much-Needed Oil Spill Clean-Up Funds
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Just over a month since a cracked shipping vessel leaked over a thousand tons of dirty oil, blanketing the pristine sands of the East African island of Mauritius, authorities have now arrested the ship’s captain for unsafe navigation. He faces a sentence of 60 years […]
African Women’s Groups Decry Spike in Sexual Violence Tied to Pandemic
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – As the number of cases of the coronavirus inched up in Africa this summer, another number was reaching new heights with less notice. In Nigeria, Liberia, Morocco and South Africa, protestors have been taking to the streets demanding urgent action against the surge in rape […]
Zambian Writer, ‘A Role Model for A Generation’, Tapped for Cultural Prize
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – This year’s Goethe Medal has been awarded to African writer and publisher Zukiswa Wanner, Elvira Espejo Ayca of Bolivia and Ian McEwan of the U.K. for their commitment to international cultural exchange. Zukiswa, a writer, journalist and publisher, is the author of the novels The […]
Concerted Campaign to Protect Nairobi National Park
By Dominic Kirui* This article was originally published on Waging Nonviolence and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. NAIROBI (IDN) – The Nairobi National Park is a rare gem that defines the Kenyan capital and it is the only national park in the world that shares a fence with a […]