Author: Agencies

In early April 2023, Kenyan police discovered a mass grave linked to a Pentecostal church in the coastal town of Malindi. By the end of the month, at least 110 bodies had been dug up from shallow graves in the area’s Shakahola forest. A loss of this magnitude is traumatic and painful for the families and friends directly affected, and also for the public exposed to the details. The level of media attention, public backlash and judgement of the dead makes the experience of the loss even more difficult for those directly concerned. The Shakahola story is being controlled by parties outside the families affected because of…

Rwanda’s ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), recently concluded its 16th congress. This also marked 35 years of its existence. The centre piece, however, was the election as chairman, yet again, of the country’s president Paul Kagame. With 99.9% of the votes – 2,099 of the available 2,102 votes – Kagame was re-elected and put on course to potentially run for yet another electoral term in 2024. The constitution allows Kagame to seek re-election until 2035. That’s a long way off and he has not indicated when he would be willing to usher in a transition from himself. He has acknowledged…

“On this World Press Freedom Day, I would like to congratulate journalists who educate, inform, and engage their communities. We have seen many journalists lately putting themselves at risk, shining a light on sensitive but important service delivery, accountability and human rights issues in communities.” “We also urge duty bearers to view journalists as partners in the fight against crime and barriers to development. More importantly, we call on all state actors to consistently prioritise the protection and justice of Journalists as well as raise awareness about the crucial role that diverse and independent media plays in facilitating inclusive development,” said Crispin Kaheru a Commissioner at…

The First Law of Economics, the joke has it, is that for every economist there exists an equal and opposite economist. The Second Law of Economics is that they are both wrong. Indeed, in my profession it often seems that way. Take my fellow economist David Ndii, who recently wrote a lengthy and well-acclaimed paper making a case for less investment by African governments in infrastructure and more in agriculture. In contrast, in most of my articles and speeches, and in a great deal of my firm’s work, you’ll see a significant emphasis on infrastructure as a means to growth, and on a…

Africa is breaking apart – literally. From the Gulf of Aden in the north, all the way to Mozambique in the south, the African continental plate is splitting along the East African Rift Valley. The two halves of the continent are moving apart by around half a centimetre a year. At this rate, within five to ten million years East Africa will have drifted off to become its own continent. The good news is that the forces deep beneath the Earth’s surface that are responsible for this tectonic divorce provide Africa with a potentially vast supply of renewable energy. At…

Sudan stands on the brink of yet another civil war sparked by the deadly confrontation between the Sudan Armed Forces of General Abdelfatah El-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (“Hemedti”). Much of the international news coverage has focused on the clashing ambitions of the two generals. Specifically, that differences over the integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces into the regular army triggered the current conflict on April 15, 2023. I am a professor teaching at Columbia University and my research focuses on the political economy of the Horn of Africa. A forthcoming paper of mine in the Journal of…

A group of young dancers from Uganda, Triplets Ghetto Kids, went viral across the world when they earned the “golden buzzer” mid-performance on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent. The golden buzzer sends a shower of gold confetti onto the stage – sending the contestants straight through to the show’s final rounds – and it had never been pressed in the middle of a performance before. In fact, the dance group have been an internet sensation for some years already. They dance with contagious positive energy to hit songs with steps by leading choreographers and release videos on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. As a scholar of how African…

Despite an announced humanitarian ceasefire, fighting continues into a fifth day in Khartoum and elsewhere in Sudan. International appeals for renewed talks have so far fallen on deaf ears. The Sudan Amed Forces (SAF) controlled by the head of Sovereignty Council, General Abdel Fattah al Burhan continue to fight for control of key infrastructure with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) controlled by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as ‘Hemedti’, and officially the deputy leader of the military junta. It is to all intents and purposes a violent struggle for power between rival military chiefs. That much is common knowledge. …

So you want to take a break from the chaos and get a good laugh, feel inspired, or a find moments of stillness. We’ve got you covered. South African author and comedian Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime where he pens down captivating tales from his childhood at the tail end of apartheid is good for when you are hankering for heartwarming storytelling filled with laughs. Romance fiction can be emotionally fulfilling, so our list features two very different but equally satisfying reads. If you like your love stories fun, feel-good, and cosmopolitan but also slightly unconventional, Lizzie Damilola Blackburn’s Yinka, Where is Your…

A number of African countries, including Kenya, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana and Zambia, are currently experiencing shortages of US dollars. The dollar is the dominant currency in international transactions. These countries rely on the US currency to pay for foreign debts, essential goods and industrial inputs. Development economist Christopher Adam explains to The Conversation Africa’s George Omondi what causes US dollar shortages and how they can be remedied. What is a dollar shortage? Global trade is conducted in the currencies of the world’s major economic powers, principally the US dollar, the European Union’s euro, the Japanese yen and, to a lesser extent, the Chinese renminbi and the UK’s pound…