A DECADE after mobile phones began to spread in Africa, they have become commonplace even in the continent’s poorest countries. In 2016 two-fifths of people in sub-Saharan Africa had mobile phones. Their rapid spread has beaten all sorts of odds. In most African countries, less than half the population has access to electricity. In a third of those countries, less… Read more »
NAIROBI, Kenya — A month after the Trump administration formally lifted decades-old sanctions against Sudan, a top official said on Thursday that the United States would consider removing Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation that has been in place since 1993. The step, which is contingent on further cooperation by Sudan with Washington, would further… Read more »
In our series of letters from African journalists, Elizabeth Ohene argues that African identities remain in thrall to the continent’s colonial past. English-speaking Cameroon has been on my mind. Agitation for its secession has led me into paths I rarely stray into. I am a great believer in African countries needing to get on with it and not blaming things… Read more »
When one of the architects of Zimbabwe’s low-key coup landed in Beijing last week he was met by two of the most senior members of the world’s largest military force. “China and Zimbabwe are all-weather friends,” the head of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF), Gen Constantino Guveya Chiwenga, was told by Li Zuocheng, chief of the joint staff of China’s… Read more »
In America you can clearly see a gap within gender when looking at jobs, government positions, and overall society related activities. Unfortunately, America isn’t only the country like this. In Africa it is much much worse to an entire new scale of things. Most of East African countries are not only ranked as some of the worst countries that experience… Read more »
Kenya’s retail sector is still among the most attractive for long-term investors in sub-Saharan Africa despite cash flow challenges that have left giant Nakumatt Holdings on the brink of collapse, a new report has suggested. The interest is largely fuelled by the sector’s growth. It has outperformed the economy in the last five years due to rising households’ disposable income,… Read more »
The baby lying under a red printed blanket is gasping for air. Her tiny chest is convulsed with the effort of drawing oxygen into her lungs and,as her mother looks on helplessly, her pupils roll back under half-closed eyelids. Sumea, six months old, from Lodwar, Kenya, is suffering from the disease parents here fear the most: pneumonia. Without treatment, she… Read more »
Consider this: gender inequality is costing sub-Saharan Africa $95 billion annually in lost revenue. In a corporate setting, that extent of losses would call for a serious reset of the business’s operational approach. Despite stupendous advancements in science and technology, it has taken mankind two millennia to fully realize the critical role of women in the global social and economic… Read more »
Sudanese music star Hawa Mohammed Adam hopes the lifting of US trade sanctions means she will no longer have to travel to Egypt to receive life-saving treatment for cancer. She was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and her extended family, friends and fans raised the money to send her to Cairo. Her cancer initially spread because old scanning machines… Read more »