Parts of Africa are facing an unprecedented level of famine. The FAO, or Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has indicated that 4.9 million people, or roughly 40% of the South Sudan region, are in desperate need of food. “Famine is already a reality in parts of South Sudan. Unless we act…
South Africa’s Jacob Zuma is causing controversy once again, this time after ignoring desperate pleas not to disrupt his cabinet. Despite the calls for stability, Zuma dropped the axe and fired five ministers in his cabinet, including the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan. In addition to Gordan losing his job, Zuma also removed Tina Joemat-Pettersson,…
A comedian from Nigeria who has mostly boasted his comedic trade through Instagram and other social networks is now the new brand ambassador for Vomoz Communications, a company that offers airtime and international calling, and the endorsement deal is worth one million dollars. Henry Obiefule, better known as Chief Obi, is an internet sensation whose showbiz dreams…
More than 60 Bridge Academies—low-cost schools that favor a technological approach to pedagogy—have been ordered to stop operating by a high court judge in Uganda. The legal issue stemmed from complaints by education officials who accused the Bridge International Academies of providing substandard facilities and unqualified academic staff. Although the court ruling was issued in November…
A High Court judge in Lagos, Nigeria has issued a ruling that Coca-Cola products could be “poisonous.” The ruling was controversial and has sent shock waves of alarm throughout the country. According to Dupe Atoki, Director General of Nigeria’s Consumer Protection Council, “Fanta, Sprite and Coca-Cola have arguably and consistently been the most widely consumed beverages in…
Lagos, Nigeria, is surrounded by water, but only 1 in 10 Nigerians have access to the public water utility. Instead, most people rely on boreholes they drill themselves, or they collect water from nearby sources. Those who can afford it purchase water from suspect water vendors, or Mai Ruwa. This water is often unsanitary,…
Recently an African pastor, Emmanuel Momoh, of Sierra Leone found one of the largest diamonds ever unearthed. The 709 karat diamond was discovered by the pastor in the region of Kono, which is a diamond-rich area. At 709 karats, the diamond is the thirteenth largest diamond ever found. The largest diamond ever mined was…
Everyone knows the catastrophic impact of the ivory trade on elephants across the world. This year alone, a rare tusker elephant was slaughtered by poachers in Kenya’s Tsavo National Park. This is not a new phenomenon; for centuries, trophies of big kills have decorated hunting halls, castles, and homes. In an unusual twist in response…
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became Africa’s first female elected head of state and the world’s first elected black female president in 2005. She was also elected in 2016 to be Chair of the Economic Community of West African States. In 2011, she received the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia…
By the end of this decade, citizens of African nations expect to be recipients of a new travel document that will allow them to move freely across the Continent and without the bureaucratic process of applying for entry visas—a move that is in stark contrast to the Brexit referendum, which could see the United…
