On May 22, member states of the World Health Organization will converge in Geneva to elect a new director-general to lead the 8,000-person global health…
IN THE ARENA
An American documentary captures the odds against being a soccer player from Somalia
After his surprise election in March, the first country the newly-elected chairman of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) visited was Somalia. Ahmad—who only goes…
M-PESA FOR ALL
Safaricom is planning to expand M-Pesa mobile money across Africa
Safaricom is planning to take its successful mobile money service M-Pesa across Africa after building a dominant home base in Kenya and presence in its…
NOT ASLEEP
Robert Mugabe isn’t sleeping through meetings—he’s protecting his eyes from “bright lights”
The 93-year-old president of Zimbabwe is having eye problems. So says his spokesman, George Charamba, who tells local media that he feels “very, very pained”…
ALL FOR ONE
The world’s most successful mobile money market is introducing cross-network transfer systems
Kenya is an undisputed global leader when it comes to mobile money services. In 2007, the telecom operator Safaricom launched its mobile money service M-Pesa…
#COSTOFLIVINGKE
A biting drought and rising inflation are hampering Kenya’s economic growth
Kenya’s rain-fed farming sector is being battered by a severe drought that is curtailing crop production, lifting food prices, and straining the economy. In addition…
EDUCATION IN ACTION
Private education is growing faster than public education in Africa
With the expectation that one in four young African students—or 66 million—will be enrolled in a private school by 2021, the potential for investment and…
MADE IN NIGERIA
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is wearing Nigerian to help promote local designers
Nigeria’s economy has taken a hit over the last two years—slipping into recession for the first time in decades. The problem was compounded by currency…
LONG HAUL
West Africa loses over $2 billion to illegal fishing because governments don’t talk to each other
Greenpeace says poor government communication and coordination is hurting West Africa’s ability to combat illegal fishing, costing it billions of dollars each year in the…
E-SPORT
African video game makers are breaking into the global industry with their own stories
As a teenager, Madiba Guillaume Olivier dreamt of moving from Cameroon to Europe or the United States to pursue his passion for video games. The…
ANOTHER LOSS
Somalia’s youngest cabinet minister has been shot dead
Somalia’s government is investigating the killing of Abass Abdullahi Sheikh Siraji, a rising young politician in the country, who was shot dead in an apparent…
GRIM FUTURE
Ethiopia’s humans rights problems may tank its ambition to become a global apparel center
Ethiopia wants companies that make clothes to view it as one of the world’s most hospitable places to operate. Low employee wages and cheap power…
