Botswana’s standing with China may be on the rocks. The Dalai Lama, who Beijing views as a separatist for his advocacy of Tibetan independence from…
UP IN THE AIR
A luxury “air cruise” is bringing wealthy Chinese to Kenya for $45,000 a ticket
Crystal Skye, a luxury Boeing 777, will take its maiden flight from Hong Kong to Kenya at the end of September. Passengers on the 10-day…
BACK ON THE RAILS
Uganda’s Chinese-built high speed railway will cost even more than Kenya’s did
Kenya launched its first high speed railway last month, a rail link connecting Nairobi and the port city of Mombasa, that cost about 327 billion…
DIY
A minimalist Japanese architect is designing homes for refugees that they can build themselves
Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, known for making cathedrals and concert halls out of paper, is designing 20,000 new homes for refugees in northwest Kenya. Ban,…
MISSING PERSONS
A high school robotics team from Burundi has gone missing in the US
A high school robotics team from Burundi has gone missing after an international competition in Washington. The six teenagers appear to have left on their…
FAIL TO SUCCEED
Alibaba’s Jack Ma says African entrepreneurs should learn from failure not success
On his first trip to Africa, Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, spoke in Nairobi on Thursday (July 20) about the value…
A startup is making a “Pokemon Go” game based on the movements of real animals
Over the course of five months, Manyara, a 26-year-old elephant in Tanzania, traveled 695 kilometers with her herd of elephants. They stayed close to a…
KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER
China is training Africa’s next generation of transport and aviation experts
China is moving beyond building Africa’s roads, railways and ports to investing in the continent’s transportation and aviation industries as a whole. Plans to build…
LAVISH
France wants to jail the luxury-loving playboy son of Africa’s longest serving president
A French prosecutor has asked a court to sentence the vice president of Equatorial Guinea to three years in prison for embezzling $115 million from…
REDESIGN
African countries want to turn their poor, overcrowded urban centers into “smart cities”
Kigali, Rwanda Vision City, Rwanda’s largest housing project, sits on a hill overlooking the rest of Kigali. Its rows of whitewashed villas and townhouses stand…
DEMOCRACY NOW
Rwanda’s opposition candidates finally have a voice—but no real shot at the presidency
Kigali, Rwanda Diane Shima Rwigara, a 35-year-old accountant from Kigali, declared her presidential bid at a hotel in downtown Kigali. Seated alone behind a wooden…
BONA FIDE
Citizens of six Muslim countries can escape Trump’s travel ban if they meet one of these conditions
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court said it would allow the government to implement parts of its suspended travel ban against citizens from six…
