Following in the footsteps of its Ottoman forefathers, Ankara sees Africa as a core part of its global political and economic engagement ANALYSIS | RAPHAEL PARENS & MARCEL PLICHTA | Turkey is not the largest power interested in Africa. Its economic engagement, arms sales, and foreign aid are dwarfed by one …
Read More »Tackling Africa’s vaccine supply and demand puzzle
How should continental vaccine manufacturers handle complex dynamics of supply and demand? ANALYSIS | The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufactures 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. Africa currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since …
Read More »Trump eyes DR Congo minerals
President Tshisekedi, visiting American senior advisor, discuss minerals-for-security deal COVER STORY | IAN KATUSIIME | Finally, African countries know that unlike in his first term where they hardly mattered, U.S. President Donald Trump this time has the continent on his agenda. Just as in his first term, President Trump has delayed …
Read More »Africa CDC: Mpox deaths reach 1,724 in Africa since 2024
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA | Xinhua | The death toll from Africa’s ongoing mpox outbreak has reached 1,724 since the beginning of 2024, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). During an online media briefing on Thursday evening, Ngashi Ngongo, chief of staff and head of …
Read More »The Name We Lost: Reclaiming the African woman’s identity
COMMENT | Gertrude Kamya Othieno |The World has recently celebrated International Women’s Week. African women must ask: What exactly are we celebrating? While progress in leadership, education, and economic inclusion is praised, one fundamental loss remains overlooked; the erasure of the African woman’s identity through imposed naming traditions and subjugation. Across …
Read More »Tariff escalation holding back African industrialisation, UN finds
The report finds African governments impose average export tariffs of more than 13% on finished consumer goods, compared to under 4% for primary goods ANALYSIS | JOHN BASQUILL | Tariff structures in developing markets are holding back efforts to add value domestically and export finished goods, limiting firms’ access …
Read More »Africa’s bumpy road to vaccine independence
How continent is navigating decades-old obstacles to build robust vaccine industry ANALYSIS | The African Union has embarked on one of its most audacious health security missions: Ensuring that the continent manufacture 60% of its own vaccines by 2040. It currently manufactures a lowly 1% of the vaccines. However, since April …
Read More »Telecom experts push for lower cross-border call charges in Africa
The workshop urged regional governments to accelerate policy alignment to extend affordable mobile services to all member states Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Telecommunications experts have called for urgent policy changes to cut the cost of cross-border mobile services in Africa, as the continent moves towards a seamless digital market. …
Read More »China’s growing influence in Africa
Maps showing it distort reality – but some risks are real ANALYSIS | BRENDON J. CANNON | Global power dynamics in Africa are shifting, with China eclipsing the influence of the U.S. and France. China has become Africa’s single largest trading partner. In response, media and policymakers in traditionally dominant states …
Read More »Africa’s filmmakers accelerate action for gender empowerment
NAIROBI, KENYA | THE INDEPENDENT | “Lights, Camera, Empowerment: Celebrating Women in Film for International Women’s Month” As the world celebrates International Women’s Day this month, the film and television industry is revealing itself as a powerful arena of gender transformation, and a highly effected vehicle for empowering women. This especially …
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