There are plenty of innovators, scientists and inventors in Africa doing remarkable work today. So why does the myth of Africa being devoid of scientific innovators persist?
MTN Nigeria has been hit with a giant fine for failing to comply with the country’s regulations.
Reuters/George Esiri
Nigeria has imposed massive fines on two large multinational corporations. The fines have one thing in common – the seeming lackadaisical attitude to regulation and regulators.
African governments have some hard decisions to make if they want to breathe new life into the ‘Africa Rising’ narrative.
Shutterstock
Africa needs to navigate the difficult economic waters that lie ahead without undoing the gains of the past two decades. Success will require difficult political choices.
Nigeria’s Nollywood ranks second to India’s Bollywood in terms of films produced each year.
Reuters
The world’s third-largest movie industry in Nigeria is in danger of collapse. It is not to do with patrons staying away from the films. It is caused by a menace right in the heart of the industry.
Workers prepare pipes to service an oil well.
Reuters/Shamil Zhumatov
South Sudan is not the only oil-dependent country suffering from the fall in oil prices. Nigeria and Angola are also having difficulties. One solution is for them to diversify their economies.
Many developing countries are highly urbanised but lack large industrial sectors.
Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye
Developing countries, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa, are urbanising without industrialising, a trajectory that leaves them with relatively higher poverty rates and share of slums.
Kenya’s Supreme Court judges file into the chamber during the opening of parliament.
Reuters/Noor Khamis
The electorate and those involved in public governance should focus more on how judges are appointed. This is because they need to make sure that individuals of the highest quality get the job.
The oil fields in the Niger Delta are regularly sabotaged by people living in communities surrounding the fields.
Reuters
Nigeria’s economy is indeed under severe strain but sub-Saharn Africa’s most populus nation won’t solve its economic problems via an emergency national confab.
Without the perfect-storm conditions of post-invasion insurgency, this most potent expression of al-Qaedaism yet would never have risen to dominate both the Middle East and the world in the way that it does.
Reuters/Stringer
The final article of our series on the historical roots of Islamic State examines the role recent Western intervention in the Middle East played in the group’s inexorable rise.
When talking about the role that higher education can play in developing Africa, it’s important not to forget the continuing and crucial role of the continent’s flagship universities.
A truck bearing the image of Uganda’s President Museveni.
Reuters/James Akena
Regular changes of government through free and fair elections that reflect the wishes of the majority of citizens are a critical component of democratisation. But how significant are polls in Africa?
Champagne being served in a bar on McCarthy Street in Lagos.
Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye
It’s easy to dismiss Africa as a place that is, at best, a provider of commodities, land and labour. A closer look shows that the continent is innovative and offers a lot more opportunities.
A raft of logs in the Lagos lagoon where wood, a form of biomass, is the sole source of energy for many who don’t have access to power.
Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters
Sustainable development is one of the priorities of Nigeria’s new government. This is an opportunity to combat problems detrimental to the country’s economy and ecosystems.