Thursday, 22 July 2010 15:04

"In Africa there are three types of presidents: ex-presidents, former presidents and retired presidents. Ex-presidents have been forcibly removed from office, former presidents are those who have been removed from office prematurely because they are unpopular and retired presidents are those who have served their term and left office constitutionally." This is how the retired President of Ghana was introduced at the Highway Africa Conference in Grahamstown, South Africa last week.

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Thursday, 15 July 2010 15:13

While Africa's first World Cup ended in a burst of fireworks, celebration and a seemingly endless flow of pats on the back for hosts South Africa, reality was quick to set in with a tragic double bombing in Uganda targeting World Cup watchers in the dying moments of the final match.

Added to this were threats of a repeat of the 2008 xenophobic attacks in the host country as some Zimbabweans living in South Africa reportedly rushed to the border as rumours of violence refused to die down.

These reality checks can't take away from the success of an African World Cup that was safe, well-organised, well-attended and widely reported to have improved the image of South Africa and Africa abroad, with FIFA President Sepp Blatter awarding the host nation a score of nine out ten for their achievement.

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Tuesday, 13 July 2010 14:58

On the eve of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, an official kick-off concert was held at Soweto's Orlando Stadium with a mix of local, African and international artists. As one of the highlights of the concert, the Somali-born rapper K'naan took to the stage to sing the song "Wavin' flag", an uplifting song about celebration and overcoming the odds that had become a global hit and one of the anthems of the 2010 World Cup.

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Wednesday, 30 June 2010 15:58

On Saturday 26 June 2010, Long Street in Cape Town erupted with the sound of vuvzelas and car horns. People were singing and dancing in the street and giving high-fives to car passengers stuck in the slow moving traffic. Ghana had just beaten the US to become the only African team to reach the quarter finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup^TM and the euphoria in the Cape Town city centre was tangible.

While many of the celebrating fans wore the Ghana colours, a big percentage were wearing shirts supporting the South African national team, Bafana Bafana, with the honking cars still decked out in South African flags. This highlighted one of the most interesting phenomenons of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa - the way South African fans and fans from other African countries have adopted the Ghanaian team as their own.

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Wednesday, 30 June 2010 15:53

The dire state of rich countries' public finances is likely to squeeze aid to Africa in the next few years, although it may be the bitter pill the fast-growing continent needs to wean itself off handouts.

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Wednesday, 02 June 2010 12:59

A widely quoted Tamashek Proverb reads "Riverboats come from the South, Salt camels come from the North, Wisdom and Knowledge reside in Timbuktu." Today, wisdom and knowledge is scattered around the region of Timbuktu, Mali, in the form of an estimated 700 000 historic manuscripts from the celebrated scholars who had turned the city into an ancient centre of Islamic learning.

On Saturday 29 May a state-of-the-art library and research centre, the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Learning and Islamic Research, was officially handed over to the government of Mali by Collins Chabane, South African Minister to the Presidency.

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Thursday, 27 May 2010 00:00

What can I say about Africa that isn't already in the public realm? Where does one start the conversation about the future of 53 countries and a billion people? How do I enumerate the many ways that Africa is rising right before your eyes in just one article? I can't. Instead I will look at one sector that I find particularly fascinating, and that not many people pay enough attention to. It is also the one sector that affects the social and economic development of the whole continent in one way or another.

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Wednesday, 19 May 2010 00:00

Africa's newest architectural miracle is a gigantic stadium in the earthy colours and shape of a calabash, the traditional cooking pot that symbolizes African village life. At night, on the Soweto horizon, it glows like the embers of a slumbering fire, waiting to be stirred into life.

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Wednesday, 12 May 2010 00:00

Time Magazine has recently released their list of the world's most influential people for 2010. Among the laureates are seven Africans who stand alongside the likes of Barack Obama and Steve Jobs as global change-makers. From activists to sports stars, from inventors to big-business leaders, African born heroes and heroines are leaving their mark on the world.

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Wednesday, 05 May 2010 00:00

With the kick-off of the 2010 FIFA World Cup just around the corner the eyes of the world are turning to Africa, as the continent prepares to host the tournament for the first time. With this renewed awareness has come a flurry of football motivated marketing and campaigning, from companies to NGOs everybody is getting behind the World Cup initiative.

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Wednesday, 28 April 2010 00:00

Lewis Pugh is a man for the moment. His steely resolve, tough mental attitude and absolute conviction about climate change is only matched by the extremes of the deadly, icy waters he swims in.

The swimmer, environmental activist and lawyer has pioneered more swims around famous landmarks than any other, and he is the only person to have completed a long distance swim in every ocean of the world.

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Wednesday, 21 April 2010 00:00

The Tree-Nation organisation is inviting people from around the world to sponsor the planting of a tree in Niger, one of the poorest nations on earth. Based in Barcelona, Tree-Nation works in partnership with the UN Environmental Programme to fight climate change by planting indigenous or naturalised trees in areas where the land has been stripped of them.

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Thursday, 15 April 2010 00:00

The South African democracy is 16 years old; a virtuous and impressive accolade considering her violent past and the track record of so many African countries, which descended into anarchy during a change from colonial regimes to locally controlled governments. There was no coup, there was no war, there was no bloodshed, just people standing in lines and casting their vote. A day the old adage "the pen is mightier than the sword" proved true.

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Wednesday, 07 April 2010 14:34

Namibia-based conservationist Laurie Marker, co-founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, is one of two recipients of the 2010 Tyler Prize for environmental achievement. She shares the accolade with academic Stuart Pimm, the Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Pimm is also a regular National Geographic blogger.

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Wednesday, 31 March 2010 15:41

"Growing up I used to watch one of my brothers work on experiments," says Pascaline Fonteh, "and I knew that I also wanted to be a scientist."

Pascaline Fonteh is one of the first regional Fellows of the L'Oréal and UNESCO for Women in Science program in sub-Saharan Africa. The program was started in 1998 by the French cosmetic company and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) based on a shared belief that the world needs science, and science needs women.

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Wednesday, 24 March 2010 00:00

The importance of improved railways for increased regional integration and economic growth in Africa is undisputed. Sudan recently saw the restoration of a railway linking the north to the south of the country for the first time since decades of civil war ripped Africa's largest country apart. The railway, originally built in the 1960's, will now reconnect Darfur and Khartoum in the north to Wau town in the south.

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Wednesday, 17 March 2010 00:00

The DRC with an estimated population of 65 million has the second largest land area in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is rich in natural and human resources and in need of foreign direct investment to re-build an economy stagnated by prolonged civil war.

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Wednesday, 10 March 2010 00:00

The community of Lawaaikamp in the city of George, in the Western Cape, is similar to many other township areas: A community of small houses and dusty streets, the area struggles with poverty, unemployment, crime and drug abuse. And like many others, it is a community that loves soccer.

With less than 100 days to go before the FIFA 2010 World Cup, South Africa's stadiums are receiving high praise from across the world, more than two thirds of the match tickets have been sold, and other infrastructure projects are nearing completion.

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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 00:00

Riders for Health, the motorbike-based charity arm of the MotoGP racing championship, is inviting its supporters to take part in an inspirational ride through Lesotho, where they will help raise funds for the organisation and experience its work first-hand. Experience Africa is touted as "an adventure for the heart and mind". It was launched at the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show in November 2009 by Riders co-founder and multiple MotoGP champion Randy Mamola, and takes to the road in October 2010.

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Wednesday, 24 February 2010 16:57

Historical ties between Africa and Brazil date back many centuries, through the years of the African Diaspora and the Atlantic slave trade. From the 16th century, slaves were spirited away from Central and Western Africa across to North and South America to work as unpaid labour on sugar, coffee, cocoa and cotton plantations, as well as gold and silver mines.

Despite the multitude of parallels between Africa and Brazil, Africa too must decide how it will benefit best from the relationship. We have so many lessons to learn and opportunities to take, and not just from Brazil, but the BRICs as a whole.

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Wednesday, 17 February 2010 16:23

The world was horrified as the tragic events of 12th of January 2010 unfolded. An already struggling Haiti became the victim to one of the worst natural disasters to befall a nation in centuries. The capital of the country, Port-au-Prince, was ravaged by a magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, which has rendered the economy and civil structures of the nation ineffective, and has driven an already struggling population to the brink.

Haiti has strong historical ties with the African continent and this has been evidenced in the messages and aid that African leaders have been offering in support of the earthquake victims.

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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 19:32

In December 2009 a group of Nigerian volunteers took to the streets of a notorious, overcrowded Lagos slum armed with brushes and paint to give the area a much needed facelift. The "Mushin Makeover" saw thousands of people painting 7 streets, 294 houses and 3 kilometres of roadside curb and bus stops in Mushin, an area of Lagos known for its high crime rate.

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Wednesday, 03 February 2010 16:01

Without underestimating the challenges that African people go through on a daily basis as a result of poverty, I am always reminded of a visit to the Eastern Cape province of South Africa a few years ago. After a long drive in the most rural of areas in between small towns, I had occasion to stop at a small and dingy shop to buy refreshments. Having selected all the desired goodies, I headed for the till to pay. Between myself and the man behind the counter stood an elderly woman on whose face was sculptured the narrative of poverty and suffering.

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Wednesday, 27 January 2010 17:11

Africa for the investor is a story of boom and bust, where famine and disease are punctuated by coups and civil wars. For many, its tales of war and diamonds, tribal rivalries, plundered treasuries and secret Swiss bank accounts make it too risky.

But this is changing. The International Monetary Fund believes growth in sub-Saharan Africa will be 1 percentage point above the global average, and puts eight African countries in its top 20 fastest-expanding economies in 2010. Oil-rich Angola and Congo Republic will lead the charge with growth rates of more than 9 and 12 percent respectively, both beating China, according to the IMF's most recent projections.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2010 14:41

In his article "How to Write about Africa" Binyavanga Wainaina looks at the stereotypes that are prevalent in writing based on the African continent and her people. Although presented with great humour and eloquent satire, the article highlights the dangerous discourse that permeates writing around Africa, and how this disempowers the people of a diverse and complex continent.

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