Africas

More than two dozen prominent names from the acting world — including Susan Sarandon, Cynthia Nixon, The Crown actors Khalid Abdalla and Tobias Menzies, and Game of Thrones stars Charles Dance, Carice van Houten and Lena Headey — have contributed to a series of videos supporting South Africa’s historic case charging Israel with genocide at the International Court of Justice in the Hague. The video series is published by the Palestine Festival of Literature, a British-based cultural association…

South Africa’s luxury goods tycoon Johann Rupert and his family have taken the crown as Africa’s top billionaire after Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote lost the prime spot. According to the latest Forbes billionaire ranking, Mr Rupert and his family are currently the 201st wealthiest in the world, while Mr Dangote is the 219th. The valuation of the wealth of Mr Dangote, who held the first place on the African billionaire ranking for more than 12 years, came under pressure after a major devaluation of the naira by roughly…

As the boat glided through the waters separating Lungi from Freetown in Sierra Leone, Nigerian Afrobeats star Asake’s smash hit—“Terminator”—blared through the speakers. It was a few days before the Sierra Leone presidential election and there was excitement in the air. At the entrance of the Lungi boat terminal, there is a signboard with the bold inscription “Naija Salone”, a catchphrase reflecting the synergy between both countries—“Naija” representing Nigeria and “Salone”, an indigenous Krio expression for…

Homo erectus – which this skull belonged to – was the first hominin species to leave Africa, around 2.1 million years ago. New research shows that when Homo erectus migrated from Africa the climate was wetter and more vegetated in the northeastern part of the continent than it is today. Climate cycles coincided to create a green corridor that our early ancestors probably took advantage of in their migration. Credit: Mizmareck / FlickrA green corridor through the Sahara emerged precisely during the period when our earliest…

Egyptian B2B e-commerce startup MaxAB and Wasoko, a Kenya-based e-commerce player with operations in Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia, are in talks to merge operations, TechCrunch has exclusively learned from multiple sources. They say talks are still ongoing and the agreement hasn’t been finalized yet. The merger talks come as B2B e-commerce companies in Africa continue to scale back operations due to funding scarcity. Wasoko has been no exception: it recently conducted its largest round of layoffs, which…

South African singer Zahara, age 36, has unfortunately passed away. Zahara had a rags-to-riches to story that inspired millions all over the world. She rose from a rural background only to be met with rapid fame with her multi-platinum albums. She had her own unique version of Afro-soul music in her country`s isiXhosa language and in English. Her family confirmed the same news this Tuesday. Zahara`s real name was Bulelwa Mkutukana; she died on Monday. Her family took to `X` (formerly known as Twitter) to post an official…

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures the vivid colors of Lake Natron and Lake Magadi in East Africa, highlighting their unique ecological and geological features. The satellite’s advanced imaging techniques reveal the dynamic environments of these lakes and contribute to environmental monitoring as part of the Copernicus program. Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2023), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGOThe European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures the colorful waters of two…

Employment is extremely low in urban areas, but even lower in former homelands and rural areas. The country still faces place-based economic challenges. (Source: Lochmann (2022) using South Africa National Census). Credit: The Growth Lab at Harvard University A new report by Harvard's Growth Lab finds that South Africa's economy is performing poorly, and its society is facing the consequences of extreme unemployment and…

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain A new report in Nature Geoscience has brought to light the challenge of air pollution levels in Africa and why international action is needed to combat it. Over the last 50 years African nations have suffered from rapidly deteriorating air quality, making their cities some of the most polluted in…

Every evening, bats fly from Kasanka National Park to feed in the surrounding countryside. Credit: Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorThe most accurate estimate yet has been provided by artificial intelligence and computer vision.Each year, a small forest in Zambia transforms into the site of one of the planet’s most astounding natural events. In November, the straw-colored fruit bats undertake a migration from various parts of Africa to a specific cluster of trees in Kasanka National Park. The…