Defeating the power of incumbency

While the presidential election was anticipated to be close, there were still doubts that it would be possible to unseat an incumbent president in Nigeria. So when Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) was declared as winner of the election, Nigerian democracy has entered a new stage that will contribute to set the […]

Surviving climate disaster in Africa’s Sahel

For over 30 years the great Sahel Desert region in Africa has been a harbinger of the coming climate disaster our planet is facing and surviving such has become a national priority here in Eritrea on the eastern end of the Sahel; Thomas C. Mountain writes. Remember Michael Jackson and the great Ethiopian drought and […]

Liberians want reforms, says Pres. Sirleaf

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says Liberians, through a series of national consultations, have shown and made clear their strong desire to see adjustments made to Liberia’s 1986 Constitution. Highlighting some of the national consultations where these views resonated, she named Vision 2030, Land Reform and the Decentralization Initiative as a few of the many national consultations […]

Powering Zambia’s rapidly growing capital city

Zambia Electricity Supply Commission (ZESCO) has awarded Aurecon a contract to provide engineering, design and construction supervision services for the USD200 million World Bank funded Lusaka Transmission and Distribution Rehabilitation Project. Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, is regarded as the second fastest growing city in Africa. Its electricity demand has grown at 6% per annum over the previous […]

Speech: A European Union of the People

  Many of the grand statements throughout history have been poetic. But one of the most important sentences in post-war Europe was as bone dry as it was powerful: “The French Government proposes that Franco-German production of coal and steel as a whole be placed under a common High Authority, within the framework of an […]

Nigerian elections: Wind of change blows in 80 hours

In less than 80 hours, Nigerians will make a choice that will not only impact Nigeria but Africa and the world in general for the next four years and beyond.   It is a known fact that Nigerians in the diaspora are being disenfranchised by the constitution of Nigeria and that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-led parliament […]

African rats trained to detect TB

Giant rats may strike fear and disgust into the hearts of homeowners worldwide, but researchers in impoverished Mozambique are improbably turning some of them into heroes. At Eduardo Mondlane University in the capital Maputo, nine giant rats are busy at work — sniffing out tuberculosis-causing bacteria from rows of sputum samples. These are no ordinary […]

Liberia: After-church feeding program continues

An after-church feeding program at a local baptist church in Chocolate City, a community just outside the Liberian capital, Monrovia, will continue for another six months, says a group of former residents of the community now living in the diaspora. The program caters to children every Sunday after worship service at the Chocolate City Baptist Church and has seen an […]

Global water shortage in 15 years, says UN

The planet faces a 40 percent shortfall in water supplies in 15 years due to urbanisation, population growth and increasing demand for water for food production, energy and industry, the United Nations said on Friday. Competition for water between water-thirsty sectors means better management is essential to ensure everybody gets the water they need, said […]

Turkey: African migrants’ hopes turn sour

In a nondescript cafe in one of Istanbul’s more rundown neighbourhoods, migrants from Africa watch a Congolese soccer match as Afro-pop music blasts in the background. “We feel comfortable in here, everyone is from Cameroon or Congo,” Patrick, the leader of an informal Cameroonian community organization, told IRIN. “But outside of this restaurant, it’s a […]