Light is the science of the future – the Africans using it to solve local challenges: Light-based technologies have wide practical applications. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY Light is all around us, essential for one of our primary senses (sight) as well as life on Earth itself. It underpins many technologies that affect our daily lives, …
Why aren’t South Africans growing more indigenous crops? How farmers can be nudged to change their ways: Western diets make up most of South Africa’s food systems. This displaces indigenous crops and edible forest plants. The problems created by westernised diets include environmental damage caused by commercial farms. These diets also threaten African food systems. …
6 in 10 young South Africans have no jobs. Why some still reject offers of work: South Africa has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. The official rate is 32%, rising to 42% when discouraged job seekers are included. Among young people aged 15 to 24, unemployment reaches a staggering 60%. While …
Living with multiple chronic conditions cuts lives short – but Africans are overlooked in research: When a person suffers from two or more long-term health conditions at the same time this is known as multimorbidity. The World Health Organization says multimorbidity puts patients at greater risk and complicates primary care. It also drives up healthcare …
600 million Africans don’t have electricity – the green energy transition must start with them: The world is fast transitioning towards renewable energy systems. But in many African countries, this transition is not solving historical inequalities or socio-economic challenges. This is because moving away from fossil fuels is costly and governments have largely not involved …
Slavery, tax evasion, resistance: the story of 11 Africans in South America’s gold mines in the 1500s: The transatlantic slave trade was one of the most devastating and inhumane processes in human history. It is the subject of many studies, but the individual life histories of the arrival and survival of enslaved people in foreign …
Coloured South Africans are all but erased from history textbooks – I asked learners how that makes them feel: South African Grammy winner Tyla is proud of her Coloured identity. Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy South African singer-songwriter Tyla made history in February 2024 when she won the inaugural Grammy for Best African …
Over 26 million South Africans get a social grant. Fear of losing the payment used to be a reason to vote for the ANC, but no longer – study: Social grants to reduce poverty feature prominently in the campaign promises of political parties in South Africa’s 2024 national and provincial general elections, set for 29 …
South Africans tasted the fruits of freedom and then corruption snatched them away – podcast: Five years after his momentous election as South African president, Nelson Mandela stepped down after one term in office in 1999. Thabo Mbeki, his deputy, took over the mantle of the post-apartheid transition. Mbeki would lead the country for the …
Almost 50% of adult South Africans are overweight or obese. Poverty and poor nutrition are largely to blame: Malnutrition, in all its forms, includes undernutrition (wasting, stunting, underweight), inadequate vitamins or minerals, overweight and obesity. South Africa has undergone a nutritional transition over the past 30 years characterised by the triple burden of malnutrition: households …
Young Africans could disrupt authoritarian states but they don’t – here’s why: Africa has the world’s largest youth population. By 2030, 75% of the African population will be under the age of 35. The number of young Africans aged 15-24 is projected to reach 500 million in 2080. While population dynamics vary across the continent, …
Africans discovered dinosaur fossils long before the term ‘palaeontology’ existed: Credit for discovering the first dinosaur bones usually goes to British gentlemen for their finds between the 17th and 19th centuries in England. Robert Plot, an English natural history scholar, was the first of these to describe a dinosaur bone, in his 1676 book The …
Black Ghosts: Noo Saro-Wiwa’s new book is a powerful reflection on Africans in China: Noo Saro-Wiwa is a celebrated Nigerian-born travel writer. Her latest book is Black Ghosts. It explores, with candour and compassion, the lives of several African economic migrants living in China, a group of people who are key to trade between the …
COP28’s commitment to transforming farming and food systems is an insult to Africans: Globally, food systems are unsustainable: 80% of the production of food is powered by fossil fuels. The food system is responsible for over one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. It is the primary driver of biodiversity loss. The COP28 climate change conference …
Humiliation and violence in Kenya’s colonial days – when old men were called ‘boy’ and Africans were publicly beaten: When King Charles visited Kenya in November 2023, many Kenyans renewed their demands for an official apology for atrocities committed by the British government during the colonial era. The widespread human rights abuses during the Mau …
Bad food choices: clearer labels aim to help South Africans pick healthier options: South Africans have a hard time figuring out which foods are unhealthy when they go shopping. But this is about to change. South African supermarkets currently sell large amounts of unhealthy, ultra-processed foods. Packaged foods in particular have high levels of sugar, …
Visa-free travel for Africans: why Kenya and Rwanda have taken a step in the right direction: President William Ruto of Kenya recently announced that Kenya’s borders would be open to visitors from the entirety of Africa, with no visas required, by the end of 2023. He said When people cannot travel, business people cannot travel, …
Community radio: young South Africans are helping shape the news through social media: The number of South African internet users has nearly doubled in the past decade. One 2023 study of 45 developed countries suggests that South Africans even lead the world when it comes to the amount of time spent in front of screens, …