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Harrowing tales of men, women and children drowning in the Mediterranean, after taking treacherous journeys by foot, car and boat; crossing borders in search of safer pastures has hitherto proven to be a truth stranger than fiction. However, the deadly voyages are just a tip of the iceberg of the plight suffered by refugees and migrants, who flee their native countries seeking safer havens in foreign lands. Instead, to the few who make it to the other side, they face an uncertain future. For most, this hope is extinguished upon setting foot on foreign soil, where they are met with unspeakable violence, endure untold horrors and experience extreme human rights violations such as assault, detainment and even sexual defilement.  

Consequently, psychological trauma plagues this lot, which in most cases leads to dysfunctional behaviors that impair their ability to cope with social or family life. Heretofore, more than 20,000 migrants and …

The young and the restless are befitting words to vividly depict the status quo of the countless educated but unemployed African youth; a ticking time bomb threatening the future of the continent.  

Is it the lack of proper skill sets or the intermittent nature of opportunities that has resulted in the shrinking job market? This remains a puzzle yet to be unraveled. Upon graduation from tertiary institutions, the almost assured optimism by young people of landing top jobs on the basis of their qualifications is swiftly replaced with the icy glare of disillusionment. As desperation creeps in hope for a bright future slowly seeps out for many young people; moving from office to office wielding briefcases filled with job applications, whilst others frequent internet cafés to fill out a dozen more steadfast in their quest for jobs. Pushed to the brink, it is not a rarity to find young people …

Globally, camel milk is significantly more expensive in comparison to cow milk, owing to the twin factors of camel milk production being lower than cow milk and camel breeding costs which are also higher than that of cows. 

Camel milk can be marketed raw but can also be value-added through pasteurization, flavouring, making camel milk cheese, yoghurt, laban, ghee, ice cream, powder and infant formula among others. …

Some 11 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are currently at high risk of debt distress according to the latest debt sustainability analyses by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Already, six countries are in debt distress and the debt burden is worsening in the region where the public debt ratio to gross domestic product has surged to 65.6 per cent from 56.4 per cent pre-Covid-19 period. 

A study conducted by the China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at Johns Hopkins University shows that there is a trend where African governments are mortgaging their natural resources to secure loans from China. This has often ignited debt distress when commodity prices collapse.

Read: Why do lenders want “COLLATERAL”?

This mortgaging of resource is referred to as collateralized sovereign debt. This is where a sovereign loan is secured by existing assets or future receipts owned by the borrowing government. The collateral could be commodities, future export revenues, …

Kenya’s exports to Ethiopia in 2019 were valued at US$67 million, while Ethiopia’s exports to Kenya were valued at US$52.05 million and it is expected to increase significantly with the operationalisation. The OSBP and the LAPSSET corridor are expected to enhance this trade. 

During the launch, PM Abiy hailed deepening economic ties between the two nations as one that would lead to mutual benefit for the people and economies of the neighbouring nations. …

The African continent has been portrayed in most literature as the “Dark Continent”, with not many expectations from it. This degrading view is slowly fading from the trending news globally, as the continent continues to headline great achievements. 

There has not been a shortage of millionaires as well, with new six-figure worth individuals being added each year impacting the socio-economic outlook on the continent.  …

Africa holds great potential in contributing to food and nutrition security, and economic growth through innovative science, sustainable agri-food systems, and transformative partnerships. 

As rice becomes a potentially strategic commodity in Africa, many countries have embarked on different programs to boost domestic rice production along with continental initiatives. 

Rice is one of the key strategic crops for food security and a source of income for rice value chain actors in the project countries. Despite increases in rice production, the local supply however, has not been able to meet the growing demand, driven by changing consumer preferences and rapid urbanization.  …

Necessity has called for innovations and radical changes across the globe. Amid concerns over greenhouse gas emissions, policy frameworks have been formulated to pave the way for a greener approach to doing business. Traditional business models are fast being replaced by new technologies and environmentally friendly models.  

The manufacture of internal combustion engines is facing great pressure to being phased out, which in many European countries have already been implemented. Regardless of the transition chaos, Africa is far from embracing the new wave of electric vehicles. Despite the challenges the continent faces towards a carbon-neutral automobile industry, electric cars have the potential to make it on the continent. …

Has Africa stumbled upon an environmental apocalypse? The numerous natural disasters that have descended upon the continent hitherto—from the plague of desert locusts that have ambushed the Horn of Africa, tropical storms, floods across Eastern and Central Africa, severe droughts and heat waves to massive cyclones whose devastating effects are still felt across Southern Africa. The aftermath is a trail of death and destruction, threatening to erode hard-won development that most African countries have struggled to achieve, inflicting cascading economic consequences. Loss of lives, displacement of people, sources of income compromised, destruction of infrastructure and numerous development projects have been the ill-fated victims across the continent and have succumbed, in the wake of these natural disasters, to such events that have all stemmed from climate change.  …

On Thursday, May 13, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) disclosed that African countries had acquired 38.03 million Covid-19 vaccines thus far. 

For a continent with close to 1.5 billion people, the acquisition is at snail’s pace, sporadic and at best remains a lengthy process that may never be completed to successfully cover every African citizen in need of the vaccine. 

Out of the 38 million doses, 22.4 million doses had been administered corresponding to a coverage rate of 1.48 per cent of the continent. Only five out of the 55 African nations had administered most of the doses of the Covid-19 vaccine respective to their populations.…