Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,
approximately 116 million people in the African region were living with mental health conditions. A large proportion of mental disorders is caused by depression and anxiety, and these conditions take a significant toll on health and wellbeing of people aged 15 to 59 years who are most affected.
Thandi
*, a 14-year-old girl from Malawi, is both a child and a mother. After she and her siblings were orphaned, they were left in the care of their grandmother, who struggled to provide for them.
As the African diaspora continues its growth, agencies are seeking ways to tap into this vast demographic to help with the continent's development.
Remittances from millions of Africans scattered across the globe have been hailed for sustaining local economies, but a new initiative is aiming to form upscale diaspora investments for longer-term economic development.
Heading into the traditional dry period of winter in southern Africa, there was significant consternation due to the drastically below average rainfall the region has been experiencing since January 2024.
Kenya’s President William Ruto has withdrawn the tax-increasing Finance Bill that sparked mass protests. He has
sacked his cabinet and the head of the police has
resigned. But the anger many feel hasn’t gone away, and protests continue.
The protests have brought Kenya’s Gen Z onto the political stage, with young people – over 65 per cent of the population – at the forefront. Since the protests began, they’ve made full use of social media to share views, explain the impact of proposed changes, organise protests and raise funds to help those injured or arrested.
Scientific research has led to social and economic gains worldwide, but the scientists who make it happen face significant challenges.
What started as a pastime desire to sell crafts at local markets, deeply rooted in the South African culture, has since blossomed to become an international business entity for two local women.
As the sun sets, its golden hues piece through the dusty haze, creating a dazzling display when a herd of livestock lazily roams on the arid landscape as they return home from grazing.
Dressed in shiny red robes, the youthful Maasai pastoralists routinely whistle as they steer cattle, goats and sheep to maintain a unified path.
Nyeche Uche, aged 60, got arrested by Nigeria's cybercrime fighter, the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, for stealing. He spent 13 years and eight months in prison while awaiting trial. It took a church who went for prison outreach to refer his case to a legal firm for a pro-bono service over his case in March 2022.
In the heart of Empash village, a fragmented community nestled in Suswa, Narok County, some 62 miles northwest of Nairobi, Naomy Kolian's story unfolds like a gripping saga of pain, resilience, and unyielding determination.
It was here, amidst the familiar surroundings of her home, that she was subjected to female genital mutilation (FGM), a brutal tradition that left her with physical and emotional scars. This hidden trauma would linger, haunting her well into adulthood.
Droughts, cyclones, floods and extreme temperatures – these are the ‘new abnormal’ of a world in which weather-related events are becoming increasingly prolonged, intense and frequent.
“A person shall not contract marriage with a child,” Sierra Leone’s landmark Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024 says, outlawing, in no uncertain terms, child marriage, giving consent to and attempted child marriage, officiating, attending and promoting child marriage, and use of force or ill-treatment of a child.
In June, the Namibian High Court struck down two sections of the country’s Sexual Offences Act that criminalised consensual sexual relations between men, finding them unconstitutional. While hardly anyone has been convicted for decades, the fact that their relationships were criminalised forced gay men to live in fear, perpetuated stigma and denied them recognition as rights holders, enabling discrimination, harassment and abuse.
The recent Kenyan protests are a warning that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is failing. The public does not think it is helping its member countries manage their economic and financial problems, which are being exacerbated by a rapidly changing global political economy.
Climate-related disasters have battered Kenya for years.
Five failed rainy seasons resulted in a drought, the worst in 40 years, affecting at least 4,5 million people who require food assistance. Then came months of heavy rain, which led to riverine and flash flooding that impacted more than 306,520 (61,304 families) between March 1 and June 18, 2024, with an estimated 315 people killed, 188 injured, and 38 missing, while more than 293,200 people (about 58,641 families) were displaced, according to
Reliefweb and Kenya’s National Disaster Operations Centre (NDOC).
Investing in teachers and school leaders in Africa is the most important factor in promoting educational opportunities for girls, keeping them in school and ending child marriage, ultimately reducing gender inequality through education.
In Zambia, over 6.5 million people need humanitarian assistance because of the drought. 3.5 million of them are children.
In a historic first, Kenya's youth have mobilized in large-scale protests to demand that the political establishment listen to them. The Finance Bill 2024, which proposed new taxes across several sectors, was the catalyst for the protests, igniting outrage among a youth demographic that feels betrayed by decades of political promises. These protests, driven by economic and social grievances, escalated dramatically, culminating in clashes with police that led to numerous deaths and widespread unrest.
After El Niño-induced floods and devastating drought, roughly
two in five people in Malawi – a country of some 20 million people – are now facing the looming prospect of acute hunger by the end of the year.
Authoritarian overreach is re-defining itself across West Africa, fuelled by armed conflicts, military coups, and electoral manipulation and violence, as the region experiences a decline in democracy.
Lami Kwasu, a farmer in the village of Kafanchan in Kaduna State, north-central Nigeria, was at home one evening in October 2020 when the sound of sporadic gunshots filled the air.
Gunmen, suspected to be Fulani nomadic herders, had surrounded the village, shooting from different angles.