The Conversation 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, most sub-Saharan countries have a median age below 19. Niger is the youngest country in the world with a median age of 14.5, while South Africa, Seychelles, Tunisia and Algeria have median ages above 27. These demographics are a potential force for growth. However, the potential of Africa’s demographic dividend has been overshadowed by concerns among governments and international donors about the…
Author: Partners
As of 22:59 Moscow time, the bitcoin grew by 6.33% to $47,054 TASS The price of Bitcoin rose above $47,000 for the first time since March 30, 2022, according to the Coindesk platform. As of 22:59 Moscow time, the bitcoin grew by 6.33% to $47,054. By 23:08 Moscow time, the figure had slowed down and reached $47,035 (+6.28%). Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency invented in 2008 by an unknown person or a group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It is a decentralized digital currency without a central bank or single administrator that can be sent from user to user…
AFP Ethiopia said it held talks Monday on military cooperation with Somaliland, just a week after a deal with the breakaway Somali region on sea access stoked tensions in the Horn of Africa. The discussions in Addis Ababa were held the same day Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud began a visit to neighbouring Eritrea. Somalia is seeking international support over the controversial January 1 agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland — a separatist region over which Mogadishu exercises little real authority. The central government has branded the memorandum of understanding (MoU), which gives landlocked Ethiopia access to the Red Sea via…
The Kenya-led multinational mission aimed to support the Haitian National Police in its fights against gangs will face multiple challenges a report by Belgium-based International Crisis Group warned Friday. Corruption, links between the police, politicians and gangs, overcrowded prisons, outnumbered police officers, and difficulties of protecting civilians in urban warfare are some of the many challenges listed in the report. “For all these reasons, preparation will be of critical importance,” the report read. Less than 10,000 officers are estimatyed to be on duty at any time in a country of more than 11 million people. Ideally, there should be some…
The Conversation In a world fraught with anxiety, stress, and environmental and humanitarian disasters, people are looking for ways to cope. Many have turned to practices originating in ancient eastern philosophies for guidance. Among these is mindfulness, which is linked to meditation. Lucy Draper-Clarke, researcher and author of The Compassionate Activist, spoke to health & medicine editor Nadine Dreyer about looking inwards and cultivating compassion, awareness and gratitude. What does mindfulness actually mean? The original translation of the Pali word sati is “remembering”. It was about remembering your ethics, the right way to behave in each moment. It’s shifted within…
Arab League chief: “We have a significant worry.” By Nosmot Gbadamosi As the Israel-Hamas war continues, leaders in the Middle East and Africa are increasingly worried that the violence and instability could spill over into the wider region. There are concerns that public anger against Israel’s regular bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which is home to 2.3 million residents, is serving to, in the words of the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, “reignite grievances and reanimate alliances” in the Middle East and North Africa, where another Arab Spring uprising can’t be ruled out. “We have a…
Commercial banks are increasingly incorporating climate-focused financial instruments, a trend that may unlock crucial climate finance from within. By Bonface Orucho Commercial banks across Africa, both domestic and foreign, are stepping up their game to forge innovative green financing mechanisms that will bolster climate change mitigation and support the transition towards cleaner energy sources. Three South African financial institutions—Standard Bank, Liberty Group and Stanlib Bank—have joined forces to launch a monumental US$1 billion fund aimed at facilitating the shift towards clean energy. Reports on Afrik21 indicate the trio aims to raise the sum “in a few years.” A statement from…
By XINHUA The Ugandan military has called on the residents in its western district of Kasese bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to cooperate in the fight against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) following the recent deadly attacks. The call came after suspected ADF rebels last week attacked a safari vehicle, killing a couple of foreign tourists and their guide in the Queen Elizabeth National Park area of Kasese. A week earlier in the same district, ADF rebels attacked a cargo truck transporting onions, killing two civilians and setting ablaze the vehicle. The Commander of Land Forces of…
By AFP The Sudanese army said Wednesday it has accepted an invitation to resume US- and Saudi-brokered talks aimed at ending more than six months of conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The war between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, has killed more than 9,000 people and displaced over 5.6 million since it erupted in April. Previous mediation attempts have only succeeded in brief truces, and even those were systematically violated. In a statement, the army said it had accepted an invitation from Saudi Arabia and the…
Settlement talks in a long-standing legal case involving 184 Nairobi-based Facebook content moderators and Meta, the platform’s parent company collapsed. These moderators, responsible for screening violent and graphic content, allege that they were terminated for their efforts to organize a union. They were employed by Sama, a local subcontractor, which expressed no opposition to unionization. In total 260 moderators were laid off when Sama ended its contract with Meta. The 184 moderators bringing the legal action allege that they were laid off in retaliation for complaints about working conditions and attempts to form a union. The moderators are pursuing a legal case…