Family Planning Essential for Development

Improving family planning to avoid unwanted pregnancies in developing countries, as well as assuring girls’ access to education, and women’s participation in the economy, are essential components of a sound development policy, according to Western experts and African activists.

Understanding the Roots of Ghana’s Child Labour

At eleven years old, Thema, a native of Kumasi, hopes to be a nurse when she grows up. Currently, however, she is employed wandering between taxis and tro-tros or minibus taxis at rush hour, carrying packs of ice water on her head and selling them for 10 pesewas apiece. She manoeuvres through traffic in Ghana’s second-largest city with practiced ease; she has been doing this for four years.

U.N. Warns of Impending Humanitarian Crisis in Somalia

The United Nations has called for sustained aid efforts in Somalia to prevent the war-torn country from experiencing another humanitarian crisis as more than three million people remain in need of urgent aid.

East Africa’s Financial Integration Slow off the Starting Blocks

For months now East Africans have been expectantly waiting for an economic revolution to begin as they anticipate the launch of a new standardised payment system that will integrate the electronic transfer of money in the region. But continued delays in the launch of the system have economists fearing that the weak financial infrastructure here is hindering its implementation.

Rights Groups, U.S. Denounce Sentences of Ethiopian Journalists

Human rights groups, press watchdogs, and even the U.S. government have strongly denounced recent prison sentences meted out against journalists and opposition activists accused of violating Ethiopia's anti-terrorism laws.

Sudan, South Sudan Resume Talks Amid Doubts for Long-term Success

Ahead of an Aug. 2 deadline, the leaders of Sudan and South Sudan over the weekend engaged in their first direct talks since hostilities spiked in late April.

Teaching Madagascar’s Mothers to Combat Malnutrition

Every Friday, mothers and their children gather at the community nutrition centre in the little village of Rantolava, 450 kilometres north east of Antananarivo, the Malagasy capital, to learn more about a healthy diet.

World Bank Approves Contentious Ethiopia-Kenya Electric Line

The World Bank has voted to approve funding credit for a major transmission line that would link Kenya to the controversial Gilgel Gibe III dam site in southern Ethiopia, pushing back against months of calls by local and international rights and environmental groups to keep out of the project.

Making it Compulsory to Have Women in Ghana’s Parliament

Beatrice Boateng, a member of parliament with the New Patriotic Party, Ghana’s official opposition to the ruling New Democratic Congress, has earned her place among the country’s lawmakers.

DRC Warlord Sentence a Joke, Say NGOs

Non-governmental organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo province where Thomas Lubanga Dyilo used children as fighters in his militia in 2002 to 2003 have slammed his 14-year sentence as inadequate – and potentially dangerous.

U.S. Commits 10 Million for Mali Refugees as Intervention Talk Builds

President Barack Obama on Thursday authorised the release of 10 million dollars in emergency funding to help with the refugee crisis stemming from continued violence in northern Mali, in response to warnings that international aid efforts were in danger of drying up in coming months.

Iowa Firm Accused of Displacing Tanzanians for Profit

A major U.S. energy company, AgriSol Energy, is accused of engaging in land grabs in Tanzania that would displace more than 160,000 Burundian refugees who have lived there for decades, according to a report by the Oakland Institute, an organisation focused on environmental issues.

The Guinean Women Who Earn a Little Coin From Gardening

Market gardening in the peri-urban areas of Conakry, the Guinean capital, is growing quickly, bringing in income for groups of women and giving them some autonomy.

Mauritania’s Emergency Food Programme Under Fire

The sun is beating down on Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, and Habi Amadou Tidjane Diop is a tired and frustrated woman. Seated on an empty upturned bucket, the mother of nine is waiting in a long queue to buy food.

South Sudan Celebrates a Troubled First Birthday

The streets have been swept clean and lined with flags to mark the first anniversary of South Sudan’s independence. But cosmetic changes in the capital, Juba, mask deep concerns about the future of the world’s newest nation.

South Sudan’s Women Await Independence From Poverty

One year after the formation of South Sudan, the country’s women say that independence has not resulted in the positive political, economic and social changes that they had hoped for.

South Africa’s National Health Insurance Sites Underfunded

Experts say that underfunded pilot universal healthcare sites to be set up by South Africa as part of its proposed national health insurance may be doomed to fail as debate rages about how the move to more equitable healthcare will be funded.

Concerns over Poll Preparations in Angola

Preparations for Angola’s second peacetime polls scheduled for August are being overshadowed by allegations of electoral fraud, state media bias and growing concerns about a violent crackdown on activists and protestors.

Liberia’s Baby Blues – No Policy for Pregnant School Girls

Patricia Kollie should be at school today but instead she is at home in Gbarnga, Liberia, pounding a pile of cassava leaves in a wooden mortar. Her entire body is slightly swollen. Her dress fits a little too snug at the stomach.

New Banknotes Elicit Hopes and Fears in DRC

"The macroeconomic climate is looking good, with a growth rate varying between five and seven percent," said Jean-Claude Masangu, governor of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Central Bank as he justified the release of new denominations of the Congolese franc.

Waste Not, Want Not – Providing for South Africa’s Food Security

As South Africa grapples with reducing its sanitation backlog, scientists seem to have found a way to reduce the build up while simultaneously combatting the country’s food insecurity. The solution? Safely using human waste as fertiliser.