They call it the pangenome: a new type of human genome that takes a more genetically diverse approach than the first human genome, released for research purposes about 20 years ago. This new model includes a breadth of diversity drawn from 47 people across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and beyond….
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
South Africans faced another round of power cuts on Sunday night as the country’s chronic Eskom electricity grid failures continue, despite reassurances from officials that there will be no system collapse in the face of increasing winter demand. Stage 4 loadshedding was planned into Monday and will be “repeated daily…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Melvyn Lubega is the founder of the online education business Go1, South Africa’s first unicorn tech company valued at over $1 billion, and a Partner at venture capital firm Breega. He shares his thoughts on the future growth of Africa’s tech ecosystem. Breega has invested in early-stage tech companies across…
Key ministers from Somalia and Burkina Faso presented the scope of Africa’s challenges with food insecurity and the “Triple C” crisis of COVID, climate, and conflict, during a core session of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) annual meeting as it wrapped up Saturday in Saudi Arabia. The two ministers were…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
An Egyptian lawyer filed a court case against Netflix on Tuesday, calling on the public prosecutor to shut down the entertainment platform because of plans to air “Queen Cleopatra” with a Black actor in the title role. Mahmoud al-Semary claims that the documentary series, spearheaded by executive producer Jada Pinkett…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
The Africa Fintech Summit will be held Wednesday in Washington D.C., with speakers from top African startups like Flutterwave and a keynote address from Ethiopian investor and summit co-founder Zekarias Amsalu. The event, the latest of the Africa Fintech Summit series launched in 2018, will place partnership with U.S. officials…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
The East African Court of Justice is set to hear arguments on whether or not it has jurisdiction in a legal battle over the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), with the governments of Uganda and Tanzania among the parties challenging whether the case, brought by activists seeking to stop…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Africa’s startup founders and investors are watching what happens next for Silicon Valley Bank (SBV), which was shutdown by regulatory authorities in the United States on Friday—essentially freezing thousands of accounts at the tech-friendly bank and raising questions about what happens to startup funds. “Check in on your fellow tech…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
A high-level Ethiopian delegation’s visit to Beijing has led to speculation about how China is dealing with the African nation’s deepening debt crisis, but a spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied any plans to restructure Ethiopian debt. “China takes the debt issue of developing countries seriously…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
South Africa is facing a shortage of more than 23 million houses, and Dr. Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, says 3-D printed houses—built entirely in just eight hours— may be the solution to help meet demand. “It is a quick way to build good quality…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Progress in African governance has stalled since 2019 due to security challenges and the economic and health impacts of COVID, as well as “widespread democratic backsliding” that poses a threat to development, according to the just-released annual report from the Mo Ibrahim Foundation. Data from the Ibrahim Index of African…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
A new report on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and how best to leverage the potential of public-private partnerships was released in conjunction with this week’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos. AfCFTA: A New Era for Global Business and Investment in Africa, published by the WEF,…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Namibian President Hage Geingob was among African leaders who paid tribute to the life and legacy of Pelé, the 82-year-old Brazilian soccer star who died Thursday night in São Paulo following a battle with cancer. “I met the legend Pelé and Eusébio in 1967 in New York during an exhibition…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
A newly filed lawsuit in Kenya seeks US$1.6 billion from social media giant Meta, in order to establish a victims compensation fund on behalf of people targeted for violence in Ethiopia because of widely shared Facebook posts. Amnesty International announced Wednesday that it filed the suit along with six other…
South Africa’s Biovac has announced a deal with the nonprofit International Vaccine Institute (IVI) to begin manufacturing cholera vaccines, a move that will advance the African continent’s goal of manufacturing its own vaccines. The licensing and technology transfer deal will mean that Biovac is equipped to make oral cholera vaccines…