Google CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted African innovation during a brief address Monday to the Business Forum of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) held in Addis Ababa. The business forum was held on the margins of the annual African Union Summit. It focused on transportation as part of…
President Danny Faure of Seychelles underscored the challenges facing island nations as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic took center stage at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. Faure’s pre-recorded speech was among six such talks scheduled for African leaders, in a format that replaced in-person meetings for the…
Uganda is celebrating the birth of another baby mountain gorilla, the fifth such arrival for the endangered species in the last six weeks. The latest little gorilla was born to Ruterana, an adult female in the Rushegura family group that lives in the Bwindi forest. It is her third child,…
South African photographer Daniela Zondagh captured a striking image of an empty table with 1,000 seats to help business owners in the hospitality industry illustrate the impact the coronavirus pandemic is having on their livelihoods. Zondagh documented the table setup for Bosman Family Vineyards, which claims an eight-generation heritage in…
Four more deaths in India have been linked to selfie-taking after members from the same family fell while taking the photo at a dam in Tamil Nadu on Sunday. Those deaths have renewed attention to the global “selfie death” problem and African nations are by no means immune. A study…
Ethiopia’s rapid reforms under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appear to be paying dividends in tourism and international travel, with Addis Ababa becoming the new “gateway to Africa.” That’s according to data from industry analysts at Forward Keys, who found an “extraordinary rise” for Ethiopia as a destination and transfer hub…
Botswana has been named the best African country for safari adventures, narrowly edging out Tanzania for the first time in annual ratings conducted by SafariBookings.com. “Botswana – a study in contrasting landscapes, from the impossibly beautiful Kalahari Desert with its big skies to the watery wonderland of the famous Okavango…
People may think that African wildlife is already facing enough threat from climate change or illegal trafficking, but the continent’s preserves are facing up to USD$2 billion in funding shortfalls that threaten protected areas. That’s according to Peter Lindsey, director of the Lion Recovery Fund and co-author of new research…
A hydroelectric dam project, years in the making and planned for the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe, remains under pressure from whitewater rafting enthusiasts and tourism businesses concerned about the environmental and economic impacts. Munyaradzi Munodawafa, chief executive with the Zambezi River Authority, told reporters this week that the…
The Hilton hotel chain has announced a $50 million investment to expand and upgrade some 100 hotels across sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years, beginning with two DoubleTree-branded properties in Nairobi, Kenya, and Kigali, Rwanda. The Hilton African Growth Initiative seeks to build on the 19 existing properties in…
African nations need to work a little harder to attract Chinese tourists, according to the travel experts at Skift. A new piece for their Gateway series looks at how more than 120 million Chinese tourists are looking for new holiday destinations beyond Europe, but beyond the safari adventure, they’re not…
Former Dutch and Barcelona FC striker Patrick Kluivert’s spectacular goal in a weekend exhibition match in Uganda’s capital, Kampala over the weekend, may be the shot that launches a thousand ships towards Uganda’s shores, tourism promoters’ hope. The goal, whose video has been viewed by more than 85,000 people after…
Paul Busharizi is currently a contributing editor (Business & Politics) at the Uganda's leading daily the New Vision.