Posts

iea

Africa Secures $900 Million In Financial Commitments For Clean Cooking Technologies 

/in , /by

African nations have secured $900 million in new financial commitments to expand access to clean cooking technologies. The International Energy Agency (IEA) made the announcement last week that these technologies will be replacing polluting fuels with cleaner alternatives. 

Embed from Getty Images

This new commitment adds onto the $2.2 billion pledge that was announced at the inaugural Africa Clean Cooking Summit in Paris in 2024, bringing the total commitments to over $3.1 billion. All of the money will be used to expand access to cleaner cooking fuels, stoves, and other infrastructure across Africa. 

The funding was announced during a virtual meeting on clean cooking in Africa convened by IEA and Kenya. Leaders also looked back at the progress they made last summit and outlined their upcoming priorities before another gathering later this year. 

About 1 billion people across Africa lack access to clean cooking, and typically rely on charcoal, firewood, and other polluting fuels that the IEA says contribute to an estimated 850,000 premature deaths annually. 

Kenyan President William Ruto, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, African Union commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy Lerato Mataboge, and IEA executive director Fatih Birol were some of the leaders that attended the meeting. 

Clean cooking in general refers to the use of low-emission fuels and technologies. For example, tools and techniques that use ethanol, biogas, and electricity instead of traditional fuels. Cleaner options reduce air pollution and improve health outcomes for millions of households in Africa. 

Embed from Getty Images

“Access to clean cooking is one of the most impactful yet overlooked challenges of our time,” said US Energy Secretary Wright, who also emphasized that it directly affects the lives of billions of people, “particularly women and children.”

President Ruto said that financing remained the biggest obstacle to achieving universal access to clean cooking technologies across Africa. 

“Ambition alone is not enough. It must be backed by investment.”

IEA executive director Birol stated that the IEA’s latest reports show that $740 million has already been deployed across 22 African countries, which accounts for about one-third of the commitments initially announced in Paris. 

“The additional $900 million in commitments demonstrates growing momentum, with more expected before the next summit,” Birol said. 

The IEA also released a report that showed governments have introduced 121 new clean cooking policies across over 30 African countries since the Paris summit. Those nations account for around 80% of Africans without access to clean cooking.

The agency will also be working with the African Union to help strengthen clean cooking policies and enact a more widespread continent-wide strategy.

monorail

Egypt Debuts Driverless Monorail as New Capital Expansion Continues

/in /by

A train built in England, financed partly through the British government and designed by a French rail giant, is now carrying passengers above Cairo’s streets, linking Egypt’s crowded capital with one of the country’s most ambitious desert megaprojects.

The Cairo Monorail began welcoming riders on May 6, opening the first section of what is expected to become the world’s longest driverless monorail network once complete. The launch introduced Africa’s first driverless monorail system and added a new layer to Egypt’s effort to modernize transportation around one of the continent’s largest urban centers.

Early passengers largely praised the experience. Mohammed Adel, a 48-year-old sales manager who tested the line shortly after it opened, told Al Jazeera that the trains were clean, comfortable and well air-conditioned. Another rider, teacher Hind Tarek, described traveling above Cairo’s streets as “close to the feeling of flying,” highlighting the elevated views the system offers.

The first operating route, the East Nile line, runs 35 miles (56.5 kilometers) from Cairo International Stadium in Nasr City to the New Administrative Capital, a vast city under construction east of Cairo. Rides were free during the first three days of service before a zone-based fare system took effect.

A one-way trip across the full East Nile route costs 80 Egyptian pounds, or about $1.51. Quarterly passes, each valid for 180 trips, range from 1,800 EGP, about $34, for travel within one zone to 7,200 EGP, about $136, for access across all four zones.

A second line remains under construction west of the Nile. That 27-mile (43.8-kilometer) route will connect 6th of October City, a satellite city in the greater Cairo region, with Giza.

Together, the two lines are expected to total about 62.3 miles (100.3 kilometers). That would edge past China’s Chongqing monorail, a 61.2-mile (98.5-kilometer) system currently recognized as the world’s longest. Egypt’s network would exceed it by 1.1 miles (1.8 kilometers).

The system is projected to move roughly 500,000 passengers a day, a significant promise in a city where transportation has long been defined by heavy congestion, fragmented roads and pressure on existing public transit. Cairo’s three Metro lines already carry around 500 million passengers annually, while the city’s roads remain notoriously clogged.

Transportation Minister Kamel Al Wazeer has said the monorail was selected in part because it could be built more cheaply and with less disruption than an underground metro system, avoiding the need to demolish existing buildings while minimizing impacts on surrounding streets during construction.

Embed from Getty Images

The project grew out of a 2019 $3 billion contract awarded to Alstom. The French rail manufacturer is leading the project alongside Cairo-based Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors. The consortium is not only building the network but is also committed to 30 years of operation and maintenance after construction is completed.

Alstom produced 272 monorail cars for the Egyptian system at its Derby factory in England. The final train left the East Midlands for Egypt in January 2024. UK Export Finance, the United Kingdom’s export credit agency, provided partial financial backing.

In total, the network uses 68 trains capable of transporting up to 45,000 passengers per hour in each direction. The trains can travel at 50 mph (80 km/h) along elevated precast concrete beams.

Egyptian officials have said the project is expected to create approximately 20,000 jobs once fully operational.

The monorail is fully electric and uses Alstom’s Innovia platform, which the company has also deployed for systems in Bangkok, Singapore and Los Angeles. The East Nile line is also designed to integrate with several of Cairo’s other transportation projects, including Metro Line 3, the Light Rail Transit system and the city’s Bus Rapid Transit network, as officials work to create a more connected public transit system.

Notably, the Cairo system is designed to run without a driver, with train movement, door operation and emergency functions handled through automated signaling that relies on high-bandwidth radio communications to locate trains.

Alstom has promoted the system as quieter and cleaner than many older forms of urban transit, as it produces low emissions, limits noise pollution and can recover up to 99% of braking energy, reducing its energy needs.

A representative for Alstom told CNN via email that the monorail was designed for Cairo’s future growth, with capacity that can be increased over time.

“Its architecture allowed capacity to be progressively increased — through service frequency, system optimization and fleet expansion — without compromising reliability or requiring disruptive infrastructure changes. This makes it fundamentally different from legacy systems that are often fixed in capacity from day one.”

Six of the route’s 22 stations are still not operating, and the line arrived later than expected. It had originally been scheduled to launch in 2023 but was delayed several times.

Those setbacks have unfolded against a broader debate over Egypt’s infrastructure spending. The country has poured money into large-scale domestic projects during an economic downturn, including the New Administrative Capital itself.

Embed from Getty Images

According to the US International Trade Administration, Egypt invested about 1.7 trillion EGP, or $106.3 billion, in infrastructure between 2023 and 2025. The country’s external debt rose above $163 billion last year.

The New Administrative Capital remains central to both the promise and the criticism surrounding the monorail. Affordability has emerged as one of the most common concerns among riders and transportation experts.

While supporters point to the monorail’s speed, comfort and air-conditioned trains, critics have questioned whether fares are practical for many Egyptians who would need to rely on the system for daily commuting.

Osama Aqeel, an international transport expert and professor of road and transport engineering, told Al Jazeera that mass transit systems should remain accessible to people across income levels, arguing that transportation costs should not place an excessive burden on household budgets.

“The state drew up a plan to solve traffic problems and expand roads and transport. The monorail, the metro, the LRT, and the BRT are four projects launched as a model of mass transit, because cities the size of Cairo face enormous traffic crises. The solution, in capitals and major cities, depends fundamentally on mass transit, not private cars.”

The Egyptian government has projected that the 270-square-mile city could eventually house 6.5 million people and generate roughly 2 million jobs. But large portions of the area are still under construction, and some residents have questioned whether the monorail will meaningfully reduce commute times for Cairo’s existing workforce in the near term.

The project has also prompted debate about who stands to benefit most from the new line. The monorail links older parts of Cairo with newer desert developments built around government offices, business districts and residential compounds.

Some observers argue the system primarily serves residents and workers connected to those emerging communities, while supporters contend the infrastructure is necessary to accommodate future population growth and economic development.

Alstom, however, has framed the East Nile launch as a long-term investment in smart urban mobility rather than a short-term traffic fix. Testing and commissioning were carried out by local engineering teams, and Alstom Egypt’s managing director, Ramy Salah Eldeen, said in a press release that 98% of the workforce came from Egypt.

“The East of Nile Monorail marks a major milestone in Egypt’s Vision 2030 journey toward smart, sustainable, and future-ready urban mobility,” Eldeen said.

The company has also positioned the Cairo Monorail as a possible example for other rapidly growing African cities seeking cleaner, high-capacity transit. Alstom is involved in other projects in Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria and South Africa, and said the need for this kind of transport infrastructure is increasing.

“The demand is there, and it will only grow.”

medicine

Fifth Of Medicines In Africa Could Be Substandard Or Fake, New Research Says 

/in , /by

A fifth of medicines in Africa could be substandard or fake, according to a major research project from Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia.

The research was published in the National Library of Medicine, analyzing 27 studies which found that of the 7,508 medicine samples included in the study, 1,639 failed at least one quality test, confirming that they are either substandard or falsified, according to reports from the Guardian. 

“If patients are getting medicines that are substandard or outright fake, it can result in their treatment failing or even preventable deaths,” said Claudia Martínez, the head of research at the Access to Medicine Foundation, an Amsterdam-based non-profit group.

Embed from Getty Images

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime published estimates last year that showed these falsified and substandard medicines have caused around 500,000 deaths a year in sub-Saharan Africa. 

“‘Substandard medicines’ refer to those that are authorized but do not meet quality standards, whereas ‘falsified medicines’ are those that deliberately misrepresent their identity, composition or source,” explained Tharanika Anhillan for the Guardian. 

Antibiotics and antimalarial products were among the most falsified medicines in Africa, according to a spokesperson from the World Health Organization. 

These antibiotics could contain incorrect dosages or the wrong active ingredients, which leads to ineffective recovery and survival of resistant strains. 

Martínez said “several factors contributed to the problem, which left patients without access to essential medicines.

“Pharma supply chains in many low- and middle-income countries are often complex, inefficient and fragmented; the region relies heavily on a limited number of suppliers for essential medicines, and many countries face significant challenges in procuring products in time and effectively policing the quality of products in the market,” she said. 

Embed from Getty Images

Sean Cavany, a mathematical modeler at the University of Oxford’s Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, said: “There is a potential for bias in these types of reviews, for instance surveys which didn’t find any substandard and falsified medicines may not get published, and some of the surveys are not random, so it may be that they have specifically selected samples for this.”

“Also, substandard medicines and falsified medicines will differ greatly over time between countries and between medicines, so producing an average across all of these different factors has the potential to be misleading.”

Martínez said “immediate action was needed to address the problem by governments, national authorities, regulators and pharmaceutical companies manufacturing and selling the products. 

We need to strengthen supply chains across the continent by enhancing infrastructure, improving logistics and implementing better surveillance-monitoring systems.

But there is also a lot that pharma companies can do by reporting any cases of substandard or falsified medical products to national health authorities and the WHO rapid alert system promptly and contributing to capacity building.”

A WHO spokesperson said: “Recent incidents of contaminated oral liquid medicines have demonstrated that we need a concerted multi-stakeholder approach to prevent, detect and respond to substandard and falsified products.

“Increasing the public awareness of the scope, scale and potential harm that these products cause is a key activity in this.”

music

Martin Kanja, AKA Lord Spikeheart, Is Leading A New Wave Of African Rock In Kenya

/in , , /by

Martin Kanja, AKA Lord Spikeheart, is a metalhead from Kenya who is leading a new wave of African rock, with music that combines traditional African culture with metal.

Read more
South Africa

Meet The Black Mambas, A Women-Only Ranger Team Working To Preserve African Wildlife

/in , /by

June 23rd is known as World Female Ranger Day as a means of raising awareness and funding to support the women within the industry who are working hard to preserve the Earth. Only 11% of the world’s global ranger population is made up of women, so the campaign, co-founded by adventurers Holly Budge and Margot Dempsey, works to shed light on the inequalities that exist within the industry. 

The Black Mambas are a women-only team of rangers who work in Africa to preserve the dwindling wildlife population throughout the continent. The group was founded in 2013 when rhino poaching was reaching an unprecedented high in South Africa. 

Embed from Getty Images

The group itself is made up of 36 women all from local tribes who are armed only with pepper spray. They work everyday to patrol the Kruger National Park’s fence lines for unwelcome intruders, as well as checking camera traps and finding snare traps. The group was founded out of this particular national park, which is why they spend a majority of their time there. 

 Nkateko Mzimba joined the team back in 2014 when they began more community outreach efforts as well. Mzimba claimed that the group began connecting with local schools to teach kids about the importance of protecting the Earth and its many inhabitants. 

“We ask our community to change, to protect wildlife for their kids, trying our best to show we love and support them, and we give them food.” 

The Black Mambas have to date reduced bushmeat poaching by 89% and virtually eliminated the use of snare traps. While they themselves are not armed beyond pepper spray, should they come across packers with weapons, they can easily call for armed backup from local authorities. 

“The Black Mambas support me. I am here because of them, and I want to empower them. Women were always undermined. Now, they see the importance of us in the bush. When people offer bribes, we say no – we don’t share information. Some say this is a man’s job, but we’ve proved that we can do this,” Mzimba explained. 

Embed from Getty Images

In Zimbabwe, the first all-female anti-poaching unit was recently established in 2017. Akashinga and the Black Mamba’s amazing efforts in Africa is actually the reason Budge and Dempsey established World Female Ranger Day in the first place. 

“I wanted to bring their stories to the world. Some are AIDS orphans, some come from abusive marriages. Now, they’re breadwinners and their kids go to school. But other women don’t have this success, and World Female Ranger Day will bring their challenges to light.”

“I felt privileged to see their work firsthand. It was like a war zone – the Akashingas all carried AK47s, with wild animals and signs of poachers around us. It made me appreciate how dangerous their work is. They’re not playing rangers. This is real, very real,” Budge explained. 

World Female Ranger Day works to provide an international forum for rangers everywhere to share advice and offer support. 

“We offer grants for improved facilities and equipment, along with annual awards. These rangers are fantastic role models, inspiring and empowering women with a strong message that anything can be overcome with training, self-belief, determination, and resilience,” says Budge.

“On World Female Ranger Day, we’re role models to ladies out there who feel underrated. We need a day to celebrate us. And they need to see us, to be inspired.”

African Union Secures An Additional 270 Million Covid-19 Vaccines 

/in , /by

The African Union has now secured an additional 270 million Covid-19 vaccines to be distributed among the many countries within the continent. The African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), however, is still not convinced that this will be enough to meet the entire nation’s demand. 

From April to June at least 50 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines will be available according to the AVATT press release published this week. Chair President of the African Union Cyril Ramaphosa recently spoke with the media about the increase in doses that Africa is now set to receive. 

“From the onset of this pandemic our focus as a continent has been on collaboration and collective effort. We have held steadfastly to the principle that no country should be left behind.”

Embed from Getty Images

Ramaphosa also emphasized that “all 270 million vaccine doses will be made available this year with at least 50 million being available for the crucial period of April to June 2021.” The African Union secured these doses along with a vaccine program from COVAX; a World Health Organization and Gavi Vaccine Alliance initiative that specifically works to bring more vaccines to Africa.

The WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, recently spoke with the media to praise Africa for the acquisition of the additional doses and adoption of the program from COVAX, as it shows true initiative and will make a real difference in getting the continent vaccinated as promptly as possible. 

“Covax can only cover 20% of the African population, so it’s wonderful to see the African Union’s efforts to secure a provisional 270 million doses by the end of 2021.”

Embed from Getty Images

President Ramaphosa did caution, however, that while this new initiative is vital for Africa’s recovery, it “may not extend beyond the needs of frontline health care workers, and may this not be enough to contain the ever-increasing toll of the pandemic in Africa.” 

Africa is currently experiencing a second wave of Covid-19 that is currently higher than the peak they hit back in July 2020. The continent currently has an average daily new case count of more than 25,000 for the past 14 days. 

The African Export-Import Bank will be implementing a strategy this month that will provide up to $2 billion in advancements to vaccine manufacturers in the continent. The African Union and World Bank will also be working together to grant member states access to a $5 billion fund specifically for purchasing more vaccines when needed. 

The announcement of these plans couldn’t have come at a more crucial time for Africa, as Ramaphosa reported this week that South Africa is extending their Covid-19 restrictions due to a “massive increase” in Covid-19 cases driven by a new strain of the virus that is thought to be much more transmissible.

Virus Attacking South Africa

South Africa Goes Under Lockdown In Response To Rapid Rise In Coronavirus Cases

/in , /by

Africa is the newest continent to be reporting cases of Covid-19 throughout its many countries. According to Africa’s Centers For Disease Control there are now more than 2,400 confirmed cases of the coronavirus across Africa, which is extremely alarming considering the many parts of the continent that have under-resourced health services. 

The World Health Organization has claimed multiple times that any statistics regarding case numbers should be viewed as a significant underestimation of what the actual number likely is because of how long of an incubation period the coronavirus endures before actually showing any symptoms among its carriers. So far Africa has reported around 60 deaths so far, a third of all of the cases are in South Africa as well. 

Embed from Getty Images

Zweli Mkhize, South Africa’s health minister claimed this week that the country has seen over 700 cases of Covid-19, a majority of which appeared over the course of one day. In response, South Africa will be going under a strict 21-day lockdown beginning this week to avoid spreading the virus further. The lockdown practices will mirror that of certain policies in the US and Europe that are also under quarantine. Only essential businesses will remain open and individuals can only leave their home if it is to seek medical attention or buy supplies/groceries. All restaurants, bars, food-outlets, etc. will also be fully closed down, and the repercussions for breaking these strict policies will have severe consequences. 

“Anyone thinking of ignoring the restrictions [could] face six months in prison, a fine or both, two people have already been charged with attempted murder for refusing to obey orders to self-isolate. You buy food and go and cook it at home. You can drink what you have at your home. There is no need to be on the road. There is no need to move around. There will be no dogs that shall be walked. If you want to walk your dog, walk your dog around your yard,” Bheki Cele, South Africa’s police minister, said at a press conference. 

Embed from Getty Images

Cele also announced new measures to increase policing efforts against gender-based violence towards homeless individuals and prisoners as well during these times where human rights are literally on the line. Throughout South Africa there are millions of younger individuals who are more vulnerable than younger individuals in other parts of the world with more established healthcare facilities, especially due to an influx of individuals dealing with HIV or malnutrition.

Healthcare systems all throughout South Africa have always dealt with a lack of resources and proper funding, hence the strict lockdown policies, as they really don’t have all the supplies they need to cope with a global pandemic. Other measures that have been taken include suspended flights and overall travel restrictions to/from Europe and the US especially. 

Rwanda and Kenya have also imposed lock down efforts and curfews, and the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, announced that along with other Kenyan government officials, he would be foregoing a majority of his salary to contribute towards a financial package for their country. Ethiopia will be releasing more than 4,000 prisoners to de-congest their jails to deal with the outbreak as well.

Health officials across Africa are aware how severely unprepared they are for this virus, especially considering they could barely care for the extensive number of regular patients they have throughout a given year. South African authorities are working to protect overcrowded neighborhoods and strictly upkeep social distancing and quarantine policies, however, certain remote villages make this impossible. International services and charity organizations are scrambling to help, but it can be hard when the entire world is dealing with the same issue. For more ways on how you can potentially help, visit the World Health Organization’s website. 

King Air 200

South African Pilot, Refilwe Ledwaba, Is Looking To Change The Face Of Aviation

/in , /by

“This is my favorite aircraft. It’s called a King Air 200. I’ve got approximately 100 hours of flying on this aircraft. I absolutely love it, it just performs,” Refilwe Ledwaba said as she stood next to the hanger of the King Air 200 at the Wonderboom Airport in South Africa.   

Ledwaba has made a major impact in South Africa through her advocacy for women’s rights, especially for their right to start careers in traditionally male-dominated fields, such as piloting. Ledwaba herself is both a helicopter and a fixed-wing pilot as well as a flight instructor for all prospective pilots in South Africa. 

Her other accomplishments include being a goalkeeper for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which basically means Ledwaba could choose a specific group/charity to advocate and raise awareness for. For Ledwaba, that has become the Girls Fly Program in Africa. She also was the first black woman to be a police service pilot in South Africa.

Embed from Getty Images

“For a long time, I was the only black female that was holding the highest license for helicopters, but being the first for me is not important. The important thing is the 20th person, the 30th person, then we can start talking,” she said.

Ledwaba’s philosophy here couldn’t have come at a more relevant time. Reports claim that less than 10% of the world’s pilots, aviation maintenance technicians and airline executives are women, Ledwaba is ready to multiply that number five times over and she’s starting in Africa. As previously stated Ledwaba is involved with the Girls Fly Program in Africa (GFPA), but she’s not involved in the traditional sense of the word, she actually runs the entire foundation. 

GFPA’s main goal is to introduce girls in elementary, middle, and high school to STEM subjects; science, technology, engineering, and math. When Ledwaba was a child, she was raised by just her mother, who also had to raise six other kids. Her mother always instilled a hard work ethic in Ledwaba, and made it clear to her from a young age that the possibilities are limitless when it comes to what she wants to do with her life. 

Embed from Getty Images

Initially, Ledwaba claimed her mother inspired her to work hard to become a doctor, however, when she was in school she got a job as a flight attendant to help pay for her education. From that moment on she was fascinated by all things aviation, so much so that she began taking private flying lessons, which has led to her career today.

As the world develops and continues to industrialize, more careers are going to require a degree in STEM, so Ledwaba’s goal is to introduce these subjects to girls at a young age to spark an interest early on. More often than not, girls are steered away from focusing on STEM subjects in terms of specialized studies, and Ledwaba is gearing up to change that. 

“I’m working to diversify the face of women in the aviation industry by being accessible, being available, and being visible. I want a future where a small child can just wake up like, ‘I’m going to do that one day,’ and not have doubts.” 

She’s already held multiple aviation/space camp programs through GFPA in South Africa, Cameroon, and Kenya. Ledwaba also emphasizes on the GFPA website that while their focus is on empowering young girls, they also reach out to young boys as well to join their school outreach programs and camps. While the main goal is equality amongst the sexes in STEM careers, Ledwaba is just as invested in young people of all demographics gaining an equal opportunity to succeed if they want it. So far, the GFPA and Ledwaba’s work has helped over 100,000 young girls and boys through their multiple STEM programs.

Africa

East Africa Coping With Famine Threat Thanks To Locust Infestation

/in , /by

East Africa has been enduring one of the largest infestations of locusts that the continent has ever seen. The swarms recently made it to the countries of Uganda and Tanzania, which is posing a major threat for the people living in those regions. Africa has already been trying to get this year’s extreme locust season under control, as it’s posing a major hunger threat for the millions of people living throughout the eastern part of the continent. Now, with both Uganda and Tanzania under that same threat, a new sense of urgency is sweeping Africa. 

Tanzania has been detecting, and anticipating, that the locusts would migrate to their neck of the woods eventually, so in preparation government officials from the country hired three planes to spray pesticide throughout the region; pesticides have been the most effective means of combating the locust issue in the past for other residential areas of Africa. Uganda has also begun implementing similar measures throughout the areas of their country where locusts are beginning to overpopulate. Both countries have also mobilized thousands of troops to help as well. 

Embed from Getty Images

“We are using motorized sprayers, a drone and manual sprayers. They [locusts] are spreading like wildfire, so they are a real, major threat. The outbreak in east Africa is the most serious in decades and has already devastated crops across a swath of Kenya and Somalia,” Stephen Byantwale, the commissioner for crop protection at the ministry of agriculture, said.

As Byantwale stated, this outbreak is the worst Africa has seen in a long time, and like most natural disasters that have grown exponentially in intensity throughout the past decade, the reason is climate change. For this locust outbreak specifically, experts believe that the swarms are due to climate conditions created by a large cyclone that hit Somalia in December 2019. The cyclone would have brought on extremely heavy rains in an otherwise arid desert environment, creating the perfect breeding environment for the locusts. 

This is a problem because swarms of locusts are massive in size; this year one swarm in Kenya was 30 miles long by 25 miles wide. Experts state that even a small swarm of locusts can eat enough food to feed over 35,000 people in a day. A lot of the territories that the insects are travelling to are also occupied by certain extremist groups, making it near impossible to spray large blocks of land with pesticides via aircraft. Because of this, and the fact that meteorologists are predicting even more rainfall for east Africa within the next few weeks, scientists are worried that the locust swarms could multiply up to 500 times if not properly taken care of. 

Embed from Getty Images

 

Scientists are also concerned with South Sudan and their recovery from the ongoing infestation, as Sudan in general is already facing a major hunger problem. A single swarm of locusts can contain up to 150 million individual insects per square mile of farmland. This is a major issue especially for South Sudan where over 20 million people were already facing the threat of famine. 

These “plagues” of locust aren’t uncommon in Africa, however, how frequent and long the periods of infestations are lasting, is. In east Africa specifically, there have only been six major locust plagues since the 20th century. The most recent being in 2003 and 2005; and again, the cause is due to an increase in natural disaster and climate conditions that allow for locust breeding to occur.

“We know that cyclones are the originators of swarms – and in the past 10 years there’s been an increase in the frequency of cyclones in the Indian Ocean. Normally there’s none, or maybe one. So this is very unusual. It’s difficult to attribute to climate change directly, but if this trend of increased frequency of cyclones in the Indian Ocean continues, then certainly that’s going to translate to an increase in locust swarms in the Horn of Africa.” said Keith Cressman, senior locust forecasting officer at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

Wealth

Study Finds 22 Men Own More Wealth than All Women in Africa

/in , /by

One of the major topics of political concern both in the United States and around the world is the problem of economic inequality, which continues to increase by the day. Oxfam International, a charity that focuses on alleviating global poverty, has released a study that found that economic inequality has become so severe that the world’s richest 22 men own more wealth than all 326 million women who live in Africa. According to Oxfam, much of the world’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few billionaires, whose fortunes contribute little to society even as women and people of color are excluded from the economy because of biased economic systems. To address the problem, Oxfam has called on governments around the world to institute policies that ease the financial burden on women who care for children and the eldery, often without pay. Oxfam recommends that governments increase taxes on the wealthy in order to fund programs to support child care and health care.

Embed from Getty Images

The report included a number of surprising statistics that highlight just how bad economic inequality has become. For example, it found that the world’s 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than 4.6 billion people; that the world’s richest 1% have over twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people; that the value of unpaid care work by women is $10.8 trillion annually; and that the number of billionaires in the world has doubled over the past decade. The report links economic inequality with gender inequality, arguing that economic policies that have been instituted around the world are biased towards men, allowing them to dominate in business in government. As a potential remedy to this problem, Oxfam recommends that governments recognize the unpaid yet essential care work performed predominantly by women by expanding the public sector’s role in providing care to children, the elderly, and others who cannot care for themselves. As populations age and governments around the world cut access to public services, this problem is expected to worsen with time.

Embed from Getty Images

Oxfam believes that the influence of the super-rich on governments is too great, as the wealthy have the power to influence governments to enact policies that benefit themselves at the expense of the world’s poor, which disproportionately affects women and people of color. There is much disagreement around the world as to whether or not the existence of billionaires is good for society. Some argue that the fact that billionaires exist is evidence of the success of the capitalist system that has raised millions of people out of poverty, whereas others say that increasing taxes on the super-wealthy would lead to a more fair, just, and equal world where fewer people suffer unnecessarily. According to Oxfam, the capitalist system is broken because of the massive and growing economic inequality it generates and how it allows wealth to essentially be taken from the poor and given to the rich.