The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
The European Union ( eu ) has banned fish imports from Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. The decision was taken after reports that Uganda had restricted the sale of fresh fish products from Lake Victoria, the world's second largest freshwater lake that borders the three East African countries. Fisherfolk in the …
gorillas are the latest victim of political and ethnic conflicts, that have engulfed eastern Africa. About 300 gorillas live in Bwindi and 320 in the forests that run through Uganda, Rwanda and Congo. In a strange relationship, the survival of the local people depends on the revenue from tourism that …
NO ONE understands the value and significance of natural resources better than traditional societies. A realisation of the importance of these resources coupled with animistic beliefs may be the reasons why many traditional societies have been preserving a portion of natural ecosystems as "sacred groves" for centuries. Sacred groves are …
According to the World Health Organisation, about 31 million people in the world are living with 11IV or AIDS. Significantly, this includes-about one million children. In 1997, around 2.3 million people died due to AIDS, of which 1.8 million were among adults aged 15 and above. In 1995, about 75,000 …
Programmes providing small loans are not effective for reducing poverty, stated a report published by the United Nations Department for Economics and Social Affairs. The micro credit concept has gained a lot of popularity during the last 10 years. But according to the report, the programmes had many limitations when …
Death and disease are closely linked to economic well-being. The greatest number of people in sub-Saharan Africa or India die due to communicable diseases, which have close associations with poverty and lack of health care. Communicable diseases do not kill so many in the developed parts of the world, such …
Millions of people in Sudan are facing starvation following an outbreak of famine in the country. Aid agencies had warned just four months back about the impending famine in southern Sudan. A United Nations (UN) projection showed that about 1.2 million people are in danger of death from hunger across …
the acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome ( aids ) is widely believed to have resulted from infection by a virus known as the human immuno-deficiency virus ( hiv ). Two aids viruses have been identified so far, hiv -1 and hiv -2. It is clear that both came from Africa, where the …
Nearly 37 countries are facing food emergencies as against 31 countries that had faced food shortages towards the end of last year. The food shortages are mainly due to the effects of El Ni
Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa are at a critical turning point in their effort to address the problems of rapid population growth and poor reproductive health, says a study of Population Action International (pai). The economic growth of countries such as Kenya, South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe largely depend on …
The world's leading environmental thinkers drawn from government, business and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have created a blueprint for future joint action to foster global environmental improvement. Recently, about 60 environment ministers, United Nations officials, senior business executives and NGO leaders met at the UN headquarters to discuss critical environmental protection …
Kenya produces nearly 1.5 per cent of the world's coffee. However, coffee producers are struggling to overcome two burdens inclement weather and bureaucratic inertia. The first problem is short-lived as Kenya has received average rainfall since the 1960's. This year, more than 262 millimetres (mm) of rain fell in January, …
africa: Many officials in this tiny west African country, are having a hard time coming to terms with Equatorial guinea's fantastic oil windfall. Last year, offshore petroleum production which had begun there only recently by Mobil Oil Corp, earned this poverty-stricken country an estimated us $100 million, doubling the gross …
Multinational toba-cco companies faced with shrinking markets and increasing restrictions in the industrialised world, are wooing consumers throughout the newly-opened econo-mies of Loas, Cam-bodia, Burma and Vietnam. Using slick advertising and dollar power, the companies are promoting an image of cigarette-makers that is synonymous with entrepreneurship, individual freedom and unlimited …
in the 1930s the Great Plains heartland of North America wasted away into the Dust Bowl. The eastern coast of the us was covered by 350 million tonnes of rich top soil, swept up from the Great Plains, half a continent away. Cattle died on the parched rangelands and thousands …
water hyacinths (Eichhornia crassipes) have never had it so good, and Lake Victoria in Africa has seldom had it so bad. The lake has been infested by the weed that has caused numerous problems to fisherfolk, tangling the fishing nets, clogging up the motors of the boats and destroying the …
geneticists who gathered at a conference on human evolution in October at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, have come out with some estimates that could change our understanding of the evolution of our species. They say that as few as 500 individuals, who moved out of Africa some …
On the agenda of the African Academy of Science: The academy provides a forum for honouring scientists in Africa and thus boosts their morale. It also assists in integrating science with national development and helps in creating a forum where African scientists can develop academically. This is achieved through holding …
poor farmers in Africa can now treble their rice yields at no extra cost. This has been made possible by hybrid plants that are suitable to African conditions. The hybrid combines in a single plant the hardiness of a long-forgotten native African strain with the high-yielding qualities of widely grown …
