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 …
AIDS activists are suing the South African government for its failure to distribute an anti-HIV drugs that could save the lives of about 35,000 newborn babies each year. The lawsuit will be filed by the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which played a leading role earlier this year in forcing multinational …
A marooned humpback whale was exploded in the Port Elizabeth city of South Africa after attempts to put it back into the sea failed. "For easing the misery of the whale, an explosive device was placed very close to its head,' said Sandy Thackeray, spokesperson for Bayworld oceanarium. "We were …
One of the main causes of pollution in South Africa is plastic packaging, says a recent study. The Water Research Commission and the Cape Metropolitan Council conducted a four-year study into the reduction of urban litter in drainage systems. During the study it was found that the plastic packaging contributes …
The global pharmaceutical industry is feeling the heat. Following the industry's embarrassing withdrawal in April from a case against the South African government over the issue of access to cheap aids drugs, the us government dropped its complaint against Brazil's law dealing with the same issue at the World Trade …
Several eyebrows have been raised over the Cipla offer to supply anti- aids drugs at one-third the current price to developing countries like South Africa. On March 7, 2001 Cipla Ltd of Mumbai, formally requested the South African department of trade and industry to issue compulsory licenses to patents on …
Globalisation is increasingly reducing the power of individual governments vis a vis multinational corporations whose annual turnover far exceed the gross national product of many wto members. This makes wto a major force influencing countries to open up to the world faster. Unfortunately this leaves a country vulnerable to market …
Male crocodiles of the Nile river could face extinction due to an invasive plant. The trifid weed has invaded the shoreline-nesting habitat for the crocodiles at Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, the largest estuarine system in Africa. The fibrous roots of the weed cause some nesting crocodiles to abandon their …
A South African company continues to sell Chlordane, a toxic pesticide that is banned worldwide. The South African chemical industry stopped selling the pesticide in March 2000. But Gulf Chemicals, a KwaZulu-Natal-based company, continues to manufacture the pesticide, with the approval of Etienne Wolmarans, registrar of the country's department of …
Divers recently filmed a coelacanth fish in St Lucia marine protected area of South Africa. Coelacanths were thought to be extinct for a long time but six of them were spotted in St Lucia last year (see Down To Earth, Vol 9, No 16, January 15, p12). Pieter Venter, one …
The government of Zimbabwe has given permission to cattle grazers to reside inside the Gonarezhou National Park. Environmentalists fear that this will result in large-scale poaching in the park, which is home to many endangered species of animals. The grazers have already started moving into the park. The permission comes …
The residents of Aloes area of Port Elizabeth city, South Africa, will no longer live in the vicinity of a hazardous medical waste incinerator and one of country's largest waste sites. For years the incinerator and the waste site were polluting the area, thanks to the apartheid government. "The pollution …
Residents of Zamdela town in the Sasolburg province of South Africa are fighting against air pollution. Under the apartheid rule, many petrochemical plants and oil refineries located in Zamdela were not disclosing information regarding their pollutant emissions. But now the situation is changing. With the help of environmental organisations, the …
in the face of mounting pressure, pharmaceutical manufacturers have abandoned their challenge against the South African Government over the pricing of aids medication. After more than 24 hours of final negotiations, the pharmaceutical companies and the South African Government reached agreement. The withdrawal paves the way to the production and …
The world's largest gold refinery, the Rand, located in South Africa will soon become the most ecofriendly one across the globe. The refinery is the first in the world to be awarded a certificate by the International Organisation for Standardisation (iso) . "The iso 14001 certificate recognises our adherence to …
sewage and industrial wastewater have been treated and reused in India for agriculture for well over 100 years, and in industries for the last 30-40 years. In spite of this reuse, there is a great untapped potential if some other options are also considered. Groundwater recharge with freshwater, for instance, …
with a confused leadership providing no able direction, frustration and alarm is growing at the rampant spread of aids throughout South Africa. And the announcement by five of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies offering to slash prices of hiv drugs in developing countries has done little to mitigate the suffering. …
When Mozambique fought a war of independence in 1975, its elephant population was over 60,000. When the war ended in 1992, there were only 15,000 left. The story is the same in many African nations
Conservationists welcomed a 20-year jail term handed to an elephant poacher, saying stiff sentences were needed to protect the continent's endangered wildlife. "We can only applaud the fact the court has handed down a harsh sentence... we welcome any deterrent to would-be poachers,' Sarah Scarth, director of the South African …
while climate change negotiations hogged media reports in international environmental negotiations, another global meeting in the same month quietly held its own and bore many fruitful results for its participants. On its 20th anniversary, the sixth conference of parties ( cop -6) to the Convention on Migratory Species of Wild …
Imagine yourself enjoying the exhilaration of an African safari in the comforts of your living room. With a state-of-the-art Internet facility, it is now possible for animal lovers to view live the wild inmates of Africa's four famous natural reserves, including the Kruger National Park. To put it simply, a
