Someone once remarked that football matches are the most heated contests in much of Africa. But in today’s environment, where most countries are doing their best to at least be seen to be abiding... 

Just over six decades ago, former United Nations (UN) secretary-general Dag Hammarskjold died in mysterious circumstances in what is now Zambia. Some cried assassination, with more than a couple of... 

Africa’s got talent! For the latest evidence of this, one need not look further than US news magazine Time’s 2021 list of the most influential 100  individuals on Planet Earth in various spheres of... 

We Africans are an unhappy lot. I am not joking – scientifically derived statistics are available to back this up, and it appears the advent of Covid-19 has exacerbated our collective melancholy.... 

I remember, as a freshman in journalism school, a lecturer telling us that some Western newspapers and other media organisations had settled on a stock headline to use each time an African... 

While the joblessness numbers released by Statistics South Africa recently make for sad reading, bringing the country’s unemployment scourge into sharp focus, the key takeaway is that it is young... 

Africa’s despots – and they are numerous – are increasingly developing a worrying penchant for switching off social media networks to prevent citizens from sharing information they dislike or when... 

I guess you are busy moving house, following your electoral defeat, which spelled the end to your tenancy at State House in Lusaka. When things are less hectic, please spare a few moments to read... 

When Covid hit African shores in early 2020, many predicted the death toll would be much higher than in other regions, given the parlous state of the healthcare system in many countries on the... 

Zweli Mkhize has always come across as a conscientious fellow, which is why it came as a shock when allegations that he used his influence as Health Minister to have a contract awarded to a... 

Late last month, Southern African Development Community (SADC) nations started deploying troops to northern Mozambique to help quell an Islamist insurgency that is threatening the development of... 

That the rest of Africa sets great store by this country is a no-brainer. After all, Mzansi’s is the most developed economy on the continent and, until the Nigerians tweaked the numbers in a... 

The Nobel Peace Prize, the world’s most prestigious award, with pickings of about $1.15-million in 2020, has been soiled by one of its more recent laureates, who happens to be a son of the African... 

At the time of writing, eSwatini was burning – literally and figuratively. The country, which has the dubious distinction of being Africa’s sole absolute monarchy, was engulfed in protests by... 

It’s Journalism 101 time this week – well, mostly – and I will cut to the chase: what is the difference between reporting and journalism? The two are not perfect synonyms. Reporting, or simply the... 

At the time of writing, Africa was in mourning, following the breaking of the news that Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s President from 1964 to 1991, had breathed his last in a Lusaka military hospital.... 

Gwede Mantashe is a jolly good fellow. And a reasonable one too. But events of the past couple of weeks betray a smallanyana (read ‘smallish’) flaw on his part: an inability to read his boss’s... 

Fathers of pan-Africanism such as the late Kwame Nkrumah, who wished for the day when Africa would be truly united, must have been pleased as they witnessed from the Great Unknown the coming into... 

American political scientist Bernard Cecil Cohen famously wrote in 1963 that “the press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in... 

It has been about eight years since Islamic extremists stormed an upscale shopping mall in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, killing 62 civilians and five soldiers before they were subdued. But images... 

Conventional wisdom has it that one man’s meat is another man’s poison. But a Ghanaian youngster has proven also that one man’s trash can be another man’s means of mobility – literally.... 

In a few days, we will be celebrating a day that is dear to those who cherish our great continent. Well, for us in Mzansi, ‘celebrate’ is not quite the word: we the wafanyakazi will be at the... 

Former Gauteng Health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku was a rising star in the ruling African National Congress. That was until a major scandal around the procurement of personal protective equipment for... 

Bonginkosi Madikizela’s claim to fame is that he is the leader of the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape and the MEC for Transport and Public Works in that province. But he is currently... 

Lesotho became the first African country to legalise the cultivation of marijuana for medicinal purposes in 2017. Now – four short years later – a few other countries have followed in its... 

African countries have been beneficiaries of deep-pocketed China’s ‘generosity’ for yonks. Even South Africa, the most developed country on the continent, has been a beneficiary, having received a... 

Remember Chris Maroleng? He is pretty much out of the limelight these days, and the only time he gets to grace our telly screens is when a journalist wants soundbites to embellish a story about... 

Gwede Mantashe is a South African politician who served as the national chairperson of the African National Congress (ANC). He is also a former chairperson of the South African Communist Party and... 

An epidemic of gigantic proportions is sweeping through Africa, and some experts say it is more devastating than HIV/Aids. It is good old obesity, and that it is shaping up as a major crisis is... 

At the time of writing, Africa was in mourning. News of the passing of Tanzania’s 61-year-old leader, John Magufuli, had just broken. His robust crusade against corruption in high places from early... 

So, Patrice Motsepe is the new czar of the beautiful game on this continent, having assumed the presidency of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) a fortnight back. Although he mounted a... 

Mahamadou Issoufou is not a household name on these shores. But he is definitely a remarkable fellow, if the bestowal on him of the 2020 Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership is anything to go by.... 

As a Covid-19 survivor, it breaks my heart to realise that there is so much superstition and scepticism around vaccines designed to combat this disease, which has had such a horrific impact on both... 

‘Clean energy’ has become a buzzword across the globe, including in our sub-Saharan Africa neck of the woods, where the International Renewable Energy Agency is projecting renewables will comprise... 

Air pollution levels tend to rise in lockstep with a country’s economic development, which is often accompanied by an increase in the number of emissions-belching industrial enterprises. But a new... 

Initiatives such as government’s push against gender-based violence – which culminated in the launch, about a fortnight ago, of a fund to tackle this scourge – are clearly indicative of the overall... 

Before the madness in Tigray started playing out last year, most of the news coming out of Ethiopia was such that all of us would be proud to be African. A case in point was Prime Minister Abiy... 

Kenyans are due to elect a new Parliament and a new President only in August 2022, but the frenetic itinerary of Deputy President William Ruto – who has made no bones about his intention to take a... 

Voting in Uganda has come and gone, and Yoweri Museveni – the 76-year-old former rebel who shot his way to power in 1986 – remains ensconced in State House, amid opposition accusations that his... 

So many labels can be pinned onto Donald Trump. But two recently acquired ones – ‘former President of the US’ and ‘erstwhile Twitter user’ – give me a hell of a lot of satisfaction. With his... 

Much stink was kicked up in May last year when American George Floyd died at the hands of a police officer in a clearly racist incident. The din of condemnation was universal and among the more... 

Queen Elizabeth II popularised the Latin phrase annus horribilis – which means ‘horrible year’ – when, back in 1992, she delivered a speech marking the fortieth anniversary of her ascension to the...