Could giant snails end starvation in Africa?It may sound gross, but the giant snail is more nutritious than beef, rich in protein, iron, calcium, zinc, and essential vitamins, and is widely available in Africa. Could giant snail pies be the starving continent’s saviour?
Africa
UN sends Nicolas Cage to fight Somali pirates
Clearly the most qualified candidate for the roll, actor Nicolas has gone to Africa to meet with jailed Somali pirates in his capacity as a “Goodwill Ambassador on Drugs and Crime” for the UN.
Africa’s Middle Class: an untapped goldmine?
Does China know something the West doesn’t? Its leaders have been quietly wooing their African counterparts, hoping to gain a foothold in the continent’s emerging Middle Class market — flogging them cars, clothes, and, more significantly, cheap loans and tax credits .
Why is the US starving Somalia?
Despite sending 40 tons of weaponry to Somalia earlier this year, the United States is withholding humanitarian aid until relief agencies agree to comply with a set of strict conditions. And the country is going to run out of food within weeks.
Quentin Bryce goes on a $700k Security Council seat hunting safari
Governor General Quentin Bryce made an expensive trek to Africa earlier this year in an effort to help Australia score a seat on the UN Security Council — paying out $300,000 to Government officials and $64,000 on food, accommodation and gifts, according to the Daily Tele.
Everyone’s a loser in Africa’s leadership awards
This year’s $5m Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership will not be awarded, due to a lack of viable contenders. Sadly not a problem faced by the Prize for Achievement in African Ruthless Dictatorships.
Nestlé suckles from the teat of Mugabe’s dirty dairy
Robert Mugabe has built a secret farming empire with land seized from white farmers. Their biggest customer? Swiss food giant Nestlé, which has been lapping up 1 million litres of Mugabe’s milk a year.
Girls in Ghana carry a heavy burden
Tens of thousands of young women in Ghana have left their families in the country for the country’s capital city of Accra to work as “Kayayo” — porters carrying heavy loads on their heads for as little as AU$1.56 a day.
Dead cattle put Kenya at the brink of national disaster
Years of drought sweeping across Kenya’s plains have placed the country at a critical stage. Four million Kenyans are on food aid, yet a blotched government plan has resulted in hundreds of dead cattle.
REVEALED: Big Oil’s big Africa cover-up
The Guardian exposes a massive cover-up by British oil company Trafigura, with secret emails revealing the company dumped highly toxic waste in Ivory Coast, despite knowing the dangers.
Al-Qaida’s recruitment crisis
Militant Islam just isn’t pulling in the punters like it used to. Eight years since 9/11, the group’s failed to have any big “hits” in the West since the 2005 London bombings, despite expanding its operations. Has it jumped the shark?
Africa’s economies need to start competing
The Global Competitiveness Report had mixed results for Africa: 13 countries were better than the year before while ten had slipped back. But the region’s relative financial competitiveness is still poor, says The Economist.
Another famine? Rains down in Africa not blessing Ethiopia
Aid agencies fear that another famine may be looming in Ethiopia, due to a severe food crisis and drought. But declaring a famine is a political decision, with the Ethiopian prime minister denying that one is imminent.
Animals are content, locals not so much
The tourists might love the African safari animals, but the historical eviction and exclusion of indigenous people from nature reserves dims the ‘Big 5’ excitement glow.
The Nigerian scammers become the scammed
Someone may have been fleecing some of Nigeria’s biggest banks, pushing the country’s financial system to the edge of collapse.
Will East Africa become the new India?
You know internet use is rocky when pirate attacks and damaged sea cables can stop connections and only 5 in every 100 people use the internet. But with the arrival of broadband to Tanzania, there is talk of East Africa becoming the new outsourcing hot spot.
Rethinking Africa
Despite the health and economic problems in some African countries, the continent itself is in much better shape than most people think, says Charles Kenny.
Dreaming of a Niger Delta Republic
Amidst the nightmare of bloody violence in Nigeria, Sonnie Ekwowusi dreams of an independent Niger Delta, a republic where those indigenous to the area are afforded the right self-determination.
Nigeria: Behind the bloodshed
Four days of violence in Nigeria has left 200 dead and sent 4000 fleeing from their homes. Government forces are closing in on the rebels responsible, but the real root of the unrest lies in endemic problems in the Niger Delta, which won’t be solved so easily.
The tech industry’s bloody secret
The mineral trade that powers the manufacturing of computers, mp3 players, mobiles and other gadgets could also be funding a bloody civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Do some of the world’s biggest electronics companies have blood on their hands?
Welcome to Festac Town, email scam capital of Nigeria
“Dear Sir, I am a Nigerian prince…” you know the tune. And if you’ve received one (or, say, five billion) of these emails, chances are it came from a single town in Lagos, Nigeria.
An African autocrat takes the stand
Former Liberian president Charles Taylor’s trial represents the first time that an African leader has been brought to account before an international tribunal.
Monbiot: BBC films omit climate change
The BBC make a lot of lovely programs about wildlife and the natural world in Africa, but not one of them mentions climate change — odd no?
War, child soldiers, Africa and Charles Taylor: on trial at the Hague
Liberian leader Charles Taylor yesterday had the dubious honour of being the first African leader to go to trial at the Hague for war crimes, specifically terrorism, murder, rape, sexual slavery, pillage and conscripting children under the age of 15.
