Kenya and Zambia tell the story of why first multiparty elections after authoritarian rule turn violent in some countries COMMENT | Johan Brosché, Hanne Fjelde and Kristine Höglund | Why do the first multiparty elections after authoritarian rule turn violent in some countries but not in others? That’s the question …

The financing gap to achieve the SDGs; between $500bn and $1.2tn, is beyond what many states can deliver COMMENT | KARNIKA YADAV | There is only one road left to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set for Africa for 2030 and that’s through sustainable businesses. The sluggish progress to …

However, there are no mandatory standards for online education | CARLO PERROTTA | The spread of the coronavirus disease known as COVID-19 is a public health emergency with economic and social ramifications in China and across the world. While the impacts on business are well documented, education is also facing …

However, the preventive clothing may increase the cost of treatment | THE INDEPENDENT | Insecticide treated protective clothing could cut malaria infections in children under five by half while also reducing anaemia rates, a study suggests. During the study, the clothing, which contained permethrin insecticide, was sewn as a hooded …

Why the opposition playbook carries risks Malawi recently held its breath as the Constitutional Court took ten hours to painstakingly read out its verdict on the highly controversial 2019 presidential elections. When it finally became clear that the judgment would nullify the election of President Peter Mutharika, jubilant opposition supporters …

A deep-learning model identifies a powerful new drug that can kill many species of antibiotic-resistant bacteria | THE INDEPENDENT | Using a machine-learning algorithm, MIT researchers have identified a powerful new antibiotic compound. In laboratory tests, the drug killed many of the world’s most problematic disease-causing bacteria, including some strains …

It kills bacteria in a new way | THE INDEPENDENT | A new group of antibiotics with a unique approach to attacking bacteria has been discovered, making it a promising clinical candidate in the fight against antimicrobial resistance. The newly-found corbomycin and the lesser-known complestatin have a never-before-seen way to …

What is social protection and what does it mean to the common person in a poor country like Uganda? Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | This is one major question that comes into one’s mind after reading the latest Economic Update released by the World Bank in Kampala on Feb.14. …

  Can the African Continental Free Trade Area succeed where previous free-trade initiatives have failed? Dianna Games weighs up the issues. Africa heads into a historic year in which the long-awaited African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) finally becomes a reality, with trading under the scheme scheduled to begin on 1 …

There are ways you can change that | THE INDEPENDENT | The news can be stress-inducing at the best of times. When the news is particularly worrying, many of us experience levels of anxiety so high that we can have difficulty coping. So how can we stay (reasonably) anxiety-free when …