NEWS ANALYSIS

Nigeria’s growing natural hair industry includes enterprising professionals like Happiness Okorie, who recently styled Chimamanda Adichie’s hair. For years, Okorie had suffered from burns on her scalp due to using harsh relaxers. Then one day, she said ‘no more!’. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Happiness Okorie’s dream came true …

After years of rapid expansion driven by mobile money, Africa’s digital credit market is entering a regulatory phase. Governments across the continent are formalising loan apps through licensing and conduct standards to curb abuses without stalling access to credit. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | Regulators are reasserting control over …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | African sugar giant once courted by Tanzania’s Kagera Sugar and heralded as a possible triumph of a continental sugar business spanning East and South Africa is heading for liquidation. Kagera Sugar was eliminated early in the process to reconfigure Tongaat’s business which also included Zimbabwe’s …

NEWS FEATURE | LYDIA MIREMBE | Somewhere in Masaka, an elderly grandmother takes care of 13 grandchildren. A dilapidated house left by her long-deceased husband is the only possession to speak of.  She can hardly afford their food, education, or healthcare. To make ends meet, she sends the grandchildren out to …

BEIJING | Xinhua |  As China advances comprehensive rural revitalization and bolsters food security, multinational agribusinesses are finding new impetus to deepen their engagement across the nation’s extensive agricultural value chain — from livestock breeding and feed supplies to product processing and rural services. The recent release of China’s annual …

What next after top US senator says CDF “crossed a red line”? Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME |  A tweet from the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jim Risch to Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Forces, cast the spotlight on US-Uganda diplomatic relations in the …

   New cars are hitting Africa’s roads faster than ever as local production rises and Chinese brands heat up competition with attractive prices.Morocco is speeding  production at over 1 million units surpassing South Africa at nearly 600,000 units. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY |  After years of shortages, high prices and delayed …

  Inside the EU’s climate rules and the hidden costs they impose on African economies Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE  | In mid-December 2025, under the chandeliers of a conference hall in Speke Resort Hotel-Munyonyo, in Kampala, a familiar tension surfaced in unfamiliar language. Delegates from across Eastern and Southern Africa …

Uganda’s power struggle enters a new phase COVER STORY | IAN KATUSIIME | What will Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, do next? Will he emerge from hiding, and if so, when? These are the questions on many minds as the 2026 presidential candidate enters his third week in …

Access to European markets increasingly depends on surrendering precise farm data under EUDR rules   Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | In the lush highlands of eastern and western Uganda, coffee farmers have long relied on fertile soils, predictable rains, and generations of agricultural knowledge to sustain their livelihoods. Today, however, …