The pace of change in Ethiopia has been so fast since Abiy Ahmed became prime minister in April that it is almost like observing a different country. The reforms he has introduced were unthinkable not so long ago. The government seemed impervious to criticism from human rights groups that the state stifled free expression, sidelined […]

We live in fear and are traumatised by the fighting in Bamenda. This once peaceful and lively city in Cameroon has become a battleground between government forces and rebels demanding an independent state for the central African nation’s English-speaking minority. More than half the city’s population of about 400,000 have fled their homes in the […]

Pressure is growing on Germany and the UK to return to Africa skulls taken as trophies and for discredited racial research more than a century ago, writes the BBC’s Damian Zane. A Tanzanian based in Germany, Mnyaka Sururu Mboro, has been searching for the lost skull of Mangi Meli for 40 years. Mangi Meli, a […]

Traditional parenting styles in Africa stress the importance of tradition and an emphasis on parental care, attention, and love. In many African countries, such as Nigeria, predominant parenting styles fall some way between ‘tough love’ and new, more modern leniency. Thus, a child is respected to have responsibilities at school and at home, respect for […]

Here is why some students in the African nation are skipping school. Toilets in some public schools in South Africa are dirty, disgusting and dangerous, especially for children. Government leaders are promising improvements following the death of two students. However, that is unlikely for another 12 years. Campaigners for better education say it is a […]

Rates of female genital mutilation (FGM) have fallen dramatically among girls in Africa in the last two decades, according to new research. The study, published in BMJ Global Health, cited a “huge and significant decline” among under-14s. The practice involves removing all or part of a girl or woman’s external genitalia, including the clitoris. Some […]

When I spoke with Sahr Josiah last October about his restaurant Bintimani, which serves food inspired by his native Sierra Leone, he said one day he might want to expand to a bigger space so he and his wife Baindu could do bigger things. But as he said it, he paused — they’re happy where they […]

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Four car bombs exploded outside a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu, on Friday afternoon, killing at least 20 people and injuring 17, the police said. The Islamic extremist group the Shabab claimed responsibility. After three devices exploded in front of the hotel, a fourth blast hit as medics tried to rescue the […]

Gasper Nali’s second album, Zoona Malawi (roughly translates to ‘It’s true, Malawi’), is a return to simplicity. While his debut album had a band arrangement of instruments, this time it’s only Gasper. Recorded on a beach in his hometown of Nkhata Bay, only meters from Lake Malawi, Gasper plays six songs from beginning to end […]

A charity worker was stabbed to death in a robbery at his South African apartment where only his phone was taken. Retired school principal John Curran was discovered with multiple stab wounds at around 10.30am on Wednesday in the Cape Town property where he had been staying for the past two months. Mr Curran (60) […]