Governor's race in Ekiti points to problems in national Nigerian poll

Aug 21, 2018 16:13 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

With less than 200 days to Nigerias next general election - scheduled for February 16, 2019 - there are apprehensions about how vote buying, violence and the deployment of security agents could affect the 2019 polls....

African agriculture has a lot to gain from increased access to big data

Aug 21, 2018 16:12 pm UTC| Insights & Views Technology Economy

African scientists are about to get unprecedented access to enormous amounts of satellite data. This is thanks to a deal signed by the African Union with the European Commissions Copernicus programme, which describes...

How new Silk Road will cement China as major trading partner for Africa

Aug 21, 2018 16:12 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

In 138 BC China took its first step towards global connectivity with the establishment of the historical Silk Road. Zhang Qian was sent by Emperor Wudi to Central Asia to establish trade relationships. His historic...

Explainer: why some current account imbalances are fine but others are catastrophic

Aug 21, 2018 16:11 pm UTC| Insights & Views Business Economy

In the recent economic crises in Turkey and Argentina, there was much talk about how current account deficits played a big part in their problems. Nothing unusual in that, of course: many economic crises are associated...

Outdated, punitive laws are encouraging HIV stigma in Zimbabwe

Aug 21, 2018 16:10 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

In 2001 Zimbabwe introduced the Sexual Offences Act, which criminalised wilful transmission of HIV. Three years later the law was updated to include those who suspected they could be HIV positive but didnt inform their...

Ancestor of all life on Earth evolved earlier than we thought, according to our new timescale

Aug 21, 2018 16:10 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

Science may have enabled us to travel in space and trace the history of the entire universe, but it has not yet been able to answer exactly how and when life first arose on our planet. Traditionally, scientists have used...

Turkey's currency collapse shows just how vulnerable its economy is to a crisis

Aug 21, 2018 16:09 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

If you happen to be a tourist in Turkey right now, consider yourself lucky. Otherwise, things look grim. The Turkish lira has lost as much as a third of its value relative to the U.S. dollar in less than a month and...