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The article presents an addendum to the position paper on the use of meningococcal conjugate vaccines (MMCV) in the African meningitis belt issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization at its meeting in September 2023. Topics include the WHO off-label recommendations for meningococcal vaccines and vaccination that apply to countries in the African meningitis belt and research priorities on the impact of Men5CV vaccine.

A growing body of research implicates inflammation as a potential pathway in the aetiology and pathophysiology of some mental illnesses. A systematic review was conducted to determine the association between parasitic infection and mental illnesses in humans in Africa and reviewed the state of the evidence available. The search focused on publications from Africa documenting the relationship between parasites from two parasite groups, helminths and protozoans, and four classifications of mental illness: mood affective disorders, neurotic and stress-related disorders, schizotypal disorders and unspecified mental illnesses. In the 26 reviewed papers, the prevalence of mental illness was significantly higher in people with parasitic infection compared to those without infection, i.e., 58.2% vs 41.8% (P < 0.001). An overall odds ratio found that the association of having a mental illness when testing positive for a parasitic infection was four times that of people without infection. Whilst the study showed significant associations between parasite infection and mental illness, it also highlights gaps in the present literature on the pathophysiology of mental illness in people exposed to parasite infection. This study highlighted the importance of an integrated intervention for parasitic infection and mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the features of the bank notes released by Biafra in Western Africa, which indicated a separate banking system and printed after its secession from the British Empire.

Keywords: %USD; AFRICA; ALLTOP; BASIC; BUSINESS; CMD; COS; FRX; GOV; GOVTOP; INDUSTRIES; MARKETS; METMNG; NORTHAM; US; WORLD EN %USD AFRICA ALLTOP BASIC BUSINESS CMD COS FRX GOV GOVTOP INDUSTRIES MARKETS METMNG NORTHAM US WORLD Zimbabwe's central bank plans to sell gold coins to the public from July 25 as a store of value to stabilize the nation's tumbling currency and offer an alternative to the US dollar. The coin forms part of measures to deal with a currency crisis that's seen the annual inflation rate jump to 192% in June and a sharp depreciation in the Zimbabwean dollar, which has lost more than two-thirds of its value against the dollar this year. [Extracted from the article]

South African civil-society organization Corruption Watch said it has launched an application in the High Court of Pretoria to have former Eskom board members declared delinquent. The application "focuses on the violation of fiduciary duties and gross negligence on the part of former board members", the Johannesburg-based Corruption Watch said in an emailed statement on Monday. [Extracted from the article]

Quantifying the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty in Africa has been as difficult as predicting the path of the pandemic, mainly due to data limitations. The advent of new data sources, including national accounts and phone survey data, provides an opportunity for a thorough reassessment of the impact of the pandemic and the subsequent expansion of social protection systems on the evolution of poverty in Africa. In this paper, we combine per capita GDP growth from national accounts with data from High-Frequency Phone Surveys for several countries to estimate the net impact of the pandemic on poverty. We find that the pandemic has increased poverty in Africa by 1.5-1.7 percentage points in 2020, relatively smaller than early estimates and projections. We also find that countries affected by Fragility, Conflict, and Violence (FCV) experienced the greatest increases in poverty, about 2.1 percentage points in 2020. Furthermore, we assess and synthesize empirical evidence on the role that social protection systems played in mitigating the adverse impact of the COVID-19 crisis in Africa. We review social protection responses in various African countries, mainly focusing on the impact of these programs and effectiveness of targeting systems. Although the evidence base on the protective role of social protection programs during the pandemic remains scarce, we highlight important findings on the impacts of these programs while also uncovering some vulnerabilities in social protection programming in Africa. We finally draw important lessons related to the delivery, targeting and impact of various social protection programs launched in Africa in response to the pandemic. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the World Bank Group and IFPRI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and its impact on Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, particularly due to their weak healthcare systems. The authors emphasize the need for better global health security and international cooperation to manage such diseases. The paper aims to analyze the outbreak and response strategies in these three countries in order to provide insights for improving healthcare systems and responses to EVD and similar diseases worldwide. It is important to note that this preprint has not yet undergone peer review. [Extracted from the article]

Informal cross-border trade (ICBT) represents a prominent phenomenon in Africa. Several studies suggest that for certain products and countries, the value of informal trade may meet or even exceed the value of formal trade. This paper provides a review of existing efforts to measure informal trade. We list 18 initiatives aimed at measuring ICBT in Africa. The paper also summarizes discussions conducted with many stakeholders in Africa between December 2016 and May 2018 regarding the measurement, the determinants, and the implications of ICBT. The methodologies used to measure ICBT in Africa differ widely, but they do confirm that informal trade in Africa is both sizeable and volatile. Both evidence on the determinants of ICBT and discussions with stakeholders suggest that policies should aim to reduce the existing costs associated with formal trade and provide positive incentives for traders and producers to move into the formal economy in order to avoid the loss of economic potential stemming from informal trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan was assured by a special national police unit that he isn't a suspect in its investigation of a tax-agency unit and won't be arrested, the Johannesburg-based Sunday Independent said, citing correspondence to his lawyers. Attribution Amogelang Mbatha: by reporter Nasreen Seria: editor responsible Jana Randow: editor Steve Geimann: editor. [Extracted from the article]

Despite enthusiasm on the potential of digital innovations to transform agricultural markets in Africa, progress made thus far has been limited to small-scale experiments that often fail to scale up. Realizing the full potential of digital innovations--tools, technologies, applications, and services--in Africa requires not just further development of these solutions at meaningful scales, but also more nuanced evidence from both successful and unsuccessful scaling efforts. This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical evidence on the transformative potential of digital innovations for African agricultural markets with an in-depth examination of solutions that have been rolled out to date in the continent. Specifically, the review addresses the following questions: (i) how can digital innovations improve the functioning of agricultural markets in Africa? (ii) what explains the apparent failure of most pilots to scale up? (iii) what is required to realize their full potential? and (iv) what are the emerging risks and opportunities associated with these digital innovations for agricultural marketing? Although our review of the landscape and literature on market-focused digital innovations in Africa identifies several reasons to remain optimistic, the prevailing disconnect between pilots and scale-ups merits further evaluation. In particular, there is a need for more systematic assessments of both successes and failures at different stages of piloting and scaling of digital solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) describe a course of action to address poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all (https://sdgs.un.org/goals). More specifically, SDG 6 clarifies how water quality, quantity and access are crucial to human well-being, and yet human activities are compromising water resources through over-exploitation, pollution, as well as contributing to the spread of disease. Globally aquatic ecosystems are highly threatened and concerted efforts by governments and civil society to 'turn the situation around' are simply not working. Human-created problems require human-centred solutions and these require different ways of thinking and acting to those behaviour patterns that are contributing to the challenges. In this paper, we first consider causal approaches to attitude change and behaviour modification that are simply not working as intended. We then explore enabling responses such as citizen science and co-engaged action learning as more tenable alternatives. SDG 6 has a focus on clean water and sanitation for all. The SDGs further clarify how the extent to which this goal can be realized depends, to a large extent, on stakeholder engagements and education. Through stakeholder engagements and educational processes, people can contribute towards SDG 6 and the specific indicator and target in SDG 6.b - Stakeholder participation. Following a three-year research process, that investigated a wide range of participatory tools, this paper explores how the Stream Assessment Scoring System (miniSASS; www.minisass.org) can enable members of the public to engage in water quality monitoring at a local level. The paper continues to demonstrate how miniSASS can contribute to the monitoring of progress towards Sustainable Development Goal Target 6.3, by providing a mechanism for data collection indicator 6.3.2. miniSASS is proving popular in southern Africa as a methodology for engaging stakeholder participation in water quality monitoring and management. The technique costs very little to implement and can be applied by children and scientists alike. As a biomonitoring approach, it is based on families of macroinvertebrates that are present in most perennial rivers of the world. The paper concludes by describing how useful the miniSASS technique can be for addressing data gaps for SDG 6.3.2 reporting, and that it can be applied in most regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bayobab white paper: read about the big developments taking place to extend connectivity across Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study published in Science Advances reveals that a third of Africa's gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees are at risk due to mining operations for metals essential to the global clean energy transition. The study estimates that nearly 180,000 great apes in Africa are threatened by mining activities, which drive deforestation. The impact may be even greater as mining companies are not required to disclose biodiversity data. The demand for minerals used in rechargeable batteries for electric vehicles is increasing, and Africa, home to a third of the world's mineral resources, is particularly vulnerable due to its diverse and fragile ecosystems. The researchers emphasize the need for a shift away from fossil fuels that does not jeopardize biodiversity. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe an AI (Artificial Intelligence) that can “think like an African traditional doctor”. The system proposes to model and to use attitudes taken and concepts used by African traditional doctors when facing cases. It is designed to go deep into the concepts of African traditional medicine (ATM) by dealing with all the possible interpretations of those concepts, and to produce more much satisfying and accurate support for medical diagnosis and prescription than existing systems. Design/methodology/approach – To take into account the sometimes strange concepts used and attitudes taken by African traditional healers, including mystical considerations, the system relies on a deep ontology describing all those concepts and attitudes in a more computer readable manner allowing a multi-agent system to have full access to ATM knowledge. Ethnological inquiries, literary analysis and interviews of traditional doctors (the holders of African medicine knowledge) were performed to gather sufficient data to achieve the work. Findings – The paper addresses this question of how to build a practical large-scope computer-aided diagnosis and prescription system which can exploit deep descriptions of ATM concepts, including mystical considerations. The system also provides scientific interpretations to some concepts sometimes considered as mystical facts. It is a java web-based platform combined to a Java Agent Development framework multi-agent system accessing an ontology to provide its results. Research limitations/implications – Because of the origins of healers involved in this research (from Gabon and Cameroon, countries of Central Africa), the ontology and the collected data may lack generalizability in the African scope and then it is a prototype. Therefore, ATM experts all over the continent are encouraged to participate to improve and standardize the ATM ontology and to populate the knowledge base. On the other side, the system cannot give scientific explanations to all the mystical considerations in ATM, there still some facts which cannot be rationally explained for now. Practical implications – The paper demonstrates the practical usability of the implemented system on the diagnosis and the treatment of a patient case. Social implications – The research describes a system which once validated by traditional experts, will serve as a tool to assist them in their day-to-day diagnosis and prescription tasks and will also serve as a reference on ATM practices for all interested users. Originality/value – The paper provides an in-depth description of a computer-aided diagnosis system (CADS) that promotes indigenous technology from an African perspective. Comparing to the former systems identified in the literature, the proposed system is the first which deals with believes and mystical considerations in ATM, and also the first which provides a function to rank its results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although women's empowerment and gender equality are associated with better maternal and child nutrition outcomes, recent systematic reviews find inconclusive evidence. This paper applies a comparable methodology to data on the Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), a recent internationallyvalidated measure based on interviews of women and men within the same household, from six countries in Africa and Asia to identify which dimensions of women's empowerment are related to household-, women-, and child-level dietary and nutrition outcomes. We examine the relationship between women's empowerment and household-level food security and dietary diversity; women's dietary diversity and BMI; and child-related outcomes, controlling for woman, child, and household characteristics. We also test whether women's empowerment has differential associations for boys and girls. We do not find consistent associations between dimensions of empowerment and food security and nutrition outcomes across countries, but some patterns emerge. Overall empowerment scores are more strongly associated with nutritional outcomes in the South Asian countries in our sample compared to the African ones. Where significant, greater intrahousehold gender equality is associated with better nutritional outcomes. However, different domains have different associations with nutritional outcomes, suggesting that tradeoffs exist: higher workloads are associated with more diverse diets but lower women's BMI and child anthropometric outcomes. Identifying the overlap between the top contributors to disempowerment and those most strongly related to nutrition outcomes can inform the design and implementation of nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information related to the academic support for scholarship, research libraries, and global publishing. It mentions changes in academic librarianship with literature documenting focused on North America and Europe; scholarly publishing in sub-Saharan Africa to a combination of technological and economic factors. It also mentions that poorly funded institutions can neither finance research projects nor afford many of the important resources upon which scholars rely.

A recent study conducted by the University of Bonn explores the impact and challenges of mobile phone usage on agricultural production in Africa. The research highlights the positive effects of digitalization on agricultural development in Africa, such as improved communication between farmers and end-users, and the dissemination of climate information through radio, SMS, and mobile apps. However, the study also emphasizes the need for infrastructure investment, including electricity provision and network availability, as well as government policies that promote internet connectivity in both rural and urban areas. This research provides valuable insights into the potential benefits and necessary conditions for utilizing mobile phones in African agriculture. [Extracted from the article]

A scoping review conducted by the Medical Research Group of Egypt analyzed neurosurgical research produced in Africa to identify gaps in the literature and provide recommendations for aspiring African neurosurgeons. The study found that while there has been an increase in African authorship in neurosurgical research, disparities still exist between African neurosurgeons and those from high-income countries. The most common types of research articles were retrospective cohort studies, case reports, and prospective cohort studies, with neuro-oncology, spinal surgery, and cerebrovascular being the most common research areas. The study recommends that African neurosurgical researchers focus more on clinical trials and systematic reviews to improve clinical practice and consider more collaboration between African authors. [Extracted from the article]

A paper published in the journal Nature Communications suggests that African countries could benefit economically and protect their seas' biodiversity by forming a "fish cartel" to sell fishing rights to foreign vessels. Currently, African nations sell access to their waters individually, which allows wealthy foreign fishers to negotiate lower prices. This results in a significant disparity between what African countries earn from their fisheries and what foreign fishers make. By joining forces, African countries could increase their fish biomass by 16% and make 23% more in profits. However, there are challenges to implementing a continent-level fish cartel, including differing interests and objectives among African countries. Nonetheless, an Africa-wide fisheries coalition could be a beneficial investment for Africans and their marine environments. [Extracted from the article]

The criteria included an audit and update on the company's valuation, a vesting period and above-par performance, the company said in responding court papers. New Hires The Lagos and San Francisco-based company was founded six years ago and facilitates cross-border transactions in multiple currencies for companies, including Alibaba's Alipay, Uber Technologies Inc., in primarily emerging and frontier markets. (Bloomberg) -- Africa's largest startup Flutterwave Inc. is battling allegations of financial impropriety and personnel harassment from Lagos to Nairobi, as it considers pushing ahead with plans to list the company. [Extracted from the article]

The Malabo Agenda on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation has brought technical challenges to the development of agricultural strategies by expanding the number of commitments and goals under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme. In this paper, we describe and apply an economic modeling framework that was developed to identify the agricultural investment priority areas for a country and to define milestones to track its progress towards the Malabo goals. The framework consists of a three-layer simulation model that aims to capture multiple Malabo commitments and goals. First, the agricultural productivity analysis uses the stochastic meta-frontier technique to assess opportunities to increase agricultural productivity. Second, the economywide analysis uses an agricultural and investment focused computable general equilibrium model to capture the Malabo goals on agricultural growth, intra-African trade of agricultural commodities, and public and private agricultural investments. Third, the microeconomic analysis builds upon statistical economic modeling to allow direct measurement and simulation of the Malabo goals on poverty and hunger. The modeling framework is applied to Kenya using the most recent data. The Malabo Agenda simulation results indicate that Kenya's current nonagriculture-led growth is not sufficient to achieving the Malabo overarching goals on poverty and hunger. Agriculture-led growth complemented by extended social assistance is more likely to close the income growth and inequality gaps and contribute to achieving the multiple Malabo commitments and goals by 2025. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African countries may seek to exchange their sovereign debt for new concessional paper to avoid using funds needed to battle the fast-moving coronavirus to pay private creditors, according to a United Nations body. Songwe said she is working on the proposal to pause about $16.25 billion in commercial debt payments this year with the backing of finance ministers including Ghana's Ken Ofori-Atta. If successful, the model could be replicated in other regions that seek a debt standstill while they weather the pandemic, Songwe said. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose This paper aims to understand and explore the causal relationship of elements responsible for the macro vicious cycle of poverty in Guinea-Bissau, and discuss policies to break it.Design/methodology/approach The methodology used in this study is based on the system dynamics simulation paradigm.Findings Breaking the Guinean poverty cycle requires a multifaceted approach involving more resources and the building of several national capabilities. Traditional approaches tend to fail.Research limitations/implications Limitations come from the level of abstraction used in the model, which does not detail the processes for building specific capabilities and their interrelationships, and the necessary exclusion of variables that may have an impact in the process. Considering implications, the study models the evolution of human development index (HDI) in Guinea-Bissau, linking it to the economy and political sectors and allowing the simulation of different scenarios.Practical implications The study presents a critical stance towards common recommendations from international agencies, and it provides a blueprint for development of more effective public policies.Social implications Overcoming the poverty trap in sub-Saharan countries remains a challenge for the international community. The study aims at helping in the process of integrating different frameworks into a compact and manageable model.Originality/value The study contributes to the system dynamics and economic development literatures by presenting an integrative model of human development in Guinea-Bissau. There is no study in the system dynamics literature modelling the relationship of HDI to economy and political sectors while different and contradictory points of view characterize the economics literature, leaving well-meaning public officials in Guinea-Bissau at a loss of mental models to tackle the poverty trap in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 risks rolling back many of the efforts and global successes recorded in reducing poverty and food insecurity. We undertake a systematic review of the growing microeconomic literature on the association between COVID-19 and food (in)security in Africa, discussing its implications for food policy and research. In doing so, we highlight some of the methodological weaknesses in answering policy-relevant questions on the causal link between COVID-19 and food insecurity. We also review the various coping strategies households are using to build resilience to COVID-19 and explore the role of social protection and other tools in mitigating some of the negative effects of COVID-19. This review provides evidence that COVID-19 is associated with food insecurity both ex-ante and ex-durante. There are many attempts to suggest this relationship may be causal with some robust methods in some contexts, but data limitations prevail which constrains causal learning. We also find evidence that income losses, loss of employment, and heightened food prices may be mediating the relationship between COVID-19 and food insecurity. Going further, we additionally review the mitigating role of social protection and remittances in reducing the negative effects of COVID-19 on food insecurity. Relatedly, we also show evidence that households are using various coping strategies such as food rationing and dietary change to cushion themselves against the COVID-19 shock but most of these measures remain adversely correlated with food insecurity. We end with a discussion on some potential interesting areas where future efforts can be geared to improve learning on the relationship between COVID-19, food insecurity, and building resilience to shocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ric Swift, the founder of the UK Wildlife Film School, plans to relocate his school to Africa and his Land Rover One Ten is an essential part of his plans. The vehicle is equipped with a large roof rack and a platform on the bonnet for easy access. It is used to transport film equipment, camping gear, and food for the students during their wildlife film courses in Scotland. Ric aims to take the school to Tanzania, but is also considering Botswana as an alternative due to import tax issues. He values the reliability and familiarity of his Land Rover for the long journey. [Extracted from the article]

In 2012, whilst studying the basic mechanisms of how bacteria defend themselves against viruses (some blue-sky basic science), Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna identified a method for genome editing. Less than a decade later in 2020, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the development of this method - which the scientific community now refers to as CRISPR genome editing. This began a gene editing revolution that is still ramping up, and that Africa and South Africa are actively taking part in. But a lot more can and should be done on the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original and longer version of this argument was made in an invited plenary paper for the Deutsche Gesellschaft Volkerkunde Conference on Globalisation in Göttingen, 7-10 Oct. 2001, and later published in German.1 My aim here is to revisit the same issue fifteen years later and see what has changed, and what has remained the same. Perhaps surprisingly, most of the points made then remain live issues today. There have been breakthroughs, mainly by a handful of individual artists who have achieved "global" art market recognition while remaining resident in Africa, and the issue of claiming an African artistic identity or not has become instrumental as well as ideological, in response to art market forces. The global art market, swollen dramatically by new art fairs, biennials and auction houses, has become much larger than in 2001, making its operating rules a constant challenge to plot and follow. For example, Sotheby's just announced that it was opening a new department of "modern and contemporary African art" in its London offices early in 2017 in response to increasing demand.2 There are now far more biennials both in and out of Africa. What I attempt here is a revisited version of the original issues, brought up to date and more fully explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords for this news article include: Dumyat, Egypt, Africa, COVID-19, Coronavirus, Distance Learning, Education, Epidemiology, Health and Medicine, Pandemic, RNA Viruses, SARS-CoV-2, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, Viral, Virology, Damietta University. Keywords: Dumyat; Egypt; Africa; COVID-19; Coronavirus; Distance Learning; Education; Epidemiology; Health and Medicine; Pandemic; RNA Viruses; SARS-CoV-2; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2; Viral; Virology EN Dumyat Egypt Africa COVID-19 Coronavirus Distance Learning Education Epidemiology Health and Medicine Pandemic RNA Viruses SARS-CoV-2 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Viral Virology 2023 MAR 12 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at NewsRx COVID-19 Weekly -- Investigators discuss new findings in Coronavirus - COVID-19. [Extracted from the article]

In 2019 the world's largest hard-rock lithium mine, at Greenbushes, in Western Australia, opened two large chemical-grade lithium processing plants to transform its spodumene ore concentrate into lithium hydroxide. In 1987 two researchers at the University of Leeds published a paper showing that lithium-bearing pegmatite - a hard rock which is one of three types of lithium deposit - was "widespread on the African continent". The current supply chain for lithium-ion batteries is geographically narrow: while lithium is sourced in South America, Australia, and China, China is believed to own 70-80 percent of the entire supply chain for electric vehicle manufacturing. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on a study conducted by international researchers, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Huazhong Agricultural University, Africa Rice Centre, and Wageningen University and Research, which reveals that Africa's rice sector has the potential for increased yields by employing improved agronomic practices, with the average yield currently representing less than half of what could be achieved.

The uptake and acceptance of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology has increased since the early 1990s and public health applications are rapidly expanding. In this paper, we summarize the common uses of GIS technology in the public health sector, emphasizing applications related to mapping and understanding of parasitic diseases. We also present some of the success stories, and discuss the challenges that still prevent a full scope application of GIS technology in the public health context. Geographical analysis has allowed researchers to interlink health, population and environmental data, thus enabling them to evaluate and quantify relationships between health-related variables and environmental risk factors at different geographical scales. The ability to access, share and utilize satellite and remote-sensing data has made possible even wider understanding of disease processes and of their links to the environment, an important consideration in the study of parasitic diseases. For example, disease prevention and control strategies resulting from investigations conducted in a GIS environment have been applied in many areas, particularly in Africa. However, there remain several challenges to a more widespread use of GIS technology, such as: limited access to GIS infrastructure, inadequate technical and analytical skills, and uneven data availability. Opportunities exist for international collaboration to address these limitations through knowledge sharing and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper assesses the nature of agricultural transformation taking place in different parts of Africa and analyzes policy drivers of the transformation using data from the CAADP Biennial Review (BR) on 46 indicators from 2014 to 2018. First, a typology of agriculture transformation in different groups of countries is developed by analyzing the initial values and trends in three indicators--share of agriculture in total employment, share of agriculture in gross domestic product, and agriculture labor productivity. The typology, in addition to a conceptual framework that is developed for measuring the relative effect of a policy on an outcome, provides the basis for analyzing the policy drivers of agriculture transformation. The 46 BR indicators are classified into policies (13 indicators), intermediate results (23 indicators), and outcomes (10 indicators), and then econometric methods are used to measure the association between the policy indicators and the intermediate results and outcomes, which include agriculture intensification (e.g., access to finance and extension, fertilizer use, and irrigation development), agriculture growth, agriculture trade, food security, nutrition, and poverty. Different fixed-effects regression methods and model specifications of the explanatory variables are used to assess sensitivity of the results to different assumptions of the data and the relationship between the policies and intermediate and outcome indicators. The trends in the indicators are different. For example, access to finance and extension have risen over time; fertilizer use, irrigation development, agriculture growth, and adult undernourishment have fallen over time; and child nutrition and poverty have remained stagnant over time. Different policy indicators are significantly associated with different indicators of agriculture intensification, agriculture growth, and outcomes. Also, there are differences in the results across the agriculture transformation groups. Major policy drivers of agriculture transformation in the different groups are identified. Implications of the results and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers his opinion on the relationship between African climate science and climate science in the rest of the world, including the lack of scientific papers published from African authors, Africans' input in climate change conferences and environmental degradation in Africa.

Information about several papers discussed at a regional workshop held November 5-7, 2014 organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on improving aquatic animal health management and strengthening biosecurity governance in Africa is presented. Topics include aquaculture development, aquatic animal health management, and sustainable aquatic food security. The workshop featured several speakers including Mortmer Mannya, Tobias Takavarasha, and Mohamed Seisay.

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Despite impressive progress in the economic performance of many African countries in recent years, youth unemployment remains one of the continent's main socioeconomic and political problems. This study employs panel data covering 49 African countries for the period 2000-2017 to provide the first attempt to explicitly examine the dynamic relationship between quality foundational skills, measured by basic education quality (teacher-pupil ratio), and youth unemployment, while considering the conditional role of institutional capacity, measured by control of corruption, regulatory quality, and financial development. The empirical estimation in this paper is based on a two-step system generalized method of moments (SGMM), in order to control for unobserved heterogeneity and potential endogeneity of all the explanatory variables. The following are the main findings: First, youth unemployment is persistent in Africa. Second, quality of basic education exerts a negative impact on youth unemployment. Third, greater control of corruption, improved regulatory quality, and better structured financial sectors strengthen the effect of quality basic education in reducing youth unemployment. These findings provide a clear policy pathway for reducting youth unemployment. In particular, we recommend that better quality basic education, a well-structured financial structure, and institutional quality should constitute a fundamental component of the policy mix to reduce youth unemployment in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This has been underlined in new research by Vodacom Group, Vodafone and Safaricom, launched in partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Digital technologies and connectivity can open up new opportunities for African youth to learn and for teachers to connect with students in the most remote and rural communities. [Extracted from the article]

Giardiasis, caused by Giardia duodenalis , is a leading cause of diarrhoea in resource-poor countries. To gain a better insight into the epidemiology of Giardia in Africa, we undertook a robust study to comprehend the distribution and prevalence of Giardia infection in humans, animals and their dispersal in the environment. Our protocol was registered with PROSPERO (registration number CRD42022317653). Deep literature search from 5 electronic databases, namely, AJOL, Google scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Springer Link was performed using relevant keywords. Meta-analysis was performed using a random-effects model and heterogeneity among studies was evaluated using Cochran's Q and the I2 -statistic. More than 500 eligible studies published from 1 January 1980 until 22 March 2022 were retrieved. In humans, exactly 48 124 Giardia spp. infection cases were registered from the 494 014 stool samples examined resulting in a pooled prevalence estimate (PPE) of 8.8% using microscopy. Whereas copro-antigen tests and molecular diagnostic methods generated PPE of 14.3 and 19.5%, respectively, with HIV+ subjects and those with diarrhoeatic stool having infection rates of 5.0 and 12.3%, respectively. The PPE of Giardia spp. infection in animals using molecular methods was 15.6%, which was most prevalent in pigs (25.2%) with Nigeria registering the highest prevalence at 20.1%. The PPE of Giardia spp. contamination from waterbodies was 11.9% from a total of 7950 samples which were detected using microscopy, with Tunisia documenting the highest infection rate of 37.3%. This meta-analysis highlights the necessity of 'One Health' approach for consolidated epidemiological studies and control of giardiasis in the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses historical events which contributed to the African debt crisis particularly its dependence on foreign credit. Topics explored include the Western financing of African resources extraction during the 19th and 20th centuries, the transition of Africa to bullion economies in the late 16th century with its importation of various currencies such as iron bars, copper manillas, and cowries, and the link between credit and slave trade in the region.

Lagos hosts headquarters of most large international and domestic businesses present in Africa's largest economy, contributes about 25% of gross domestic product and more than half of industrial and commercial output. Nigeria's commercial hub of Lagos is preparing to establish its own electricity market to ensure more reliable power supply. Inadequate energy supply in Lagos is the "single biggest infrastructure and developmental challenge", Odusote said. [Extracted from the article]

The resulting low prices in Zambia sent the wrong price signals to other African governments, which would be unable to match the economics of Scaling Solar's Zambia projects without those subsidies. Considering all of these benefits together, Emery finds that no private-sector bidder could come close to the same pricing that the IFC's participation enabled in Zambia. That record low was the result of the International Finance Corporation's Scaling Solar program, designed to help the world's least wealthy countries develop and build solar power without drawing on subsidies. [Extracted from the article]

This paper introduces new methods for studying the prevalence of terrorism around the world and over time. Our analysis treats spatial prevalence of terrorism, the changing profile of groups carrying out the acts of terrorism, and trends in how many attacks take place over time. First, we use a time-evolving cluster analysis to show that the geographic distribution of regions of high terrorist activity remains relatively consistent over time. Secondly, we use new metrics, inspired by geometry and probability, to track changes in the distributions of which groups are performing the terrorism. We identify times at which this distribution changes significantly and countries where the time-varying breakdown is most and least homogeneous. We observe startling geographic patterns, with the greatest heterogeneity from Africa. Finally, we use a new implementation of distances between distributions to group countries according to their incidence profiles over time. This analysis can aid in highlighting structural similarities in outbreaks of extreme behavior and the most and least significant public policies in minimizing a country's terrorism. • Two decades of events from the Global Terrorism Database are studied. • Time-varying cluster analysis shows substantial geographic persistence of attacks. • Metrics from geometry and probability study compositional changes in perpetrators. • Time series analysis investigates trends in terrorism intensity over time. • Significant geographical patterns are revealed, particularly between Asia and Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]