West Africa now dominates growth in Africa’s mobile money sector Lagos, Nigeria| BIRD AGENCY | East Africa has lost its mantle as the engine of growth for Africa’s dynamic mobile money sector to West Africa, according to GSMA State of the Industry Report (SOTIR) 2023. East Africa – where the …
Read More »Agriculture and food: Africa’s economic engine
Agriculture is a sector that employs 290 million Africans and will be worth a trillion US dollars by 2030. And it is growing faster in Africa than on any other continent. SPECIAL FEATURE | BIRD AGENCY | Africa is leveraging its huge small-scale farming community to grow its agrifood sector and …
Read More »Two Africans among four winners of global youth climate prize
Foday David Kamara from Sierra Leone and Aziba Ekio from Nigeria have won The Young Climate Prize, an international award recognizing young sustainable climate designers under the age of 25. SPECIAL FEATURE | BIRD AENCY | Two young Africans have been selected as the global winners of the Young Climate …
Read More »Africa’s central banks lead the way, embrace open banking
Regulators on the continent are developing frameworks that allow customers of traditional banks to engage with third-party service providers via their banking apps – blowing open a multi-billion dollar market. Abuja, Nigeria | BIRD AGENCY | Nigeria in March became the first African country to launch open banking on the …
Read More »In this Nigerian school, plastic bottles have replaced school fees
To make his school more accessible – and help clean up his local community – 38-year-old Patrick Mbamarah accepts plastic bottles collected from the street instead of tuition fees Lagos, Nigeria | BIRD AGENCY | When a neighbour recommended Morit International School to Ijeoma Obiora three years ago and told …
Read More »Kate Karuri is creating dignity and visibility for Kenya’s house helps
After managing and supervising househelps for over 16 years, Kate Karuri started a training program that coaches both domestic workers and their employers on workplace dignity in the home Nairobi, Kenya | BIRD AGENCY | Kate Karuri worked with and managed domestic workers in Kenya for over 16 years before …
Read More »When Ugandan ‘birthday trees’ activist challenged global leaders on climate inaction
At last year’s COP27’s World Leaders Summit, Leah Namugerwa, 18, did not mince her words: no more rhetoric, it’s time to leave a positive legacy Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt | THE INDEPENDENT | When Leah Namugerwa turned 15 in 2019, she planted 200 trees to celebrate her birthday. Her idea blossomed into …
Read More »Communities across Africa are developing innovative solutions to prevent further Cholera spread
From Malawi to Nigeria, traditional leaders, midwives, local organisations, and governments are conducting door-to-door and community-wide sensitisations to stop the spread of Cholera across the continent. Blantyre, Malawi | BIRD AGENCY | Residents of Machinjiri stand on their doorsteps, watching, in a mixture of curiosity and awe, as their …
Read More »Angola becomes latest African country to join fight against illicit financial flows
Angola becomes the 35th African member to join a global group that addresses offshore tax evasion, demonstrating the growing resolve of African governments to fight tax evasion and illicit outflows – including of natural resources and wildlife Luanda, Angola | BIRD AGENCY | Angola is on a mission to be …
Read More »Bumper grain harvests: African countries defy global food slump
Favourable rains and government subsidies helped African countries remain food sufficient despite global shortages, according to the FAO Niamey, Niger | BIRD AGENCY | As ravaging drought, low rainfall and war in Europe resulted in a global slump in cereal production in 2022, some African countries went against the grain, …
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