2021

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Twitter announced plans to hire 11 people and open an office in Ghana, the company’s first in Africa. The social media giant joins Facebook and other tech companies moving into Africa, where founder Jack Dorsey…

ADF STAFF For a time, skirmishes between rival Nguni tribes in what is now South Africa were all bluster and no battle. Opposing fighters would stand 35 to 45 meters apart, each armed with an assegai, a 1.8-meter spear, and a tall…

CLUES Arabian legend says these trees look peculiar because the devil pulled one up and plunged its branches into the earth, leaving its roots exposed. This tree-lined dirt road is one of this country’s most popular tourist sites.…

ADF STAFF About three weeks after the COVID-19 omicron variant was discovered in Botswana, the U.S. government donated two coronavirus isolation facilities in the central town of Bobonong. The facilities, worth more than 2.9 million…

ADF STAFF The rapidly spreading omicron variant of COVID-19 has reached 13 African countries, but so far it is producing milder infections than earlier variants, according to researchers. South Africa, which first reported omicron in…

ADF STAFF For entrepreneurs, scientists, doctors and artists, COVID-19 was again a call to action in 2021. From canines to drones and robots, here are ten ways African innovators responded to the pandemic during the year: 1.…

ADF STAFF The COVID-19 pandemic has been a bumpy road for boda boda drivers in East Africa. The ubiquitous motorcycle taxis that ferry passengers along city streets have been declared a health hazard, were regulated, shut down and…

ADF STAFF The United States government contributed an additional $2.9 million in COVID-19 assistance to Cameroon in late November. Since the start of the pandemic, the U.S. has distributed more than $7.9 million to Cameroon. The money…

ADF STAFF As Africa works to recover from the widespread impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation has identified 10 key challenges it says the continent must overcome to make up lost ground and move forward.…

ADF STAFF U.S. drone company Zipline has signed a partnership with Côte d’Ivoire that will make it easier to deliver medicine and supplies to remote areas. Côte d’Ivoire is the fourth African nation to sign an agreement with Zipline…