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To “showcase the best African narratives,” some artists and writers have teamed up to publish comic books in print and online. They also are experimenting with augmented reality products. Nigerians Ziki Nelson and Tolu Foyeh, along with Ugandan Hamid Ibrahim, have started Kugali Media, based in London and Lagos, Nigeria. All three men are under 30. Their flagship product, Kugali Anthology, is a collection of comics by contributors from across the continent and the diaspora. They also are testing augmented reality (AR), similar to Pokémon Go, a game that is downloaded onto smartphones and combines visuals of computer-generated characters with…

Senegal has opened its new $34 million Museum of Black Civilizations in the capital, Dakar. It follows calls from Senegal and other African nations for France to return art it looted during the colonial era. Among the first temporary exhibitions to be shown are works from artists from Mali and Burkina Faso as well as from Cuba and Haiti. The idea of establishing the museum dates back more than 50 years, to Senegal’s late poet-president, Léopold Sédar Senghor. Along with Martinican writer Aimé Césaire, Senghor was a creative force behind the philosophy of Négritude, which promoted black culture, heritage and…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS Netflix is to launch its first African original series in 2020. Queen Sono is “a drama about a secret agent who fights crime while dealing with crises in her personal life,” according to entertainment news magazine Variety. The star of the series, South African actor Pearl Thusi, says it’s “going to change the game for every artist on this continent.” Queen Sono is the brainchild of director Kagiso Lediga and executive producer Tamsin Andersson, who previously worked together on Catching Feelings, a romantic comedy. Netflix plans to invest more of its $8 billion original production budget…

Researchers are betting that a new variety of maize can help farmers in Zimbabwe withstand increasing instances of drought. The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center says it is working on ensuring that Zimbabwe returns to its former status as a prosperous, self-sufficient agricultural producer, after erratic rainfall in recent years affected the country’s food security. The El Niño weather phenomenon has harmed crop production across Southern Africa in recent years. But the center believes its technologies can improve small farmers’ maize production, said researcher Esnath Hamadziripi. “Here in Zimbabwe, three in five seasons are expected to be bad for…

Airport authorities in Hong Kong arrested two men accused of smuggling a record number of rhino horns worth $1 million. The accused smugglers were headed to Vietnam from Johannesburg, South Africa. About 24 severed rhino horns weighing 40 kilograms were found in the bust, the largest ever recorded in Hong Kong. Customs officials said the illegal haul was transported through the terminal in two cardboard boxes. The incident came just two weeks after officials in Hong Kong seized 8 metric tons of pangolin scales and more than 1,000 elephant tusks. A local environmental group said the rhino horns accounted for…

South African surgeons successfully performed the world’s first implant of middle-ear bones that used 3D printed components, a research university said. The technique “may be the answer to conductive hearing loss — a middle ear problem caused by congenital birth defects, infection, trauma or metabolic diseases,” Pretoria University said in a statement. The surgery replaced the hammer, anvil and stirrup — the smallest bones in the body, which make up the middle ear — with similarly shaped titanium pieces produced on a 3D printer. “3D technology is allowing us to do things we never thought we could,” said University of…

The Malian military drilled a well to provide drinking water to schoolchildren in a town badly affected by extremism. The project in Menaka, near the border with Niger, is the latest effort by the Malian government to help restore peace to northern Mali. In October 2018, members of Mali’s civil-military team backed by Soldiers from the French Operation Barkhane inaugurated the well at the Tabangout School. The town’s mayor, local leaders, police, members of the United Nations mission and other dignitaries attended the ceremony. When the water started flowing, the mayor tasted it and declared it to be the “purest…

Kenyan authorities arrested seven officials with the China Road and Bridge Corp. and accused them of bribing investigators who had been examining railway finances, Kenya’s Daily Nation reported. The Standard Gauge Railway is a $3 billion project that connects Kenya’s two largest cities, Nairobi and Mombasa. Launched in 2017 and dubbed the “Madaraka Express,” it has been controversial due to cost overruns and allegations of corruption. The arrests mark the first time Chinese officials will face charges relating to the railway. Agents with the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission arrested three Chinese nationals and four Kenyan officials. The bribes totaled $8,800…

The United States handed over a command-and-control facility and equipment to Niger to support its fight against terrorism. The $16.5 million node will integrate intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and existing Nigerien Armed Forces capabilities. This new building, along with two deployable tactical operations centers, radios and training, will streamline communication with field personnel, the U.S. Embassy in Niamey said. “We believe all these capabilities are critical to helping Niger defeat Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations wanting to cause harm within its borders,” said U.S. Ambassador to Niger Eric Whitaker. The U.S. donated equipment for the Base Defense Force in Agadez,…

For the women of a self-help group in Tuluroba, Kenya, the goal was simple: Use their combined savings to buy cattle, fatten them and sell them to the beef industry. But there was a problem. “We had no land to graze the cattle. Nor could we obtain a loan from a bank to buy land, because as women we do not own title deeds,” said Fatuma Wario, who chairs the 13-member group. That is common. Few women in Kenya have land title documents, and few are getting them: Since 2013, less than 2% of issued titles have gone to women,…