ADF

ADF STAFF The Nile River, the world’s longest, meanders northward through the eastern half of Africa, bringing power, agriculture and, at times, recreation to the millions of people who live at or near its banks. A little recreation and relief was just what was on the minds of people in Khartoum, Sudan, on a hot day in April 2019. Residents waded out into the river’s expanse, rolling up pant legs and doffing shoes to bathe their feet. Others lugged lawn chairs and a few wooden tables into the river to relax amid its gentle flow. After a while, some arranged…

Secret Chinese Criminal Societies Make Millions Poaching Abalone ADF STAFF A net full of abalone isn’t much to behold. Their gray shells are covered with algae, and when cracked open they reveal a sea snail and an iridescent interior. But to those who traffic in it, abalone is worth its weight in gold. Between 2006 and 2016, 96 million of the mollusks were stolen from South African waters. This bounty is worth nearly $900 million, the conservation group TRAFFIC reported. In Hong Kong, the primary destination, abalone is a delicacy, prized for its buttery flavor. The kingpins who run the…

REUTERS Abla Ogodo used to walk 10 kilometers to fetch water for her family. Now that a new well in her village runs on solar power, she does not have to go anywhere. The United Kingdom-based power company BBOXX, in partnership with France’s EDF Group, has launched a program to power the entire village of Sikpe-Afidegnon with energy from the sun. It runs streetlights, houses, schools and shops, transforming this remote maze of red dirt streets in southern Togo whose only previous access to electricity was from noisy generators that ran on expensive and polluting fuel oil. “We would spend…

ADF STAFF In a 12-hour stretch, Ethiopians fanned out across the country and planted 353 million trees. The reforestation campaign known as “Green Legacy” is an initiative led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.  The country believes it set a world record with the plantings on July 29, 2019. In 2017, India established the record by planting 66 million trees in 12 hours, CNN reported. And though Ethiopians believe they surpassed that record, they say they aren’t done yet. During the country’s rainy season, which lasts from May to October, volunteers hoped to plant a total of 4 billion trees.  Many…

ADF STAFF Netflix has commissioned its first African animated series from South Africa’s Triggerfish Animation Studio. Zambian writer Malenga Mulendema created the series after winning a competition to find talent from across the continent, Hollywood publication Variety reported. The series, Mama K’s Team 4, revolves around four teenage girls who are recruited by a retired secret agent to save the world. The series is set in a futuristic version of the Zambian capital of Lusaka. Mulendema grew up watching cartoons and found herself asking why no heroes looked like her and why they didn’t live in a world that felt…

REUTERS The NBA will invest millions of dollars in Basketball Africa League, its first professional league outside North America, and will be active in its operation. The NBA, in partnership with the International Basketball Federation, is launching the league in January 2020 with 12 teams from across the continent. “This league will be fully operated by the NBA,” Amadou Gallo Fall, the NBA’s vice president for Africa, said. “Our expertise and best practices will be on display.” The NBA generated $8 billion in revenue in 2018, according to Forbes magazine, and interest in Africa has grown alongside the profile of…

CLUES This area covers more than 3 million hectares. Wind, along with river and ocean currents, carried materials thousands of kilometers to form these desert dunes. The area includes gravel plains, coastal flats, rocky hills, a coastal lagoon and ephemeral rivers. Fog is the primary source of water here and provides an enviroment for insects, reptiles and mammals. ANSWER  Namib Sand Sea, Namibia

As China’s influence expands, so does its traditional medicine. That’s bad news for endangered animals in Africa. ADF STAFF China’s extensive “One Belt, One Road” policy is intended to spread the country’s influence from East Asia to Europe and beyond. The project, conceived by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, envisions a vast network of railways, highways and energy pipelines.  The project isn’t just about infrastructure. China also intends to spread its culture, which includes traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), throughout the world. And that will be a problem for the nations of Africa. China’s State Council plans to promote its traditional medicine…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE Children at Lazare camp in war-ravaged Central African Republic draw scenes from daily life. They draw armed men. Armored vehicles. And they use red. Lots of red. “Their problem is that they suffer daily exposure to violence,” said psychologist Mamie Nouria Meniko. Nouria Meniko runs a Red Cross program at the displaced people’s camp in Kaga Bandoro to identify and help kids suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). “Drawing helps children to express what they are feeling. It shows what children cannot say out loud,” Nouria Meniko said. “Sometimes, some of them start crying as soon as they…

ADF STAFF The second-biggest uncut diamond in history has been unearthed from a mine in Botswana. The 1,758-carat diamond is about the size of a tennis ball. The biggest diamond ever discovered is the 3,106-carat Cullinan, found in South Africa in 1905. It was found before industrial mining began. The Botswana diamond was discovered in the Karowe mine by workers for the Lucara Diamond Corp. Reports of the diamond raised the company’s stock 11%.  The diamond, which weighs close to 352 grams, will have a limited value despite its size. It has been characterized as “near gem of variable quality,…