Detail from the cover of the children’s book Kayo’s House by Ugandan author Barbara Kimenye.
Macmillan/Mactracks Series
At independence, adults were reading decolonial classics - but children were reading Enid Blyton. A generation of unsung women writers changed that.
Detail from the cover of an edition of Amma Darko’s novel Faceless.
Sub-Saharan Publishers
A psychologist and a literary scholar analyse Faceless, a powerful novel about homeless children - and their mothers.
Many children help out on family farms in Africa.
Nana Kofi Acquah/Flickr
Children working on family farms is often mistaken for harmful child labour.
A holocaust survivor who also witnessed apartheid, Ruth Weiss will receive national honours.
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Weiss witnessed atrocities in Germany and South Africa and railed against them, becoming a towering figure as a writer and poet.
Fetching water is a chore, but some women also said it was a welcome opportunity to be in nature.
Tony Dold
Experiencing nature helps people in times of joy and pain. However, inequity of access to green spaces means that South Africans cannot enjoy nature when they need to.
GPE/Midastouch
Health extension workers in Ethiopia have had a measurable impact on interconnected challenges such as child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and school dropout.
The numbers showed a wide variation in coverage in different geographic regions.
Shutterstock
Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. Mortality rates in sub-Saharan Africa are three times higher than the global average.
The classically trained jazz pianist fled dictatorship in Ethiopia.
Screengrab/YouTube/FeelBeit/Emahoy Tsegué - Live Tribute
Her exquisite piano compositions drew fans to the Jerusalem monastery where she lived after fleeing Ethiopia.
Gloria Bosman in 2022.
Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images
If you ever found yourself in the same room with Gloria Bosman, you were in for a lesson of a lifetime.
Photo by Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Thirty years ago the World Bank recognised that its position was untenable. It put in place mechanisms to make the bank more accountable to ordinary people.
Luis Tato/AFP via Getty Images
Gender, climate change and water scarcity together create a difficult challenge.
The late musician Madosini playing the umrhube mouthbow.
Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images via Getty Images
Composers are keeping bow music alive through electronic music and other experiments.
Noni Jabavu at her London office, 12th September 1961.
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
These columns demonstrate that Noni Jabavu’s concerns from 1970s are still relevant today.
Rema performing in the US. His hit Calm Down has gone viral - in part thanks to a choreographer named Loïc Reyel.
Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images
The five Iranian teenagers were arrested and forced to apologise – but the dance challenge continues to go viral.
Bosman won numerous awards, including the Standard Bank Young Artist award and two South African Music Awards.
Oupa Bopape/Gallo Images/Getty Images
Her passing shocked the nation and drew praise for her unique vocal powers and musical mentorship.
Government investments in infrastructure in Nigeria will remain insufficient as urban populations grow.
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Cities are increasingly unsafe and unhealthy. Family planning can help curb unsustainable urbanisation.
Church Wedding in the Eastern Cape, 1920.
Image courtesy Monica and Godfrey Wilson Collection BC880/African Studies Library/University of Cape Town
Before colonialism black South Africans viewed sex and morality very differently than today.
Soprano Pretty Yende has been chosen to perform at the coronation of UK monarch King Charles III.
Stephane de Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images
Performing at the coronation of King Charles III will be just one of many firsts for the activist soprano.
Angelique Kidjo on stage in Paris in 2021.
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Kidjo has a remarkable cultural vision that spans the globe but stays true to her roots.
Pope Francis on a visit to Madagascar in 2019.
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He will have a joyful welcome but a difficult task - to challenge negative values while enabling a more African Catholic church.