Vast numbers of people who migrate in search of a better life end up living in marginal conditions that put their health at risk. But individual lifestyle is also an important factor.
An army soldier in Douentza in the Mopti region of central Mali in March 2013, before the government lost control.
Farafi net.com/flickr
With northern Mali mired in conflict, increasing instability in the centre of the country is worrying observers. The attitude of the Malian authorities holds the key to defusing these tensions.
Countries like Nigeria affected by Ebola have launched campaigns to curb the consumption of bushmeat like fruit bats.
Shutterstock
Consuming bushmeat is thought to have contributed to the outbreak of Ebola in west Africa. Countries in the region are trying to slow down consumption.
When governments and students collide, university systems wobble.
Reuters
The politicisation of academia definitely contributes to a decline in academic standards. This is a situation South Africa must work hard to avoid. It can learn from others on the continent.
Ntombithini Ndwandwe, an agroecology farmer displaying her diversity of traditional seeds in Zimele, KwaZulu-Natal.
Rachel Wynberg
Since 2000, the growth of the commercial seed market has almost tripled. More than 63% of the world’s commercial seed is now owned by six corporations.
West Africans who play professional football in Poland rest at halftime. Warsaw, Summer 2016.
Paweł Banaś/GLOBALSPORT
Many talented African footballers follow the exodus to Europe’s football leagues. But many are stuck in the lower leagues, without the glory and wealth they dream of.
Burundian refugees fleeing conflict at home gather on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Kigoma region in western Tanzania.
Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
The initiative to establish an African Humanitarian Agency is a welcome one. But political, technical and financial support will matter. This will require the AU to take a pragmatic approach. Can it?
President Buhari meets with a woman rescued from Boko Haram.
EPA
Muhammadu Buhari rode into power on a wave of goodwill – but Nigeria’s troubles just won’t go away.
Bombardier (right), the reigning champion and ‘King of the Arenas’, prepares to defend his crown against the popular young challenger Modou Lô.
Mark Hann/ Global Sport
Wrestling is Senegal’s national sport. But the presence of an ethnic discourse within the sporting arena may well threaten the notion of the multi-ethnic nation state.
Togolese fabric markets are increasingly stocked with low-cost Chinese reproductions.
Koko Masseme
Togolese consumers are increasingly choosing Chinese replicas over ‘authentic’ Dutch wax prints. Their choice raises fundamental questions about the notion of intellectual property.
Boko Haram is still outpacing the Nigerian authorities.
EPA/Tife Owolabi
It’s unusual for children in Nigeria’s rural areas to have any access to private schooling, even if it’s of the low-cost variety. They must rely instead on poorly resourced government schools.
Now that UN peacekeepers have left Liberia, the country has much work to do.
Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly
There’s no doubt it was time for the United Nations mission in Liberia to end. But there are some gaps in the country’s plan to move on without the men and women in blue helmets.
Academics have sent an open letter to the World Health Organisation calling for the Olympics to be postponed or moved because of the Zika threat. They’re overreacting.
Trinidad and Tobago is no longer the liquid petroleum gas export powerhouse it once was.
Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters