The Latest Breaking News from Africa

Were you told that gold mining in southern Africa started after 1852? Or that the export of iron, steel, copper and gold began in the late 19th century? Or that South Africa became integrated into a global trading system only after 1652? Or that the first powerful state in South…

US secretary of state repeats remarks by Donald Trump about ‘expropriation of private property’ in African nation

In mid-January 2025 over 1,000 hunger-weakened miners exited two abandoned mine shafts in Stilfontein, near Johannesburg in South Africa. They had been starved out by the police in Operation Vala Umgodi — meaning “plug the hole” – which had cut off food and water in an effort to “smoke out”…

In this edition of the Spotlight on Africa podcast, experts and analysts delve into Africa's evolving diplomacy as the continent approaches 2025. Topics include South Africa's G20 leadership, the division within the West African bloc ECOWAS, and emerging partnerships with the US and China.

A bloodless coup in 2020 saw the military take control of Mali. Since then there have been growing reports of a declining human rights record in the west African country.

South African authorities have ome under intense scrutiny for their response after civic groups said hundreds of miners have been trapped deep in an abandoned gold mine for months

A huge underground water resource the size of Austria, the Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System, stretches for 87,000km² across Namibia, South Africa and Botswana. It supplies 50,000 people in several towns with water pure enough to drink, and is their only source of water. But the Namibian government has awarded uranium…

Africa is home to 13 percent of the world’s biodiversity and 20 percent of its forests, making it a crucial player in global environmental health. However, deforestation, driven primarily by agriculture, continues to threaten these vital ecosystems.

Africa’s small-scale farmers make up nearly 80% of all farms in the agriculture sector. In South Africa, there are about 2 million small-scale farmers, predominantly Black and based in the eastern summer rainfall region of the country.