Tag Archives: Ghana

03Mar/23

ID of 93 million Nigerians at risk in landmark election

  • Facial recognition and fingerprints needed to cast votes
  • Privacy experts fear mass breach of Nigerians’ identity
  • Aim is to root out widespread electoral fraud

LAGOS – Africa’s biggest electorate votes on Saturday in a poll that experts fear could unleash a mass breach of privacy as Nigerians relinquish reams of personal data to cast their vote.
Continue reading

01Dec/22

FTX collapse crushes crypto dreams in Africa and beyond

  • FTX’s bankruptcy hurts small investors across the world
  • Young African crypto backers fret about damage to sector
  • Regulators repeat warnings about risks of crypto dealing

LAGOS/BANGKOK – Days before his FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapsed, co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted “Hello, West Africa!” – his latest nod to a region where a growing number of kitchen table investors had put their faith, and savings, in FTX.
Continue reading

13Nov/22

Justina Mutale Foundation Launches US$10M Stem Scholarship for Zambia

Press Release, 13 Nov 2022 /Justina Mutale/ —

HE Justina Mutale Foundation have launched a US$10 million (ten million US dollars) Africa Presidential STEM Fellows USA Programme for Zambia.
Under the name, Justina Mutale Foundation Presidential STEM Fellows USA Programme, the programme will offer students in Zambia, who hold a first degree in a STEM-based subject (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), an opportunity to study at Master’s degree level in the USA.
The Programme forms part of the African Presidential STEM Fellows Programme, which is run as Fellowships Programme for African Presidents; Vice Presidents; Royalty; Foundations and billionaires. Continue reading

27Oct/22

The whole world is facing a debt crisis – but richer countries can afford to stop it

Patrick E. Shea, University of Glasgow

Countries across the world are drifting towards a debt crisis. Economic slowdowns and rising inflation have increased demands on spending, making it almost impossible for many governments to pay back the money they owe.

Continue reading

17Oct/22

Will South Africa’s street vendors go bust in a cashless world?

Kim Harrisberg

Published: October 12, 2022

  • Digital payments on the rise in South Africa
  • People without mobile phones, bank accounts excluded
  • Calls for innovation to include informal economy

JOHANNESBURG – For more than a decade, musician Thomas Nhassavele has been busking next to the parking payment machine at Johannesburg’s Rosebank Mall, where drivers often dropped their change into his guitar case. Continue reading

23Sep/22

Women sacrifice their health to shield families from spiking costs

  • Rising inflation is widening gender gaps, say charities
  • Women report skipping medical care to feed families
  • Campaigners sound alarm over government austerity measures

By Nita Bhalla

NAIROBI, Sept 22 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – When the pain started in Agnes Wachira’s chest almost six months ago, the Kenyan mother-of-three dismissed it as a symptom of the daily grind of working long hours hand-washing clothes in the narrow lanes of Nairobi’s Kawangware informal settlement.
Continue reading

12Sep/22

British-Ghanaian gaming collective offers safe haven for players of diversity

ACCRA, Sept 8 (Reuters) – A keypad-locked door in Ghana’s capital Accra hid a neon-lit hall of flickering processors, clicking keyboards and excited voices. The young crowd erupted as brother beat sister in a tight-fought but good-spirited round of Mortal Kombat.

British-Ghanaian gamer Annabel Ashalley-Anthony smiled at her brother Adam, after the tournament match at a gaming hub organized by Melanin Gamers, a collective she hopes will change the video game landscape.

Continue reading

14Aug/22

GLOBAL CITIZEN ANNOUNCES LINEUPS FOR 2022 GLOBAL CITIZEN FESTIVAL IN NEW YORK CITY & ACCRA, GHANA ON SEPTEMBER 24

International advocacy organization Global Citizen today announced the lineups for the 10th anniversary Global Citizen Festival, taking place in New York City’s Central Park, presented by Citi and Cisco, and Black Star Square in Accra, Ghana, presented by Harith General Partners, on Saturday, September 24, 2022. Continue reading

05Aug/22

Beyoncé has helped usher in a renaissance for African artists

James Chikomborero Paradza, University of Pretoria

Beyoncé has released her seventh solo studio album, titled Renaissance (2022). The album, an event in global popular culture, is the first of a three-part project by the US artist. Her previous outing, the visual album Black is King (2020), collaborated with a host of African artists. Renaissance pays tribute to black dance music and again features African artists, including Nigerian singer-songwriter Tems, who is having a global moment of her own.

Continue reading

04Aug/22

As online hate speech hits Africa, social media firms told to act

  • Online hate speech targets Zimbabweans in South Africa
  • Widespread digital abuse also seen in Ghana, Kenya
  • Culturally sensitive content moderation key, say activists

By Kim Harrisberg and Nita Bhalla

JOHANNESBURG/NAIROBI, Aug 3 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Social media used to be a source of light entertainment for Nora, a 47-year-old Zimbabwean domestic worker living in South Africa. But lately, it has become a source of fear.
Continue reading