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THE TRUTH ABOUT: The conversation africa - The Untold Story

How reforms under Patrice Talon have reshaped the electoral competition in Benin

Benin voters will head to the polls on April 12, 2026 to elect their next president. This election comes at a time when Benin’s political landscape has been profoundly transformed by reforms to the party system and the electoral code. They have created new power balances and deliberately tightened the…

The Conversation

Africa’s public finances are in a mess: a new book explains why and what to do

Public finance, or how governments at all levels raise and allocate money, is in evidence everywhere you look. That pothole destroying your car. The health clinic without medicine. The dilapidated school. Public money is not government money. It is yours, writes Kenyan finance scholar Lyla Latif in her new book…

The Conversation

The three big reasons why Mozambique is not adapting to climate change and what needs to be done

Around the world, societies are looking for ways to live with climate change. Adapting to a hotter and harsher future means scientists, governments and communities must find ways to protect essential resources like land, homes, farms and water. Buildings need to stay cooler and withstand storms and floods, and crops…

The Conversation

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How a Sudanese university kept learning alive during war

The civil war in Sudan began in April 2023, causing death, hunger, displacement and destruction on a huge scale. Gihad Ibrahim, head of e-learning and senior manager at Mashreq University in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, spoke with The Conversation Africa about how his institution continued to educate thousands of students despite…

The Conversation

South Africans are going off the service grid: what happens when citizens replace the state?

South Africa’s constitution promises all citizens access to adequate housing and basic services – water, security, sanitation and electricity. In practice, people from rich to poor experience persistent water cuts, sewage overflows, electricity blackouts and uneven policing. Fiona Anciano, Charlotte Lemanski, Christina Culwick Fatti and Margot Rubin are urban researchers…

The Conversation

Black wattle as firewood: how South African communities are putting invasive species to work

Australia’s black wattle tree (Acacia mearnsii) has spread across South Africa, taking over millions of hectares of land and pushing indigenous plants aside. Economist Saul Ngarava researches agriculture and the connection between water, energy, food, social justice and land reform. He was part of a team who surveyed 1,184 homes…

The Conversation

How to harness the ocean for prosperity: funding African innovations can unlock the blue economy

Africa has an enormous ocean area at its disposal. There are almost 20 million square kilometres of ocean, seas and inland water that could be developed into environmentally sustainable blue economies. The G20 group of 19 of the world’s largest economies and the African Union also view the blue economy…

The Conversation

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What makes Lake Iro in Chad so special? It’s not just a viral sunglint photo

Lake Iro in Chad was in the news in early August 2025 after a picture taken by a NASA astronaut was published showing it looking like a large, circular silver mirror as sunlight reflected off its surface and into space. The phenomenon is known as a sunglint and can happen…

The Conversation

Women’s basketball in Nigeria is on a winning streak: how to take it further

Nigeria’s women’s basketball team, D’Tigress, won a fifth consecutive title at the 2025 FIBA Women’s AfroBasket Championship in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on 3 August. The Conversation Africa asked Michael Gbemisola Aina, a technical commissioner of the Nigeria Basketball Federation who has researched basketball development in Nigeria, about what the win…

The Conversation

The Conversation Africa’s first 10 years: a story of new media powered by generosity

Starting from scratch is daunting. And exhilarating. Your heart pounds, you can taste adrenaline, the sense of urgency and anticipation makes you high. I can recall each of these sensations 10 years after the thrilling moment when The Conversation Africa went live, and our first newsletter was sent out. Thanks…

The Conversation

South Africa’s shift from coal to renewables: how it’s going

Just over 74% of South Africa’s electricity still comes from burning coal. In 2021, the country negotiated the Just Energy Transition Partnership with Germany, the UK, France, the US and the European Union. They committed to providing South Africa with US$8.5 billion (R157 billion) to move away from coal to…

The Conversation

Tiny technology that can find pollution in South Africa’s water and trap it

Nanotechnology is the use of materials that are one-billionth of a metre (a nanometre) in size. One of its potential uses is to clean up whatever is contaminating water supplies. Analytical chemist Philiswa Nomngongo, a leading researcher in nanotechnology for water in South Africa, tells The Conversation Africa what kinds…

The Conversation

Who do Africans trust most? Surveys show it’s not the state (more likely the army)

A recent Afrobarometer study has shown declining trust in public institutions over the past decade among African citizens. Study findings call into question the credibility and legitimacy of state institutions like the presidency, parliament and security forces, including the police. The study also shows that many Africans still believe in…

The Conversation

South Africans flush toilets with drinkable water: study in Cape Town looked at using seawater instead

As the planet gets hotter and freshwater sources dry up, cities and towns will not be able to continue the global norm of using millions of litres of clean, drinkable water to flush toilets. South Africa’s Water Research Commission recently commissioned a study into using seawater to flush toilets in…

The Conversation

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The Conversation

What are the origins of the Asante’s famous kente cloth? I traced its history to find out

Kente is a prestigious royal cloth of Ghana’s Asante people, part of their historical and cultural heritage. But there’s a debate about where it originated: the Bonwire community or the Adanwomase community in the Ashanti Region. The Conversation Africa spoke to African art and culture researcher Dickson Adom about the…

The Conversation

Indigenous futures thinking: 4 approaches to imagining a better world

Indigenous people make up only 6% of the world’s population but manage over a quarter of the world’s land surface. These groups, descended from original occupants of a geographical place and identifying as culturally distinct, possess knowledge about adapting to social and environmental change. Yet their perspectives are rarely included…

The Conversation

Can nature help solve human problems like climate change? Researchers weigh up pros and cons

Nature-based solutions use nature to solve environmental problems caused by humans, such as global climate change. But not every ecological project counts as a nature-based solution. Some projects only bring about a slight improvement to the environment, while others even cover up environmental damage. Cornelius Okello and Timothy A. Downing…

The Conversation

Global trade in wild animals is soaring – South Africa’s laws aren’t doing enough to prevent harm

The quantity and complexity of commercial wildlife trade laws has grown globally over the past century. A new study examines wildlife trade laws in 11 countries and finds that a country’s Global Biodiversity Index does not correlate with the extent of its legislation that addresses the trade in wildlife. The…

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The Conversation

Nigeria recalled all its ambassadors a year ago and has not replaced them – international isolation looms

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has yet to replace the ambassadors he recalled a year ago, leaving only the country’s UN permanent representative. Nigeria has 109 diplomatic missions worldwide, comprising 76 embassies, 22 high commissions and 11 consulates. The Conversation Africa asked Sheriff Folarin, an international relations expert and the author…

The Conversation

Victory for women’s rights in Ghana as affirmative action law is passed – what must happen next

The passage of the Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Bill by the country’s parliament on 9 August 2024 marked a victory for women’s rights in Ghana. The bill, which has been years in the making, is the result of several actors, allies and activists lobbying and protesting for over a decade.…

The Conversation

Rick Turner and Steve Biko were leading liberation thinkers in 1970s South Africa – why their ideas still matter

Steve Biko was undoubtedly the most influential South African liberation struggle theorist and activist of the 1970s. Rick Turner was arguably among the most effectual white anti-apartheid activists of the era. Biko espoused black consciousness while Turner was a Marxist philosopher. Biko (30) was murdered by apartheid police in 1977.…

The Conversation

The Conversation Africa condemns harassment of West Africa editor Adejuwon Soyinka

The Conversation Africa condemns the harassment of its West Africa editor, Adejuwon Soyinka, by Nigeria’s Department of State Security operatives.

The Conversation

Ghana is planning its first nuclear energy plant: what’s behind the decision

Ghana is considering bids from five companies for the construction of what would be its first nuclear power plant. The companies are: France’s EDF, US-based NuScale Power and Regnum Technology Group; China National Nuclear Corporation; South Korea’s Kepco and its subsidiary Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Corporation; and Russia’s Rosatom. The…

The Conversation

Ghana’s economic crisis was caused by government borrowing - the central bank did the best it could: economist

Ghana is going through its worst economic crisis in a generation. The past two years have seen record high inflation in the country. Ghana’s central bank (the Bank of Ghana) has been criticised in some quarters for its role in the country’s economic malaise, which has hit the profitability of…

The Conversation

Naira is in crisis but cryptocurrency isn’t to blame – Nigeria needs consistent policy

Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission is considering tighter controls to combat illegal trading in digital assets, including cryptocurrencies. The Conversation Africa asked Iwa Salami, a researcher in regulatory frameworks for crypto-assets, to explain how best Nigeria can manage cryptocurrency.

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