Scenarios for Diversification of EU Natural Gas Supplies from Algeria

by Oksana Voytyuk Abstract The Russian-Ukrainian war contributed to significant turbulence in the European energy market. The existing energy relations with Russia have been almost destroyed. The European Union found itself in a difficult situation and quickly began to look for ways to replace Russian gas. Naturally, Algeria was found on the list of countries […]

Africa’s Railway Renaissance: Continental Aspirations versus National Realities

by Mandira Bagwandeen Abstract As per the African Union’s 2016 prescription, most new rail projects in Africa are greenfield standard gauge railways (SGR) that cost billions of dollars, which, if successfully implemented and well run, can offer better services than road transport. However, to be viable, SGR investments must have adequate freight traffic, provide reliable […]

Politics of Security Sector Reform: Violence and the Emergence of Regional Security Outfits in Nigeria

by Onyekachi E. Nnabuihe, Kelvin Ashindorbe and Samuel Osagie Odobo Abstract A growing deterioration of the security situation in Nigeria is provoking debate about the subsisting federalized but ineffective policing structure. The general deterioration of security is also manifesting in the growth of regional outfits that have emerged to fill the security gap created by […]

Health and Safety Compliance in Tanzania: Regulatory Impediments in the Construction Sector

by Aloyce Gervas, Nina Torm and Godbertha Kiyondo Abstract In Tanzania, poor enforcement of occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations has been associated with weak regulatory systems as well as lack of proper procedures on construction sites. However, the role of health and safety actors including organisational structures as enabling or disabling factors are under […]

Zimbabwe’s Economic Crisis and the Shebeen Sector in Bulawayo, 2007-08

by Melody Moyo and Nathaniel Chimhete Abstract Between 2000 and 2008 Zimbabwe experienced an economic crisis that reached its peak in 2007 and 2008. Africanists who have written about the informal sector in general and those who have written about the informal sector during periods of economic crises in particular have emphasized the inverse relationship […]

Indigenous Influences on Popular Venda Music

by Evans Netshivhambe Abstract Venda musicians incorporate aspects of “traditional” Venda life and music while still trying to make their music marketable to a larger audience. Johannesburg, the “City of Gold” was never such for many popular Venda musicians as their music did not yield any gold for them. Two significant influences take center stage […]

Exploring Suitable Electoral Systems for Promotion of Women’s Representation in Tanzania and Rwanda

by Victoria Melkisedeck Lihiru Abstract This article explores suitable electoral system(s) for the promotion of women’s representation in the Tanzania and Rwanda from a legal standpoint. The scrutiny of international law finds an absence of legal guidance on the favorable electoral system for enhancing the participation of women in elections, except trivially under the 1995 […]

Recovering Stronger: Indonesia’s Economic Diplomacy towards Ethiopia in the Post-pandemic Era

by Iqbal Ramadhan and Silvia Dian Anggraeni Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has brought severe effects on the international trade sector. Many countries have suffered losses because of bilateral and multilateral trade imbalances. Indonesia and its strategic partner, Ethiopia, are among the countries affected by the spread of the pandemic. This article discusses Indonesia’s economic diplomacy […]

Food Security and the Right to Food during Covid-19 in Africa

by Patrick Agejoh and Esther Njieassam Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) a global pandemic on the 11th of March 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic is a human crisis that poses substantial threats to the health, food security and nutrition of the people of the African continent. Our […]

Food Security and the Right to Food during Covid-19 in Africa

by Patrick Agejoh and Esther Njieassam Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) a global pandemic on the 11th of March 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic is a human crisis that poses substantial threats to the health, food security and nutrition of the people of the African continent. Our […]

“May God Bless Nnamdi Kanu Wherever He Is”: Biafran Separatist Nationalism in Nigeria and the Emerging Roles of Igbo Christian Leaders

by Kingsley Ikechukwu Uwaegbute, Stanley Ndubuisi Nweze, and Onyekachi Gift Chukwuma Abstract The Biafran separatist calls of Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB have spread like bush fire over the years among Igbo people. Presently, it is one of the most discussed topics among Igbo people and Nigerians. The narrative of both Kanu and IPOB operate is […]

From Non-Interference to Adaptative Pragmatism: China’s Security Policy in Africa

by Mamoudou Gazibo and Abdou Rahim Lema Abstract China’s growing focus on African peace and security has generated discussions on its longstanding foreign policy principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of African countries and most of that growing body of research have argued that China is doing away with its foreign policy principle. Drawing […]

Reality and Representation of Eastern Africa’s Past: Archaeology and History Redress the ‘Coast-Inland Dichotomy’

by Jonathan Walz and Philip Gooding Abstract This article seeks to redress what the authors perceive as a coast-inland dichotomy in understandings of eastern Africa’s past. Through allowing aspects of highly problematic historical paradigms to persist, some of which are European in origin and date from the Victorian and colonial eras, and through adopting certain […]

University-Based Music Training and Current South African Musical Praxis: Notes and Tones

by Madimabe Geoff Mapaya Abstract Music pedagogy places a premium on written notation, sometimes to the detriment of orality. This, in the main, explains the disjuncture between South African university-based music education and music praxis obtaining within black communities. It is for this reason that most African students coming from an oral tradition background struggle to […]

The dark side of religion

  How ritual human sacrifice helped create unequal societies   Ritual human sacrifice played a central role in helping those at the top of the social hierarchy maintain power over those at the bottom. This is the central finding of a study published today in Nature. Researchers from the University of Auckland’s School of Psychology, […]

Genetics reveals the impact of lifestyle on evolution

  Researchers find differences between ethnic groups living as farmers and those engaged in traditional hunter-gatherer activities   Scientists have long thought that the rate with which mutations occur in the genome does not depend on cultural factors. The results of a current study suggest this may not be the case. A team of researchers […]

Advanced Technology Leads to New Discoveries into How an Ancient Civilization Conserved Water

  High-resolution, aerial imagery bears significance for researchers on the ground investigating how remote, ancient Maya civilizations used and conserved water.     Collection, storage and management of water were top priorities for the ancient Maya, whose sites in Mexico, Belize and Guatemala were forced to endure seven months out of the year with very […]

What really happened on Easter Island?

Hundreds of iconic moai statues stand testament to the vibrant civilization that once inhabited Easter Island, but there are far fewer clues about why this civilization mysteriously vanished. Did they shortsightedly exhaust the island’s resources? Were they decimated by European illnesses and slave trade? Or did stow-away rats devastate the native ecosystem? Such theories have […]

Researchers link climate changes, Pueblo social disruption

  PULLMAN, Wash. – The heavily studied yet largely unexplained disappearance of ancestral Pueblo people from southwest Colorado is “the most vexing and persistent question in Southwestern archaeology,” according to the New York Times.   But it’s not all that unique, say Washington State University scientists.   Writing in the journal Science Advances, they say […]

Ancient DNA shows European wipe-out of early Americans

    The first largescale study of ancient DNA from early American people has confirmed the devastating impact of European colonisation on the Indigenous American populations of the time.   Led by the University of Adelaide’s Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD), the researchers have reconstructed a genetic history of Indigenous American populations by looking […]

Indonesian ‘Hobbits’ may have died out sooner than thought

  An ancient species of pint-sized humans discovered in the tropics of Indonesia may have met their demise earlier than once believed, according to an international team of scientists who re-investigated the original finding.   Published in the journal Nature this week, the group challenges reports that these inhabitants of remote Flores island co-existed with […]