SUSTAINABILITY - The African Mirror

May

01

2026

The race to mine critical minerals for AI and clean energy is creating ‘sacrifice zones’ that harm water and health of world’s poor

SUSTAINABILITY

THERE is a troubling contradiction at the heart of the global transition to a cleaner, greener, tech-driven future: Modern technologies – everything from AI to wind turbines, as well as cellphones, electric vehicles, and defense systems – depend on critical minerals. But many of the communities where those minerals are mined end up with polluted water and poorer health because of the mining. Lithium powers batteries. Cobalt stabilizes them. Copper carries electricity. Rare earth elements make wind turbines and digital devices efficient and durable. Each of these is essential to the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, but they are…

Apr

29

2026

By DYLAN O'DRISCOLL; FATHIMA AZMIYA BADURDEEN; JOEL BUSHER; SHEILA RONOH, and WILSON NDENYELE

Climate change is worsening violent extremism in Kenya – what can be done

SUSTAINABILITY

CLIMATE change and its associated impacts can worsen security challenges, including those associated with violent extremism. This is particularly the case in areas that are both vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and characterised by social and political instability. In north-eastern Kenya, for instance, droughts, flooding, and livelihood destruction are unfolding alongside and worsening, due to activity by al-Shabaab, a terrorist network headquartered in Somalia. The terror group has evolved from carrying out large-scale attacks in Kenya, such as the Westgate Mall attack (in 2013) and the Garissa University attack (2015), to persistent, low-intensity attacks and broader community engagement…

Apr

21

2026

By ESTELLE RAZANATSOA; LINDSEY GILLSON, and MALIKA VIRAH-SAWMY

Madagascar’s ancient baobabs store 700 years of climate secrets – what they reveal

SUSTAINABILITY

MADAGASCAR is home to seven species of baobab trees, of which six are found nowhere else on the planet. Many of the trees have been alive for well over 1,000 years. The ancient trees have become symbols of Madagascar itself. They’re also gifts to climate science. Imagine these trees as filing cabinets for climate history. Every year a tree grows, it lays down a new ring, and locked inside that ring are chemical fingerprints that reveal how much rain fell that year. These records could tell society what it needs to know about the climate history of Madagascar. But until…

Mar

27

2026

By OLUWAFEMI E. ADEYERI

Heatwaves will be worst for rural parts of Africa – new model shows tens of millions face dangerous warming by 2100

SUSTAINABILITY

ASK people where heatwaves hit hardest and most will probably say cities, which trap heat in concrete and metal and generate warmth from traffic and industry. But does this reflect reality? I am a scientist who studies climate extremes and health, and was part of a team that set out to answer that question properly. We took 10 of the most widely used global climate models, adjusted them to better reflect real-world observed conditions, and then used them to project heatwave exposure for rural and urban populations globally. We used multiple models rather than one because no single model is…

Mar

25

2026

By HOWARD STEIN and MICHAEL OLABISI

Why Africa needs a green bank to fund climate action and build its own renewable technology

SUSTAINABILITY

CLIMATE change is a profound challenge to the livelihoods of many people in African countries who have contributed so little to its cause. More frequent extreme weather events (floods, heatwaves and droughts) are making hunger, insecurity and displacement much worse. The continent holds an estimated 30% of the minerals that are essential for the future transition away from fossil fuels. However, Africa mostly exports these raw materials, leaving companies in other countries to reap the rewards of manufacturing low-carbon technologies and digital infrastructure. Sustainable development economists Michael Adetayo Olabisi and Howard Stein propose a new African “green bank” as a…

Mar

21

2026

By GEOFREY WINGI SIKAZWE

Climate change could pose a major risk to cassava in Africa: study sets out what can be done now

SUSTAINABILITY

CASSAVA is a starchy, tuberous root, introduced to sub-Saharan Africa by Portuguese traders centuries ago. It is a nutritional lifeboat for over 800 million people worldwide. Sub-Saharan Africa contributes over 63% of the world’s total cassava production. Nigeria alone grows over 20% of the world’s cassava, which is also the continent’s second most important staple food crop. It can produce a reasonable harvest even when soil quality is poor, rainfall is low, or when it has not been fertilised much. In Africa, cassava is now grown in humid and sub-humid tropical regions, including Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana,…

Mar

17

2026

By CHRISTIAN MORETTI and BESSIE NOLL

Electric vehicles could soon be cheaper than petrol cars in Africa – if financing barriers fall

SUSTAINABILITY

THE cost of electric vehicles (EVs) has long looked like a barrier to adoption in Africa. Most researchers didn’t expect battery power to become affordable enough to replace petrol or diesel on the continent before 2040. But falling battery costs, surging global EV production and abundant solar resources are changing that view. Our new research shows that EVs, particularly when paired with off-grid solar charging, may be cheaper than petrol- or diesel-powered cars in many African countries in the not-so-distant future. However, several factors are still limiting uptake. We argue that financing is a big one. We are researchers working…

Mar

06

2026

By PAM JAGGER; CHARLES B.L. JUMBE; CONGYI DAI; RYAN MCCORD, and THABBIE CHILONGO

Solar power is taking off in Malawi: but poor households need financial help to make it work for them

SUSTAINABILITY

ACCESS to electricity is widely seen as a cornerstone of sustainable development. It improves quality of life, enables household income generation, and raises living standards. Despite this, 760 million people around the world live without it. The gap is largest in Africa. Eighty percent of people without electricity connections live in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in rural and hard-to-reach areas. Malawi is a small, landlocked country with one of the lowest electricity access rates in the world. In 2023, only 16% of Malawians had access to electricity, and access was just 6% in rural areas. In Malawi and many other countries…

Mar

05

2026

By YAW AGYEMAN BOAFO

Ghana’s cities are getting hotter: they need more trees to keep them cool

SUSTAINABILITY

GHANA’S cities are expanding at a breathtaking pace. From Madina to Cape Coast, from Sekondi-Takoradi to Tamale, concrete infrastructure is rising, wetlands are shrinking, and open lands are disappearing. But something else is rising quietly alongside this growth. Heat. And not just ordinary heat – dangerous urban heat. Urban heat refers to the rise in temperatures in built-up areas compared to surrounding rural environments, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. It is caused by dense construction materials such as concrete and asphalt that absorb and re-radiate heat, limited vegetation cover, reduced airflow between buildings, and heat generated…

Feb

11

2026

By MAARTEN WYNANTS

Tanzania is losing fertile land to soil erosion: what’s happening and what can be done

SUSTAINABILITY

ACROSS large parts of northern Tanzania, gully erosion – soil erosion caused by flowing water – is cutting deep scars through fertile farmland, grazing areas, roads and even villages. These gullies grow faster every year, and what was once a slow environmental process has accelerated into a humanitarian threat. It has serious consequences for food and livelihood security, infrastructure and biodiversity. Soil erosion is a natural process. Rainfall breaks soil into particles, and flowing water transports them downslope into rivers and lakes. In Tanzania, however, erosion has intensified dramatically over the past 120 years. The region’s steep terrain, highly variable…