Sub-Saharan Africa - The African Mirror

Oct

2022

Mozambique had no data about snakebites. Our new study filled the gap – and the results are scary

EVERY year between 20,000 and 32,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa die after being bitten by snakes. That’s more than five times the number of deaths caused by hippos, crocodiles, elephants, lions and buffalo combined. At least, that’s what the available data suggests. But, the World Health Organization (WHO) acknowledges, that statistics – as well as figures related to non-fatal injury and disability caused by snakebites – are incomplete. Not all snakebite victims are treated in hospitals, especially in poorer countries and communities. Some may be treated by traditional doctors. Others may die before receiving any treatment. Author HARITH OMAR MORGADINHO…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Atheism in Kenya: why accurate numbers are hard to come by

RELIGION

THE accuracy of statistics on religious affiliations in sub-Saharan Africa is questionable. This makes it difficult to assess religious trends. The issue has come to the fore recently in Kenya with the release of statistics around religious affiliation. In particular, the fact that the census showed that 1.6% of Kenyans identified themselves as atheists, agnostics or as following no religion in particular. In the parlance of the census, they were classified as ‘nones’. But is this number accurate? I think it’s doubtful. There are two major reasons why. Author P. PRATAP KUMAR, Emeritus Professor, School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics,…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Why Nigeria’s electricity grid collapses and how to shore it up

ENVIRONMENT

NIGERIA'S national electricity grid has collapsed more than 200 times in the last nine years, regularly resulting in widespread blackouts. The power outages, which prevent people from meeting routine business and household needs, result in huge economic and social costs. In sub-Saharan Africa, every 1% increase in power outages (in terms of hours) has been associated with a 2.86% decrease in gross domestic product (GDP). This translates to a loss of about US$28 billion in GDP. Authors NNAEMEKA VINCENT EMODI, Research Fellow, The University of Queensland OGHENERUONA E. DIEMUODEKE, Senior Lecturer, University of Port Harcourt There are also health risks…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

Uganda closed schools for two years – the impact is deep and uneven

EDUCATION

Uganda enforced the longest period of school closures worldwide – 22 months – during the COVID-19 pandemic. The strategy was subject to scrutiny by many local and international organisations in view of the multiple challenges the country’s education sector already faced before the pandemic. Authors SIMONE DATZBERGER, Assistant Professor in Education and International Development, UCL AMIYA BHATIA, Assistant Professor in Social Epidemiology and Child Protection, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine JENNY PARKES, Professor in Education, Gender and International Development, UCL KAREN DEVRIES, Professor of Social Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Studies of the predicted and…

Feb

2022

By The African Mirror

Nigeria needs more social science research: how to boost output

EDUCATION

Authors ABIODUN EGBETOKUN, Assistant Director, Research, National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) ADEDAYO OLOFINYEHUN, Researcher, National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) SUB-SAHARAN Africa faces some of the biggest challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. For instance, Nigeria has at least 87 million people in extreme poverty. The country’s unemployment rate was over 33.3%, the second highest in the world, at the end of 2020. These kinds of challenges are the business of social science — the branch of science concerned with society and human behaviours. Social science research helps in understanding and developing solutions to complex problems including climate…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Fishing for food security, Africa puts tilapia on the menu

NEWS

SETH ONYANGO, BIRD MORE tilapia are finding their way onto African plates - and palates - as rapid population growth in Africa fuels demand for locally-produced fish and opening up a multi-billion dollar market for ‘aquapreneurs.’ Aqua-Spark’s new Aqua Insights Report show the continent will consume up to 29 million MT annually by 2050, up from the current 10 million MT. It represents a 190 per cent jump in demand against 86.57 per cent projected population growth in Africa which is expected to hit 2.5 billion in the period under review. On the menu is farmed tilapia, a freshwater fish,…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa’s quiet agro-food revolution

NEWS

THE BIRD NEWSROOM AFRICA’S food exports have grown considerably over the past decade, with 50 out of 54 states recording considerable trade surpluses in agricultural commodity trade. This finding, reported in a Brookings Institute report, also shows that just four countries are fueling the vast majority of the continent’s agro-food trade deficit. The report flies in the face of reports on Africa that paint a picture of the continent as reliant on foreign food imports despite having the bulk of the world’s remaining unutilised arable land. In their report, "Unpacking the misconceptions about Africa’s food imports", Brookings disaggregated sub-Saharan Africa’s…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

African countries call for $100 billion boost

COVID-19

LOUCOUMANE COULIBALY ELEVEN African heads of state have called for $100 billion in hardship funding to help dig their economies out of the hole caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most African nations have been spared the levels of death and infection caused by the coronavirus in other parts of the world, but lockdowns and reduced travel and trade have thrown sub-Saharan Africa into recession. The leaders met in Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan, where they produced a declaration asking for $100 billion for the period of 2022-2025 from the International Development Association (IDA), an arm of the World Bank Group…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Africa’s huge strides in financial inclusion

OTHER

SETH ONYANGO MORE Africans are accessing mainstream financial services thanks to rapid growth in mobile money services on the continent. Markets such as Kenya and Nigeria are leading in the development of innovative products tailored for the historically underserved demographics by the formal financial sector. International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates show Africa has more digital financial services users than any other region in the world, accounting for nearly half of the 700 million individual users globally. In 2011 the level of financial inclusion in Sub-Saharan Africa was just over 23 percent and jumped to almost 43 percent in 2017, buoyed…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigerian growth lags Africa, poverty rising, says World Bank

BUSINESS

NIGERIAN economic growth has resumed after the COVID shock but is lagging the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, with food inflation, heightened insecurity and stalled reforms slowing growth and increasing poverty, the World Bank has said. Presenting its six-monthly update on development in Africa's most populous country, the organisation gave a GDP growth forecast for Nigeria of 1.9% in 2021 and 2.1% in 2022, compared with 3.4% this year and 4.0% next year for sub-Saharan Africa. Lead economist for Nigeria Marco Hernandez said inflation, especially in food prices, was exacerbating poverty and food insecurity. Food accounted for almost 70% of Nigeria's…