Covid, lockdowns and vaccines: Why Africa shouldn’t copy the West
Every policy has costs and benefits. In most African countries, redirecting all resources to tackling COVID-19 will cost more lives than it will save. Since COVID-19 began spreading across the…
Wangari Maathai, the woman of trees
Kenya’s Wangari Muta Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, environmentalist and human rights activist, died 25 September at age 71. A mother of three, she devoted her life to…
Ghanaian students develop gas leakage detector that operates via SMS alert
Three students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana have developed a gas leakage detector that operates via SMS alert. The technology aims at facilitating early detection…
On this day, April 16 in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia.
On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed a bill ending slavery in the District of Columbia. Passage of this law came 8 1/2 months before President Lincoln issued his…
On this day 15th April in 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 to a family of sharecroppers. His mother, Mallie Robinson, single-handedly raised Jackie and her four other children. They were the…
Did you know Eugene Bullard was the first African American black male fighter pilot?
Eugene Jacques Bullard (1895 – 1961) was born October 9, 1895, in Columbus, GA as the seventh out of ten total children born to William Octave Bullard and Josephine “Yokalee”…
Joshua Beckford, living with autism, is the youngest ever to attend Oxford University
At age six, most young children are entering first grade, but not for the extraordinary Joshua Beckford. Living with high-functioning autism, the child prodigy from Tottenham was, at the age…
Did you know Ladi Kwali, the woman on the 20 Naira Nigerian had a doctorate and MBE honour despite not having formal education?
Ladi Kwali was born in Kwali, an area council in the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria, where pottery was a common occupation among women. In the late 1950s and early…
Did you know Egypt has discovered the largest Pharaonic city?
Termed as the ‘NEW CITY, It went missing under the sand in Luxor dating back to the reign of Pharaonic King Amenhotep III 3,000 years ago. Source: @AfricaFactsZone
Bethelhem Dejene Abebe, an entrepreneur who wants to disrupt the paper industry
During the first year of her studies at Addis Ababa University, Bethelhem Dejene Abebe visited the Atkilt Tera market, the biggest fruit and vegetable market in Ethiopia, with her mother….
Did you know South Africa is the first African nation to launch a satellite into space?
Sunsat-1 was launched in 1999. A 64-kg microsatellite was built by staff and students at the University of Stellenbosch. The satellite was launched as a secondary payload on a United…
Uzoma Dozie, founder of Sparkle
Uzoma Dozie is the founder of Sparkle, a Nigerian-based online platform that uses technology to build a community of retailers in Nigeria. In other words, he is using technology to build…
Did you know the South African national anthem composes five different languages?
It is not that there are five linguistic renditions of South Africa’s national anthem even though there may as well be. But the legitimate anthem of the Rainbow Nation since…
Ofo Ezeugwu is an entrepreneur, Founder, and CEO of WhoseYourLandlord
Many desire to rent a place where they can have a good landlord. While the idea seems impossible, a Black founder has created a solution that allows renters to have…
Cornelia Kruah-Togba from Liberia
Cornelia Kruah-Togba is a Liberian public servant and advocate for youth and women’s empowerment. She started her career in 2011 as the Youth Program Officer of the Angie Brooks International…
Did you know Alhassan Dantata was West Africa’s richest man in the 1940s?
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote’s great grandfather, Alhassan Dantata was a trader from Northern Nigeria who traded mainly in kola nuts and groundnuts. His distribution pool extended far into Europe and at the…
On this day 7th April in 1956, Morocco regained its independence from Spain.
Morocco gained independence from France on March 2, 1956, and from Spain on April 7, 1956. Until the late King Hassan II officially took the throne on March 3, 1961, the country…
Babatunde Olatunji, the father of African drumming
I am the drum, you are the drum, and we are the drum. Because the whole world revolves in rhythm, and rhythm is the soul of life, for everything that…
Did you know E.E. Ward Moving & Storage is the oldest Black-owned business in the U.S.?
E.E. Ward Moving & Storage was founded in 1881 and is the oldest Black-owned business in the U.S. The company, which started as a stop on the Underground Railroad, has now become a…
Francis Akuamoah Boateng, founder of Ghana’s first solar panel
For Francis Akuamoah Boateng, there could be no better time in history than now to establish Ghana’s first solar panel factory. In international circles and the energy industry, there has…