Renowned West-African singer, Cesaria Evora passed away on Saturday in her native country of Cape Verde of cardiorespiratory insufficiency and hypertension. Credited for putting Cape Verde on the world map, Evora was often known as the “Barefoot Diva”. She always sang barefoot, a way for her to express her solidarity with poor women all over [...]

As a journalist, I instinctively hope that the deaths of Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros were not in vain. But I also know that the products of their work are the long-lasting testimony of lives well lived.

All modern languages have an African origin, recent study shows.

I just finished reading a very interesting report published last year by the World Tourism Organization. It’s called Tourism and Migration: Exploring the Relationship between Two Global Phenomena. As the title of the report suggests, the authors are interested in dealing with the relationship between tourism and migration, given the fact that both phenomena involve [...]

Dar es Salaam, the main economic center of Tanzania, is one of the most congested cities I have ever been to and lived in. Traffic in the city is, for the lack of a better word, a real clusterfuck. If you expect to drive from Maktaba Street (downtown) to Mikoceni B, via Ali Hassan Road [...]

The Economist recently ran a story on women’s tastes towards men based on a series of scientific studies recently published in academic journals. To cut to the chase, Professor Lisa DeBruine, of the University of Aberdeen, published a paper in which she argues that women in developing countries with precarious health conditions (which basically means [...]

Brain drain and Africa are old acquaintances. For as long as we have heard of post-colonial Africa, we’ve known of people leaving the continent, willingly or not (or better said because they had no other choice), in search for a better place. And the problem with a phenomenon like brain drain is that it is [...]

Brenda Fassie is, arguably, one of the greatest African singers of the last 20 years. Widely considered the Queen of African Pop (in South Africa and beyond), Fassie is often seen as one of the most remarkable artists who has successfully appealed to a wide audience made of both disfranchised, poor people and middle-class Africans, [...]

Benjamin Kwakye is, by all means and purposes, a literary force to be reckoned with.  Born in Accra, Ghana, Benjamin Kwakye attended the Presbyterian Secondary School (Presec), Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. He currently works and lives near Chicago. His first novel, the one I just finished reading, is called The Clothes of Nakedness. Set [...]

It doesn’t often happen that I finish reading a book and then I end up starring at my ceiling thinking to myself: this was a hell of a book. Every time it happens, I feel this strange feeling of exuberating joy and I feel so happy with myself despite the fact that I had no [...]