Author: Ewang Johnson

As African nations accelerate energy sector reforms and open markets to increased private participation, the 2026 Africa Energy Indaba, taking place from 3 – 5 March 2026 in Cape Town, will bring together industry leaders, policymakers, financiers, and innovators to explore one of the continent’s most transformative trends: Aggregated Energy Procurement.Across Africa, governments are liberalising their energy sectors to attract more players and investment. However, fragmented markets, small-scale projects, and dispersed consumers often limit the effectiveness of such reforms. The concept of aggregated energy procurement—where multiple energy consumers and producers combine their supply and demand—has emerged as a potential game-changer. By pooling resources and needs,…

At no time since its founding has the United Nations faced a world so fractured and yet so desperately in need of collective action. This week, as leaders gather in New York for the UN General Assembly, the question is no longer whether speeches will inspire but whether the system itself can still deliver. In 2015, when the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted, the mood was one of bold ambition. Ending poverty, eradicating hunger, expanding education, and containing climate change were not presented as dreams but as achievable targets. The SDGs were a blueprint for a fairer and more…

UK prosecutors said Tuesday they will appeal a court’s decision to drop terrorism charges brought against Irish singer Liam O’Hanna. The charge against the member of the punk rap group Kneecap was dropped last month as it wasn’t brought to prosecutors within the legal time limit.  Source link

Miller’s headstrong creativity is evoked by her wry quotes; she once explained of her work: “It was a matter of getting out on a damn limb, and sawing it off behind you.” The urgency, audaciousness, and unexpected compassion that defines so much of her photography is also inextricably linked to her personal experience.She was born in 1907 in Poughkeepsie, New York State; she began her global adventures in her youth, though her ultimate home was Farleys House in the East Sussex countryside, where she moved in 1949 with her husband, British painter and curator Roland Penrose, and their infant son…

“Carbon markets can unlock billions in finance for the continent”“How is it possible that in 2025, when we are able to send people to the moon, when we are able to create driverless vehicles, we’ve not been able to solve the problem of cooking energy in Africa’s rural areas?” asks Maxwell Gomera, Resident Representative of UNDP South Africa and Director of the Africa Sustainable Finance Hub.He continues: “This is something that is within our means. And as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Africa Sustainable Finance Hub, we are now working with governments across Africa on how to solve such…

The future of the UN is at stake. For it to remain relevant and survive, it must cast off dogma and embrace a results-oriented approach. In the corridors of the United Nations as it celebrates its 80th anniversary, anxious diplomats speak of a new ‘darkest hour’. Conflicts rage in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and beyond. Climate shocks intensify. Human displacement has reached record levels. Humanitarian budgets shrink. It is no wonder that the President of the General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock has warned that “there are some people out there saying…we don’t need this institution anymore.” The causes are known to us…

“For death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” (Eccl. 7:2)A few weeks ago, I was getting ice from our freezer when a cube fell to the floor somewhere out of sight. I looked for it in vain as it was clear that the errant icicle had disappeared somewhere in the unexplored regions beneath my kitchen cabinets and appliances. I grabbed the drink that would have been the cube’s final destination and turned to leave when I felt the shift in the air around me, and I realized death was close at hand.We do our…

UNESCO is set to appoint Egypt’s Khaled El-Enany as its new director general, according to diplomatic sources. The cultural agency’s executive board on Monday voted 55 to 2 in favor of Egypt’s former tourism and antiquities minister, whose name will be put forward for approval to UNESCO’s members in November.  Source link

The most famous image appeared in 1934 at the height of Nessie-mania: a slender, serpent-like neck rising from the loch. For decades, the photo baffled Nessieologists. In 1979, Californian naturalist Dennis Power suggested the “monster” it depicted was an elephant swimming with its trunk above water. Elephants, he noted, could swim up to 30 miles. While admitting the idea of an elephant in the Scottish Highlands was almost as unlikely as a real monster, he said: “We’d love to apply for a government grant for four round-trip tickets to Scotland and 40 tonnes of peanuts to try and trap it,…

Nigeria is turning the spotlight on its mining sector as part of a broader effort to diversify its economy beyond oil. Between January and August 2025, the nation’s non-oil revenue surged 40.5%, reaching $13.8 billion, highlighting the potential of non-oil sectors, especially solid minerals. Despite vast deposits of gold, limestone, coal, and bitumen, structural bottlenecks, poor infrastructure, and illegal mining have hindered growth. The government is addressing these challenges by cracking down on illicit activity, improving security, revoking dormant licenses, and creating a state-owned solid minerals corporation with private-sector participation. The government is also streamlining licensing processes and launching a digital…