Author: Ewang Johnson
Despite rapid innovation in financial technology, nearly 300 million adults across Africa remain unbanked, most of them in rural and low-income communities. This persistent gap highlights both the urgency of financial inclusion and the scale of opportunity ahead. With Africa’s fintech revenues projected by McKinsey to grow almost fivefold, from approximately US$10 billion in 2023 to US$47 billion by 2028, the continent stands at a pivotal moment where innovation, policy, and capital must converge to ensure inclusive growth. Against this backdrop, the Inclusive FinTech Forum (IFF) 2026 will convene from 10–12 March 2026 at the Kigali Convention Centre, bringing together…
If you’re like me, then professional sports have always helped define the decades. The accomplishments of athletes like Mickey Mantle, Wayne Gretzky, Tom Brady, LeBron James, and Simone Biles provide a sort of soundtrack that flavors their respective time periods. For example, it’s difficult to think about the 1990s without remembering the feats of Michael Jordan. I can still recall laying sick on the sofa and watching Jordan dominate the Utah Jazz while also covered in sweat from the flu. Although we don’t know athletes like Jordan personally, they are important to us, serving as markers for many of our…
In this edition of our arts24 music show, Jennifer Ben Brahim chats with British artist Jamie Woon, who is back with new music for the first time in a decade. He emerged from London’s fertile post-dubstep scene of the early 2010s with his debut album “Mirrorwriting” and his Mercury-nominated follow-up “Making Time”. His lyrics are vulnerable and introspective, blending R’n’B, neo soul and electronic sounds. After a decade away from the spotlight, Jamie is back with his album “3,10, Why, When” and is heading out on a European tour. Source link
The ‘matchstick men’ associationLowry hid behind a down-to-earth facade, but this unpretentious attitude may have led some to dismiss his work as unskilled. Asked about why his pictures were filled with so many matchstick figures, he said he would begin with just a few but, “for the sake of design,” by the end “you’ve got a picture full of people”. In the 1957 film, he insisted he didn’t mind that people called his figures matchstick men, but in later years, he came to resent this as a patronising way to look at a trained artist’s work.Despite this, the idea struck…
Kicking off 2026, the 2025 edition of Nando’s Creative Exchange (NCX) titled, Making Space, enters its second Cape Town showing and public programme at the Association for Visual Arts (AVA) Gallery from 29 January to 26 February 2026. Making Space features bodies of work by four South African artists: Fleur de Bondt (Johannesburg), Debbie Field (Cape Town), Sello Letswalo (Johannesburg) and Mduduzi Twala (Soweto). Each responds to the theme of ‘Making Space’ through distinctive practices. Under the guidance of conceptual artist and educator Emma Willemse, these artists have explored physical, emotional and conceptual territory, producing works that are intimate, experimental…
Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s politically charged thriller “One Battle After Another” took six prizes, including best picture and best director, at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday. Blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” and gothic horror story “Frankenstein” won three awards each, while Shakespearean family tragedy “Hamnet” was named best British film. Source link
CANEX Creations Inc. (CCInc), the intellectual property investment subsidiary backed by Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), announced its investment in the feature film Clarissa, a Nigerian-produced drama directed by twin filmmakers Arie and Chuko Esiri. The film has been acquired for worldwide distribution by NEON, which will oversee theatrical release in the United States and international markets, with NEON International handling foreign sales. A contemporary reimagining of Virginia Woolf’s novel relocated to Lagos, Clarissa was shot on 35mm in Lagos and Delta State. The film follows society woman Clarissa as she prepares to host a party at…
From the stunning arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, to the celebration of Iftar during the holy month of Ramadan amid the ruins of Gaza, to the glory of the Winter Olympics, FRANCE 24 looks back at the week’s most striking images. Source link
The actress makes a return to form in this hard-hitting film from Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó about a middle-aged woman facing up to addiction – and her traumatic childhood.Amy Adams is a transfixing screen actress, but she’s had a bad run of it lately: her last truly successful project was a TV one, 2018’s Sharp Objects, while films like execrable potboiler The Woman in the Window and clunky suburban satire Nightbitch have come and gone without much noise. So it’s great to report that she is given a chance to showcase her prodigious gifts again in At the Sea, the…
The African Energy Chamber (AEC) (https://EnergyChamber.org) will lead a high-level delegation to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on 22 to 26 February 2026 to deepen bilateral oil and gas ties between Venezuela and Africa. As an honorary member of the African Petroleum Producers Organization, Venezuela has consistently supported Africa in its oil and gas endeavors. […] Source link