Author: Ewang Johnson
Cohort 1 of the ABS Scale Ready BootcampLAGOS, Nigeria, 25 November2025-/African Media Agency (AMA)/- In a move to significantly strengthen the pipeline of scalable women-led businesses in Africa, African Business Stories (ABS) launched its inaugural Scale Ready Bootcamp in Lagos.The Bootcamp, which took place on 7 November 2025, followed a high-level morning Roundtable hosted at Microsoft Nigeria under the theme “Positioning for Scale in Nigeria and Beyond.” The Roundtable convened policymakers, financiers, and private-sector leaders, including Hon. Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade & Investment; Mr. Gbenga Oyebode, MFR, Co-Founder, Aluko & Oyebode; senior representatives from the Federal…
Africa continues to carry a disproportionately large share of the world’s disease burden, accounting for nearly 95% of global malaria cases and two-thirds (66%) of all people living with HIV. This pattern holds across many other endemic conditions, a burden continually made heavier by health systems that are often fragmented, underfunded, or lacking the staffing and technical capacity needed to function reliably. Governments and health agencies recognise these challenges and are working diligently to change this trajectory, doing all they can to improve access to essential health products, invest in local manufacturing, and strengthen systems for the long term. The…
Most singer-songwriters aren’t blatantly anti-Christian, though there are some exceptions. Tori Amos, for example, once told Spin that she “wanted to marry Lucifer.” Others, such as Sinéad O’Connor, Nick Cave and Father John Misty (Josh Tillman), direct their criticisms more at institutional forms of religion while professing, or at least hinting, at some level of belief. Joni Mitchell falls in that camp, though her views on spirituality and traditional values are more nuanced and surprising than most of her peers. Although there’s no shortage of romantic themes in Mitchell’s 200+ compositions, many of her songs touch on religion, social issues, and…
One of the reggae artists who brought the genre to the world has passed away aged 81. Jimmy Cliff’s widow announced on social media that he had died following a seizure and pneumonia. The Grammy Award winner worked with artists ranging from The Rolling Stones to Kool and the Gang. FRANCE 24’s culture editor Marjorie Hache looks back at Cliff’s career and how he broke out as an international music star. Source link
The Little People concept had quickly attracted wider attention well beyond rural Georgia. Babyland even got a mention in the UK’s Daily Express as early as 1980, albeit as “the kind of lunatic scheme that appeals to Americans”. Still, as cynics might say, there’s one born every minute, and the concept’s blockbuster commercial potential was spotted by Coleco Industries, a company mainly known for its electronic toys such as the ColecoVision video game console. In 1982, the firm licensed the dolls for a mass-produced version. In a marketing masterstroke, the Little People were now called Cabbage Patch Kids.More like this:• How…
New collaboration expands access to world-class leadership development opportunities for young AfricansAfrica.com, the leading digital media platform celebrating Africa’s innovation and leadership, has announced a new Knowledge Partnership with Aspire Institute, a nonprofit organization founded at Harvard University that provides transformative leadership development for underserved young leaders around the world.Through this partnership, Africa.com and Aspire Institute will collaborate to expand access to leadership education and global opportunities for emerging leaders across Africa. The initiative will highlight stories of African resilience and innovation while connecting aspiring changemakers with Aspire’s fully funded, nine-week online leadership development program designed by Harvard faculty and…
Salyffou, alias Salif Koné, is an Ivorian producer, director, actor and screenwriter. Passionate about cinema since childhood, he strives, through his works, to promote African talent and tell deeply human stories. He started out with short films broadcast online, which have accumulated more than 30 million views. As an actor, he starred in Alex Ogou’s series Obantaga. His short film Les Fleurs du Mal has exceeded one million views on YouTube. The film is being screened in more than ten cities in France, including Paris, which is a strong signal for the production of African and Afro-descendant films. This proves…
Currently touring Europe, jazz musician and trumpet player Takuya Kuroda sits down with FRANCE 24 to speak about his beginnings in the industry and his recording process. Originally from Kobe in Japan, Kuroda says the country’s jazz scene, particularly vibrant in Tokyo, encouraged him to go to New York. The Big Apple, he says, is still an influential “melting pot” of cultures and styles. When it comes to “contemporary crossovers” in his own music, Kuroda credits jazz vocalist José James, whom he met during his studies, with showing him how to blend jazz with other genres like funk and hip-hop.…
BELEM, Brazil, 23 November 2025-/African Media Agency(AMA)/-The COP30 conference in Belem, Brazil showed that climate cooperation is producing results that matter for people’s lives, with real benefits across African nations. 194 countries representing billions of people have said in one voice that the Paris Agreement on climate change is working, and resolved to make it go further and faster.Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change said:“We see progress in a new agreement on just transition, signaling that building climate resilience and the clean economy must also be fair, with every nation and every person able to share…
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani visits the White House, a work by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sets an auction record, Miss Mexico has the last laugh at the Miss Universe pageant and France’s young Beaujolais Nouveaux wines get their annual moment to shine: here’s a look at the week’s most striking images. Source link