Author: Ewang Johnson
Major leap in digital payments access as Mastercard expands presence, products and financial inclusion initiativesNew market entries, new hires and SME-focused collaborations unlock scale for Africa’s $1.5 trillion digital payments opportunityMastercard has grown its acceptance network across Africa by 45 percent in 2025 – a major milestone that brings millions more consumers and small businesses into the continent’s fast-expanding digital economy. This accelerated progress underscores the strong advancement of digital payments, technology, and innovation in Africa—a transformation that traditionally would have taken several years to accomplish.The surge comes in a year defined by new market entries, significant investment, product innovation and an expanded…
A hero bystander wrests a gun from one of two assailants at a mass shooting on Sydney’s Bondi Beach, at least 16 Jeffrey Epstein-related files disappear from the Justice Department’s public website within a day of their release and deadly Thailand-Cambodia border clashes displace hundreds of thousands. FRANCE 24 looks back at the week’s most striking images. Source link
AlamyOrkney’s Maeshowe tomb is a burial cairn created around 2800BC that conceals a stone-clad sepulchre (Credit: Alamy)We will probably never know the specific beliefs and rituals that inspired Maeshowe tomb. But it’s nonetheless possible to understand the enormous significance of the winter solstice as the “year’s midnight”, both as the darkest moment in the calendar and the pivot to six future months of greater illumination. It was a moment of death and rebirth, and a reminder of the cyclical nature of time.In the deep past, understanding the markers of nature’s clockwork – including solstices – was a matter of survival.…
By Dr. Fentahun Mengistu, Country Director, Sasakawa Africa Association – EthiopiaOn the outskirts of rural Ethiopia, a farmer tests a new seed variety under erratic rainfall. She is not watching policy documents or global summits. She is watching her harvest. And standing between her risk and her reward is one person: the agricultural extension worker.Across Africa, agriculture remains the backbone of livelihoods, food security, and rural stability. Yet despite decades of policy commitments, millions of smallholder farmers still face low productivity, limited market access, and intensifying climate shocks. What is often missing from this conversation is the most decisive factor…
From boardrooms to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, New African’s 2025 100 Most Influential Africans list highlights a continent increasingly shaped by business leadership, technological ambition and creative resilience. New African magazine has unveiled the 2025 edition of its annual 100 Most Influential Africans list, revealing a notable shift in influence across the continent. For the first time in several years, the Business and Finance category has overtaken the Creative sector, underscoring the growing role of Africa’s business leaders in shaping the continent’s trajectory. Published annually, the list recognises Africans from across a wide range of fields whose work has had…
I’ve often wondered what became of George Bailey. Does he remain a changed man as his living room empties, and his troubles leave the proximity of his neighbors’ minds? As Christmas ends and he returns to work an inherited job in a town he never left, do doubt and regret find their way back into his thoughts, slowly chipping away until he finds himself back at the bridge’s ledge? Does the erasing embrace of cold, sharp waves overshadow the warmth of true community and the salvation that he experiences through them? The transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge provokes similar questions. Is…
With less than a week to go until Christmas, hosts everywhere are finalising plans for their festive meal, whether it’s dinner or lunch depending on where they celebrate. Amid the abundance of advice, we’re turning to the best, as food guide and restaurant critic Andy Hayler joins us live from London to walk us through the key dos and don’ts for Christmas. Source link
Apart from the sublime dialogue, flawless performances, the finger-clicking music and the mouth-watering Big Apple cinematography, there’s one genius innovation that made Rob Reiner and Nora Ephron’s 1989 film so successful.By the time Harry Connick Jr is crooning away at the end of When Harry Met Sally…, we all know that the film’s title characters are perfect for each other. But what else do we know about them? The answer is: not much. We know that Sally Albright (Meg Ryan) takes an hour-and-a-half to order a sandwich, and that Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) rates Mallomars as “the greatest cookie of…
NAIROBI, Kenya 19 December 2025-/African Media Agency(AMA)/-New African magazine has today unveiled the 2025 edition of its annual “100 Most Influential Africans” list. This year, Business and Finance overtakes the Creative category, highlighting how the continent’s dynamic business community continues to shape its agenda.New African magazine’s annual listing of the year’s 100 Most Influential Africans celebrates the achievements and contributions of Africans from various fields and sectors who have made a positive impact on the continent and the world over the past year.“From our feedback, this list has become more than a ranking; for many, it is life-changing recognition,” says…
We Africans are very engaged in talking up Africa at conferences and in the media, but do we actually measure the implementation of all those high-sounding ideas? Right now, somewhere in the world, there’s probably a conference about Africa happening – or about to begin. We’re in a golden age of conferences, forums, summits and roundtables, where conversation seem to be a priority for the decision makers driving Africa’s development agenda. The themes rarely change, and the protagonists repeat the same well-worn pro-Africa phrases: ‘Africa is open for business’; ‘Africa has the world’s youngest population’; ‘Six of the ten fastest-growing…