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Africa Up Close

Africa Up Close is the blog of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Africa Up Close.
Showing posts from category Science, Technology, and Innovation. Show all posts
  • Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway: The Promise and Risks of Rail Megaprojects

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    By Ian Gorecki  // Thursday, September 24, 2020

    640px-Kenya_Railways_DF8B_locomotive_on_the_new_SGR_line,_06-06-2017

    Africa has a massive need for infrastructure to boost its economic growth, implement the African Continental Free Trade Area, and deliver on the African Union (AU)’s Agenda 2063 goals. Upgrading transportation infrastructure is crucial, as the poor state of roads, railways, and ports raises transit costs to the detriment of export competitiveness. In this context, the AU and African governments have made the revitalization, standardization, and expansion of Africa’s rail transport network a priority.

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    Topics: Eastern Africa, Science, Technology, and Innovation
  • Implementation and Enforcement of the Single-Use Plastic Ban in Kenya

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    By Charles Waiganjo  // Tuesday, September 15, 2020

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    The ban on single-use plastic bags in Kenya was prefaced by vigorous sensitization campaigns undertaken by various international bodies like UNEP’s Environment’s Global Plastics Platform. These sensitization efforts highlight the lasting harmful effects of plastic pollution, and have accelerated global momentum toward reducing plastic pollution. For example, various UN member states, including Kenya and Rwanda, have made ambitious efforts toward banning single-use plastic bags.

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    Topics: Science, Technology, and Innovation
  • Is Livestock Africa’s Next Big Investment Opportunity?

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    By Ishmael Sunga  // Wednesday, July 15, 2020

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    It is one of the fastest-growing economic sectors across the African continent. It could help answer some of Africa’s most pressing challenges, including food and nutrition security, employment, climate adaptation, and gender equality. Yet it is chronically underexploited and underfunded by both donors and governments.

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    Topics: Human Security, Science, Technology, and Innovation
  • Southern Voices:

    Governing Climate Change in Africa

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    By Gildfred Boateng Asiamah & Lea Jechel  // Friday, March 20, 2020

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    Drought leaves dead and dying animals in Northern Kenya. Credit: Oxfam International/Brendan Cox. Source, License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

    Since the coming into force of the Paris Agreement in 2016, 50 of Africa’s 54 countries have signed and ratified it, while the remaining four countries have only signed it (Angola, Eritrea, Libya, and South Sudan). Scientifically, it is common knowledge that Africa is the continent most vulnerable to climate change. Non-climatic factors—such as economic strength, access to technology, and social policies—are increasingly influencing African countries’ vulnerability. Moreover, some parts of the continent are exposed to climate change more severely than others, and their level of resilience and adaptability differ. For instance, the probability of drought is higher in Southern Africa, desertification is a threat for West Africa, and East Africa faces more flooding. Despite the heterogeneous consequences, three areas of climate impact are critical for most African countries: water stress, food security, and human health. Addressing these challenges requires a concerted effort at the continental level to streamline and coordinate climate policies and actions, improve weather-related information-gathering, and address chronic funding shortfalls for climate change adaptation.

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    Topics: Governance and Emerging Global Challenges, Regions, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Southern Voices, Uncategorized
  • Public-Private Partnerships in Africa: Some Lessons from Kenya’s Lake Turkana Wind Power Project

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    By Hannah Akuiyibo  // Monday, September 23, 2019

    lake hanna

    Wind turbines at Lake Turkana Wind Power in Loiyangalani District, Kenya. Photo courtesy of Lake Turkana Wind Power. 

    In northern Kenya, the tall, white wind turbines of the Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) project conspicuously stand out against the brown landscape. As Africa’s largest wind energy power plant and the largest private investment in Kenya to date, the project is a milestone. Not only can LTWP generate up to 310MW and provide around 17 percent of the country’s installed energy capacity, but it also marks another achievement toward Kenya’s goal of green energy reliance. Kenya has already demonstrated itself as a global leader in renewable energy development, with approximately 70 percent of its installed capacity coming from renewable sources.

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    Topics: Eastern Africa, Science, Technology, and Innovation
  • African Free Trade Could Increase Resilience to Climate Change and Conflict

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    By David Harary  // Tuesday, October 30, 2018

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    N1 Highway Midrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Photo courtesy of Paul Saad via Flickr Commons.

    Developing countries are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as drought, flooding, severe weather events, and threats to humanity’s basic needs like food, water, energy, and shelter. The African continent knows much about the impacts of climate change. But what can it do about it?

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    Topics: Peacebuilding, Development and the New Economic Paradigm, Science, Technology, and Innovation
  • Southern Voices:

    Skilling Africa’s Informal Sector for Growth: The Role of Technical and Vocational Education and Training

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    By Maame Esi Eshun  // Monday, June 11, 2018

    maame blog

    A student working on carpentry at Nyanza Vocational training center in Southern Rwanda. Photo courtesy of Graham Holliday via Flickr Commons. 

    Education and training for productive employment is an important tool for economic growth and development. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)—an aspect of the educational process—is viewed as a tool for productivity enhancement towards achieving economic growth. TVET focuses on practical applications of skills learned, and are intended to prepare trainees to become effective professionals in a specific vocation. It also equips trainees with a broad range of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are indispensable for meaningful participation in work and life.

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    Topics: African Women and Youth as Agents of Change through Technology and Innovation, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Southern Voices
  • Southern Voices:

    Why the Media is Critical to the Success of the Demographic Dividend Agenda in Africa

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    By Diana Warira  // Friday, May 11, 2018

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    A news control room. Photo courtesy of Ross G. Strachan via Flickr Commons. 

    For decades, the mass media has shaped the world’s view of what is important in our daily lives—our social and political realities—through its ability to influence information and how it is presented.[1] As such, the media has been, and still is, a powerful tool in shaping our perceptions of what matters in our world today. If used well, this inherent power of the media can be of great value in the prioritization of the demographic dividend framework in Africa’s policymaking processes. The media has the power to raise the profile of the demographic dividend agenda in Africa’s development conversations and sustain policymakers’ attention. At any given time, policymakers have several competing policy priorities that may be influenced by their personal interests, opinions, and worldview,[2] not to mention the complex nature of the policymaking process that involves many moving pieces.[3] Media coverage of issues relating to the demographic dividend is critical now more than ever. Despite high-level conversations on the demographic dividend over the past five years, including the 2017 African Union Summit where African leaders committed to investing in the large youthful population to steer development,[4] there is still worry that the demographic dividend ‘hype’ may die out if these conversations do not translate into action at the policymaking level.

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    Topics: Eastern Africa, Governance and Emerging Global Challenges, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Southern Voices
  • Electrifying Sub-Saharan Africa Sustainably with Renewable Energy

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    By Joniel Cha  // Monday, March 5, 2018

    joniel pic

    Women and girls gather over a solar panel installation in Benin. Photo courtesy of Solar Electric Light Fund via Flickr Commons. 

    Over 620 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)—roughly two-thirds of the region’s population— lack access to electricity (Figure 1).The overall electrification rate for the region is 31 percent, with less than 10 percent of rural households having access to electricity. [1] Of the region’s grid-connected households, 40 percent do not pay their bills.

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    Topics: Science, Technology, and Innovation
  • Southern Voices:

    Uncontrolled and Illegal (Galamsey) Mining Activities in Africa: An Increasing Threat to Water and Food Security

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    By Paul Mensah  // Thursday, February 1, 2018

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    Mining at the Tarkwa Mine in Ghana. Photo via Wikimedia Commons. 

    “Galamsey”[1]

    Africa is endowed with numerous natural resources including gold, ore, copper, bauxite, manganese, and timber among others. Formal extractive companies do not offer much employment to local people, pushing them to find employment through illegal mining practices. The influx of small-scale and illegal miners, mostly Chinese to Africa, has worsened the illegal mining activities on the continent with migrant miners abusing mining laws and mining practices. Mining communities in Africa are experiencing numerous detrimental impacts environmentally, socially, and economically from mining. According to a report by Oxfam Australia, mining can negatively affect people by forcing them from their homes and farms and preventing them from accessing clean land and water.[2]

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    Topics: Human Security, Science, Technology, and Innovation, Southern Voices, Western Africa
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