Grammy-nominated singer Akon has a goal of bringing solar-powered electricity to 1 million homes in Africa by the end of the year, and the singer is using millions of his own dollars for the cause. Akon started an initiative called “Akon Lighting Africa” this month
Tag Archives: continent
A Brief History of McDonald’s Abroad
Since its founding in 1948, McDonald’s has grown from a family burger stand to a global fast-food behemoth, with more than 30,000 locations in 118 countries.
Africa: the Scramble for Survival
The Great Rift Valley can be seen from space. It shears down the eastern shoulder of Africa, a vast geological gash, one of the mysteries of the continent’s power
WOMEN OF THE YEAR: Great Changes, New Chances, Tough Choices
They have arrived like a new immigrant wave in male America. They may be cops, judges, military officers, telephone linemen, cab drivers, pipefitters, editors, business executives—or mothers and housewives, but not quite the same subordinate creatures they were before
China Woos Africa — And Not Just For Its Resources
On Oct.
$5M Ibrahim Prize for African Leadership: No 2009 Winner
When Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim announced an annual $5 million prize to reward Africa’s best leaders, he warned that there would be years when “we wouldn’t award the prize.” Just three years on, and despite considering “some credible candidates,” the prize committee said on Monday that no prize would be awarded in 2009. In announcing the decision, committee member and former Botswana President Ketumile Masire said the panel “noted the progress made with governance in some African countries, while noticing with concern recent setbacks in other countries.” The non-award is, of course, a powerful indictment of Africa’s still patchy governance and the continent’s most recently retired leaders
Ireland counts votes in EU referendum
Votes were being counted in Ireland Saturday after a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty — a controversial agreement, already rejected once by Irish citizens, which lays down rules for governing an expanded European Union.
Search resumes for missing Indonesia plane
Rescue planes were dispatched on Monday to look for an aircraft with 15 people on board that disappeared shortly after takeoff in eastern Indonesia.
Group urges Burundi to drop new law against homosexuality
A human rights group urged Burundi to reverse a law that makes homosexuality illegal, saying it risks worsening the harsh treatment of gays in the eastern Africa nation. The new law makes “sexual relations with persons of the same sex” illegal and punishable by up to two years in prison, Human Rights Watch said in a recently released report. It was enacted just as the gay, lesbian and transgender community had started to mobilize and call for equal treatment, according to the organization.
Truly Worldwide Web: Broadband Finally Comes to East Africa
For weeks, it had been impossible to ignore the quiet revolution coming to East Africa. Across Nairobi, work crews could be seen unspooling thousands of meters of black cable into freshly dug trenches along the city’s roads. The flurry of work was all done in anticipation of what was heralded as the dawn of a new era: At long last, East Africa would be connected to an undersea fiber-optic Internet cable, and with it, to the planet’s cheap, high-speed information superhighway.