Africa | Fast Company

Google Announces The Africa News Challenge

BY Nidhi Subbaraman | 05-10-2012 | 10:32 AM | INNOVATION

News updates all day from your Fast Company editors. READ MORE›

Maps And Graphics Show The Insidious Process Of Land Grabbing

BY Ben Schiller | 05-09-2012 | 10:05 AM | LAND MATRIX

Governments and companies in the developed world are buying up huge tracts of land in poorer countries for cheap access to natural resources. A new site visualizes the scale of the problem. READ MORE›

U.S. Defense Department Maps Future Climate Turmoil In Africa

BY Michael Coren | 04-18-2012 | 3:49 PM | DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Not willing to sit on their heels and find out where disaster will strike on the continent, the U.S. army is attempting to project future weather so they know what’s coming. READ MORE›

Using Satellites To Stop Outbreaks Before They Start

BY Michael Coren | 04-02-2012 | 1:30 PM | WHO

Sometimes the only way you can make sure you’re seeing the big picture is to look at it from really high up. And now, with satellite imagery, that bird’s-eye view is offering many new solutions. READ MORE›

Truly Local Power: African Wind Turbines Built From Scrap

BY Ariel Schwartz | 02-15-2012 | 9:21 AM | WIND POWER

Wind power isn’t used much in the developing world, since a turbine is much more expensive than a solar panel. But Access:energy is flipping that equation by finding ways to build the turbines in the communities where they’re ... READ MORE›

A New Service For Africa Gets Rid Of Pain At The Panel

BY Ben Schiller | 01-24-2012 | 12:22 PM | SOLAR

Much of Africa is lit and powered by polluting and unhealthy kerosene. But plans to leapfrog the country to renewables often come up against the lack of funds to purchase panels. But Eight19 has a model to get solar power into African ... READ MORE›

How Biochar Will Help Kenya Go Green And Save Money

BY David D. Burstein | 01-04-2012 | 5:48 PM | ETHONOMICS

Re:char is a pioneering company that sells kilns to farmers in Kenya that allow them to convert their farm waste into what's known as biochar, which can then be used for cooking. CEO Jason Aramburu spoke to us about the emerging area of biochar and a grant that re:char just received from the Gates Foundation to develop a system to transform human waste into biochar.READ MORE›

Mining Africa For Sweet Vintage Tees

BY Ben Schiller | 11-24-2011 | 12:12 AM | T-SHIRTS

Buy your ironic shirt from Repat, and you're wearing some fashion that's been to Africa and back. Double authentic, and helping put girls through school. READ MORE›

A Netflix For Batteries To Get Africa On The Grid

BY Alex Goldmark | 11-15-2011 | 1:43 PM | TANZANIA

Egg-Energy is using battery subscriptions to wire houses, power development, and make it profitable to expand the electric grid. READ MORE›

Selling Solar Lamps Door-To-Door Powers Africa's Female Entrepreneurs

BY Michael J. Coren | 07-27-2011 | 5:46 PM | ETHONOMICS

Solar Sister gives startup funds--and a $500 "business-in-a-bag"--to door-to-door solar saleswomen, illuminating villages and offering exceptional economic benefits to communities.READ MORE›

Lighting Africa Illuminates A New Market

BY Nate Berg | 07-22-2011 | 2:00 PM | MAGAZINE

An innovative program aims to light up off-the-grid Africa by boosting supply and demand for portable solar lamps.READ MORE›

Can Matt Damon Bring Clean Water To Africa?

BY Ellen Mcgirt | 07-22-2011 | 12:00 PM | MAGAZINE

The inside story of Matt Damon's bold yet sane plan to use his celebrity and smarts to help attack one of the globe's great crises.READ MORE›

The New Microfinancing: SMS-Based Layaway To The Rescue

BY Gregory Ferenstein | 07-18-2011 | 9:38 PM | ETHONOMICS

KickStart has introduced an innovative layaway program to African farmers so they can invest in low-cost irrigation pumps.READ MORE›

The New Stripped-Down SUV That Will Change Transportation In Africa

BY Michael J. Coren | 07-18-2011 | 2:14 AM | ETHONOMICS

Mobius has created an SUV that's strong enough to brave Africa's deteriorating roads, but frills free, to make it more affordable.READ MORE›

State Department Is Trying To Make A Thousand Ushahidis Bloom

BY E.B. Boyd | 05-03-2011 | 2:26 PM | INNOVATION

Inspired by the rapid-fire response of the tech world to the earthquake in Haiti, the U.S. government is planning to jump-start a venture-capital approach to the field of humanitarian tech.READ MORE›

Infographic Video: How To Solve The World's Water Crisis

BY Morgan Clendaniel | 04-21-2011 | 5:00 PM | CHARITY WATER

Of all the various crises besetting the developing world, the water crisis may be the hardest for those of us living comfortable lives to comprehend. We are never far from a tap that provides free water or a store where we can buy ... READ MORE›

New, Unlikely Startup Frontiers Include Estonia, Kenya, and Ghana

BY David Zax | 04-11-2011 | 9:43 AM | ETHONOMICS

Garage48, the biggest name in 48-hour hackathons in Estonia, is coming soon to several African countries. READ MORE›

Arab Air: How The Middle East Is Rewiring Our Friendly Skies

BY Greg Lindsay | 04-01-2011 | 2:00 PM | MAGAZINE

One new hub of global air travel is in the Middle East.READ MORE›

Gates, USAID, World Bank Invest $50 Million to Save At-Risk Mothers

BY Jenara Nerenberg | 03-10-2011 | 6:47 AM | ETHONOMICS

Saving Lives at Birth aims to propel innovation forward to save at-risk pregnant women in remote parts of the world. READ MORE›

Ahoy, Matey! South Africa Launches Pirate Satellite Network

BY Jenara Nerenberg | 03-10-2011 | 4:47 AM | ETHONOMICS

Pirates, pollution, and shipwrecks will all be monitored under the new Long Range Identification and Tracking system.READ MORE›