Africa

Blood Diamonds: Images from Zimbabwe's Violent Marange Fields

Fast Company staff — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 17:34:09 -0500

Zimbabwe's Diamond Mines Lead to Rape, Murder, and Thievery

Joshua Hammer — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:00:00 -0500

Ali Moussa and his partner, Shahab Hamdan, are peripatetic veterans of the blood-diamond trade. For 15 years, they based themselves in Bo and Kenema, in Sierra Leone, near the rich diamond deposits that stoked a decade-long civil war between the ragtag government army and a brutal rebel force. As the enemies battled for control of the diamond fields, Moussa and Hamdan (the names are pseudonyms, at their request) bought gems from rebels and soldiers alike, then exported them to international dealers at a hefty profit.

Inside PopTech's Solar-Powered Bag FLAP: Testing Across Africa

Erik Hersman — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:34:35 -0400

August was setting up to be a crazy month. I knew this, so naturally I agreed to add to this the chance to use my AfriGadget network to help test the FLAP (Flexible Light and Power) bag project Africa. Thus began my whirlwind adventure, carrying 10 partially fabricated bags and 10 solar light kits through Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.

16 Inventions That Boost Habitats, Humanity, Health and Happiness

Fast Company staff — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:15:04 -0400

Designer, architect, and author Emily Pilloton is founder of the non-profit Project H Design, where chapters of designers around the world collaborate on products that improve the four H's: habitats, humanity, health and happiness. While working to develop products like the Hippo Roller, a water transportation device, or the Learning Landscape, a low-budget playground for teaching math, Pilloton began collecting examples of similar products that solved social problems.

Former Nigerian Capital Gets Eco-City

Kelsey Keith — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:15:30 -0400

Lagos, clocking in at 7 million residents, is no dusty sub-continental village. It's a huge metropolis that acts as the economic and financial capital of Nigeria, and like any urban center looking to develop into the 21st century, Lagos has plenty of environmental issues to address. Which is where London architecture firm Studio Bednarski comes in--their design proposal for the regeneration of the city's waterfront is both pretty (at least from the aerial view) and practical.

IBM Introduces Linux-based Netbook Software Aimed at Developing World

Clay Dillow — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:56:32 -0400

The netbook sector is one of the hottest spaces in tech, so it’s no surprise that IBM has thrown its hat into the ring with its new Smart Work package. What is surprising is that the computer giant is angling for market share in Africa and the developing world, introducing a cloud- and premise-based software package running on open-source Linux programs instead of Microsoft Windows (the most popular operating system for PCs and netbooks alike).

Tech Award Laureates: Cows to Kilowatts Produces Clean, Waste-Reducing Energy

Ariel Schwartz — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:26:38 -0400

Measuring GDP by How Bright a Country Is at Night

Cliff Kuang — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:39:09 -0400

Mobile Clinics, Kenyan Style: On Camelback

Cliff Kuang — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:51:21 -0400

Picture a mobile clinic, and you might think of a big, high-tech SUV kitted with tiny lab facilities. But in Kenya? Not so much. As Earnest Beck points out over at Design Observer, camels are the most efficient and cheap transportation in those regions of Kenya populated by nomads, and lacking serviceable roads. And that has its own problems.

Can a Wall Made of Solidifed Sand Dunes Stop Desertification?

Ariel Schwartz — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:37:03 -0400

Enterprising Swedish architect Magnus Larsson, already well-known in the field thanks to his proposed Great Green Wall, a 4,349 mile line of trees stretching across Africa to stop desertification.

It's Official: World's Largest Solar Pipeline Gets European Backers

Ariel Schwartz — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:53:48 -0400

T. Boone Pickens scrapped his massive wind power plan, but that doesn't mean hope is lost for other large-scale renewable energy projects. Enter Desertec, a solar pipeline spanning from North Africa and the Middle East to Europe.

Envirofit's $25 Clean-Burning Cooking Stove Is Ready for the Developing World

Ariel Schwartz — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:03:18 -0400

Google Brings Texting Services to Africa

Ariel Schwartz — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:02:10 -0400

Many residents of African countries can't afford a computer, but the continent has the world's highest cell phone growth rate, with one-third of the population already owning a mobile phone. That's why Google unveiled its Google SMS suite of applications yesterday. The suite includes access via text messaging to information on health, agriculture, sports, weather, and more.

Tweaking a Dictator, With a Remarkable Ad Campaign

Cliff Kuang — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:13:29 -0400

Desertec: World's Largest Solar Pipeline Charges Ahead

Ariel Schwartz — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:35:14 -0400

The world's largest and most ambitious solar power initiative, dubbed "Desertec", is pushing ahead on July 13 with a meeting of a 20-firm consortium, including companies like Siemens, Deutsche Bank, and E.on. Companies present at the meeting will determine the next step for the German-led project, which will ideally take solar power from North Africa and transmit it to Europe.

Solarix Sustainer: A Biodiesel Conversion System for the Survivalist

Ariel Schwartz — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:53:15 -0400

European biodiesel company Solarix has created what may be a sustainable powerhouse for rural areas: the Sustainer, a "power box" in a 20-foot container frame that converts oil-bearing crops and seeds into edible oil and biodiesel.

Bono, Beware: Dambisa Moyo on Aid, Microfinance, and the Problem of Celebs in Africa

Jeff Chu — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:40:58 -0400

If there is such a thing as a sensation in African development, it would be Dambisa Moyo. The author of the new book Dead Aid, she has taken on many of the conventions of the relationship between the West and Africa--aid, celebrity spokespeople, the "China does bad" storyline that has been covered in this magazine.

Questions for Dambisa Moyo

Jeff Chu — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 09:31:24 -0400

We asked some of our friends on Twitter to submit questions for Goldman alumna and development-economics star Dambisa Moyo. (Thanks to @wiwibloggs, @sinatraj, @socialentrprnr, @ellmcgirt, and @rebekahco for their submissions.) Moyo declined, by the way, to answer a question about her views on Madonna's attempt to adopt another Malawian baby. But here's an edited transcript of the rest of her responses on topics ranging from the bond markets to the problem with Pepfar, the U.S. government's major but controversial effort to battle AIDS in Africa.

GlaxoSmithKline Fights Malaria in Africa with Satellites

Chris Dannen — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:03:26 -0400

Malaria kills one million people a year, most of them children in Africa's so-called Malaria Belt (the sub-Saharan region). In partnership with the Gates Foundation, pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline is preparing an ambitious clinical trial there, which promises to vaccinate 16,000 African children in seven countries with an experimental treatment.

World Water Day

Fast Company Calendar — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0400

It's been 4,500 years since the Mesopotamian cities of Lagash and
Umma battled over irrigation rights. That was the world's first -- and
so far only -- full-fledged water war. But UN secretary-general Ban
Ki-moon warned last year that water shortages were creating "tensions
in conflict-prone regions" across Africa and Asia.

Rwanda to Obama: Emulate George W. Bush, Not Bill Clinton

Jeff Chu — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:50:26 -0400

A few days after Barack Obama's inauguration, I called a Rwandan diplomat who had helped me with my story on that country’s remarkable economic-development strategy. "Did you go to the balls?" I asked. The response was tepid. "I stayed home," the diplomat said with a sigh. "I watched it on TV."

Ericsson, Orange Sending Solar-Powered Cell Coverage to Africa

Ariel Schwartz — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:35:48 -0500

While many of us struggle to tear ourselves away from computers and cell phones, communities in rural Africa deal with a different problem: lack of communication.

Corporate Social Responsibility Legislation On The Way

Chris Jarvis — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 11:43:48 -0500

Ok, I’m not sure this is a good idea.

DataDyne: EpiSurveyor

Kate Rockwood — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:30:09 -0500

Data collection in developing nations usually involves heaps of paperwork and maddening data entry. But public-health workers in 15 sub-Saharan nations are using pioneering software from the D.C.-based not-for-profit DataDyne to digitize and streamline the process. Cofounder Rose Donna explains how EpiSurveyor can be more efficient than paper surveys: "With a question like, 'Are you male or are you female?' people were being asked if they were pregnant even if they answered male.

Starbucks and (RED) Team Up to Combat AIDS in Africa

Saabira Chaudhuri — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:27:45 -0400

Last year, Starbucks went red for the holidays, unveiling an attractive red cup, dotted with white snowflakes and sporting the company's logo in green.

This year, as the season of good cheer approaches, the chain is taking things one step further -- and in a more philanthropic direction.