Africa Renewal

Africa Renewal magazine, published by the United Nations, examines Africa’s development, achievements and challenges. It provides expert analysis and on-the-spot reporting to show how policies affect Africa’s people.

End game in Côte d’Ivoire marks a new beginning

End game in Côte d’Ivoire marks a new beginning

The arrest of former Côte d’Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo on 11 April after a bloody weeklong battle in the heart of Abidjan has been...
Africa’s ‘Growth is not accompanied by employment’?

Africa’s ‘Growth is not accompanied by employment’?

Africa’s labour movement is on the move from Cape to Cairo – demanding democracy, devising policy and building a new African economy that creates...
Africans lend tech savvy to elections, banking, education

Africans lend tech savvy to elections, banking, education

Africa is wired and fast proving its tech savviness as millions of Africans adopt new technology. A decision by UEMOA, an eight-member country, to...
Social media and cyber-activism in North Africa’s revolution

Social media and cyber-activism in North Africa’s revolution

As hundreds of thousands of Egyptians in Cairo’s Tahrir Square celebrated the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak on 11 February, some held up mobile...
African hi-tech taking leading position

African hi-tech taking leading position

For 48 long hours, employees of Senegal’s National Telecommunications Company cut telephone and Internet connections to the rest of the world. That bold action,...
Africa: A man without a job has no status

Africa: A man without a job has no status

For 17 years Peter worked as a machine operator in a South African textile plant. It was not high-paying work, but it paid the...
Empowering Women: Governments must “practice what they preach”

Empowering Women: Governments must “practice what they preach”

When the former Chilean President, Michelle Bachelet, convened the first meeting of the new UN women’s rights agency, UN Women, in late January, she...
Africa’s MDG Quagmire: Moving beyond the goals

Africa’s MDG Quagmire: Moving beyond the goals

The Millennium Development Goals are likely to remain important for the long-term task of eradicating poverty beyond 2015. But development policy is being challenged...
Sudan referenda uncertainty breeds talk of conflict

Sudan referenda uncertainty breeds talk of conflict

With Sudan moving towards a referendum to determine whether the south remains part of the country or secedes, the United Nations and the rest...
‘The rest of the world has to change its perception of Africa’

‘The rest of the world has to change its perception of Africa’

Cheick Sidi Diarra, from Mali, is the UN Special Adviser on Africa. His job description includes increasing international support for Africa’s development and security,...
Africa must feed itself

Africa must feed itself

Africa is rising. The 2010 Ibrahim Index of African Governance reveals some very good news: 40 out of 53 African countries have made significant...
Africa’s remarkable fight against poverty

Africa’s remarkable fight against poverty

Much of the recent reporting about Niger could lead readers to believe that beyond political turmoil and tragic famine, nothing else is worth the...
The bright spots of Millenium Development Goals in Africa

The bright spots of Millenium Development Goals in Africa

Various reports by the United Nations and other international organizations have shown that Africa is facing enormous challenges in achieving the world's anti-poverty Millennium...
Africa’s unfinished independence

Africa’s unfinished independence

Standing before an assemblage of local and international dignitaries in Cameroon’s capital at a mid-May conference marking the 50th year of independence for many...
UN Global Compact: ‘The deeper meaning of fighting corruption is transparency’

UN Global Compact: ‘The deeper meaning of fighting corruption is transparency’

From oil spills to toxic wastes to financial fraud, business ethics are under a global spotlight. The United Nations Global Compact is an initiative...
The historic retreat of African autocrats

The historic retreat of African autocrats

Never before had pictures of endless lines of enthusiastic voters in front of polling stations defined Guinea’s international image. But on 27 June —...
The ‘long walk’ to equality for African women

The ‘long walk’ to equality for African women

Africa’s political independence was accompanied by a common clarion call to eradicate poverty, illiteracy and disease. Fifty years after the end of colonial, the...
African media: 50 year journey from hell to the voice of democracy

African media: 50 year journey from hell to the voice of democracy

When on 18 March this year the Daily Nation, one of Africa’s biggest and most successful independent newspapers, celebrated its 50th anniversary, Charles Onyango...
Africa’s “wind of change” and a 50 year struggle

Africa’s “wind of change” and a 50 year struggle

When UK Prime Minister Harold Macmillan addressed the whites-only South African parliament in February 1960, he could not have known that his remarks would...
Africans seek to halt abuse of disabled persons

Africans seek to halt abuse of disabled persons

Despite treaties, charity and political advocacy, people with disabilities in Africa still struggle to meet their basic needs and their basic rights. Social injustice...
Giving Africa’s displaced people a new lease of life

Giving Africa’s displaced people a new lease of life

It was a departure they never had time to prepare for. Seeking to escape death amidst fighting between the Senegalese army and rebels in...
Access to HIV/AIDS drugs: A crisis in waiting

Access to HIV/AIDS drugs: A crisis in waiting

Years after agreement was reached at the World Trade Organization to allow poor countries to continue to import cheaper generic versions of patented medicines...
In Liberia women follow in president’s footsteps

In Liberia women follow in president’s footsteps

Four years after voters in Liberia, battered by decades of dictatorship, economic ruin and civil war, elected a no-nonsense former banker and UN official,...
Technology: Africa’s way out

Technology: Africa’s way out

At 11 p.m. on 2 January 2008, back from Nairobi, Kenya, an exhausted Ory Okolloh — a Johannesburg-based Kenyan lawyer in her thirties —...
Africa should step up Millennium Development Goals

Africa should step up Millennium Development Goals

Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, Malawi and Mozambique, abolished school fees and brought millions of new primary students...
In Africa ‘the real challenge is governance’

In Africa ‘the real challenge is governance’

In this special interview, one of the UN’s ablest and most experienced diplomats, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for West Africa and the head of...
Africa’s war on coup d’etats

Africa’s war on coup d’etats

Africa is getting tougher on tyrants, as the African Union responses to the upheavals in Guinea, Niger and Madagascar show. But according to many...
Africa and AIDS: Towards success

Africa and AIDS: Towards success

Africa’s battle against HIV/AIDS is not won yet. But there has been some good news recently, including a significant decline in new HIV infections...
Africa’s development: Opening up to broader ownership

Africa’s development: Opening up to broader ownership

As the first decade of the new millennium drew to a close, it was a time for proponents of Africa’s development to take stock....
Africa: Cleaning out armies’ ranks to protect women

Africa: Cleaning out armies’ ranks to protect women

The massacre of nearly 200 opposition demonstrators in Conakry, Guinea, in late September 2009 shocked Africa and the world. Beyond the sheer brutality of...