African leaders will gather again in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, for the 2025 African Union (AU) Summit on 17-18 February. This time it’s different, though. The meeting is taking place amid a different geopolitical context, and challenging socio-economic and security conditions on the continent.  Africa remains the poorest continent globally, with extreme poverty rates exceeding 30 percent in 23 of the world’s 28 poorest countries. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, a US private non-profit research organisation,…

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he won’t attend the G20 Summit in Johannesburg this year, accusing South Africa of “doing very bad things” and “anti-Americanism”. The new US top diplomat repeated President Donald Trump’s false claim that Pretoria was confiscating private property and violating human rights, indicating deteriorating relations between South Africa and the US over various foreign and domestic policy disagreements. South Africa’s policies on China, Russia, Ukraine and Israel are at the centre of the tension.The…

African countries should implement an inclusive energy mix to protect their electricity networks from collapsing whenever they lose their main sources of energy, an energy expert said. Didier Tela, the Association of Power Utilities of Africa (APUA) Director General, has urged the continent’s governments and leaders to resist the pressure to adopt a one-size fits-all approach by dumping conventional energy sources like coal in favour of solar. He called for a just energy transition that considered technical advice and local…

A rural school in northern South Africa has risen from 28% to 98.2 matric pass rate, a turnaround that has made it the pride of the community and one of the best-performing educational institutions in the country. Within three years, Mashooro High School in Bolobedu, outside Tzaneen in the Limpopo Province, transformed itself from one of the worst-performing schools into a centre of excellence.  Situated at Ga-Mokgwathi Village, the school’s matric pass rate rose from an embarrassing 28% in 2021…

US President-elect Donald Trump is set to ignite new trade wars with some other countries, including China. His announcement on social media on 25 November 2024 that he would impose additional tariffs on goods from China, Canada, and Mexico came as no surprise.  The Republican Party leader, elected in November last year following his victory in the US presidential election, declared he would impose an additional 10 or 25 percent tariff on imports from these countries, pushing the global economy…

South African Communist Party (SACP) General Secretary Solly Mapaila has defended the party’s decision to dump the ANC and contest elections independently, saying they sought to protect the revolution rather than act as observers when the Democratic Alliance (DA) has more influence in government than the communist party. He says the SACP wants to “tackle capital directly”, improve the lives of South Africans and strengthen the ANC-led alliance rather than weaken it, as critics claim. Mapaila spoke at the Avalon…

The 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change recently concluded in Baku, Azerbaijan, witnessing two weeks of intense debates among delegates from world countries on how best to save the planet. The conference discussed topics such as climate finance, adaptation measures, and the strategies to support communities hardest hit by climate change.  As expected, the gap in emissions between developed and developing countries was at the heart of the discussions in…

After failing to defend a claim for outstanding payments, the Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison has paid a service provider more than R90 million, including interests. Makanyoga General, a security company previously contracted by the department to render services at government sites, obtained a default judgement in 2023 after taking the government to court over a R75 million payment dispute. This is according to the department’s reply to a parliamentary question by Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Mpumalanga…

North West ANC Deputy Secretary and Education MEC Viola Motsumi has applied for an interdict against ward councillor Obakeng Kgonare and businessman Godfrey Moleko Mooketsi, alleging they defamed and threatened her political career.  In court papers filed before the Mahikeng High Court last week, Motsumi denies threatening to castrate Kgonare and resurrect his mother, saying he fabricated stories about her after she turned down his demands for government tenders.  She has applied for a declaratory order stating that Kgonare and…

China’s top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, recently unveiled a raft of measures to boost economic growth. At the same time, China’s central bank, top securities regulators and financial regulator also announced a raft of monetary stimuli, property market supports and capital market strengthening measures to be implemented in the near future to boost the country’s high-quality economic development. These policy measures include a reserve requirement ratio reduction for banks and a mortgage rate reduction for existing…