By Claire Ngozo

Sewage from the latrines has contaminated water sources in Nsjane, including boreholes and dug-out wells thereby escalating the cholera incidents. / Claire Ngozo/IPS

NSANJE, Malawi, Feb 9 (IPS) – They survived floods and witnessed the horrific scenes of their houses, livestock, household items and gardens being swept away at the end of January. [...]

By Ignatius Banda

The Zambezi River Authority told villagers living downstream on the Zambezi (pictured) to evacuate their homes because of possible flooding. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

BULAWAYO, Feb 8 (IPS) – Sibongile Dube knows the devastation heavy rain can leave in its wake. A villager in the lowveld area of Mberengwa in Zimbabwe’s Midlands province, Dube’s [...]

By Mantoe Phakathi

Many Swazi’s prefer to put their hard-earn money into cooperatives rather than banks. / Zukiswa Zimela/IPS

MBABANE, Feb 8 (IPS) – Nomsa Tsabedze is one of the many people at the Bunye Betfu, Buhle Betfu Credit and Savings Cooperatives waiting to apply for a loan to pay for her children’s school fees.

"Unlike [...]

By Davison Mudzingwa*

Radio Zibonele began broadcasting under the bed of a shipping container truck in 1995. / Davison Mudzingwa/IPS

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb 7 (IPS) – When a financial crisis threatened the existence of Africa’s oldest community station, Bush Radio, an outpouring of sympathy and appeals went viral on social networking sites like Twitter and [...]

By Claire Ngozo
 
LILONGWE, Feb 3 (IPS) – The black market for foreign exchange and fuel is booming in the midst of an acute scarcity in Malawi. The shortage is so severe that even the Consumer Association of Malawi, an influential consumer rights body, has come out in support of the black market.

The queue outside a [...]

By Lewis Mwanangombe

A copper mine in Zambia. When Luanshya’s copper mine closed in 2000 more than 6,000 people lost their jobs, triggering massive poverty. / Blue Salo/Wikicommons

LUSAKA, Jan 31 (IPS) – Zhang Daliu, 46, a carpenter from China never imagined himself in the dreadful confines of a stinking and overcrowded Zambian jail where conditions [...]

By Lewis Mwanangombe

A copper mine in Zambia. When Luanshya’s copper mine closed in 2000 more than 6,000 people lost their jobs, triggering massive poverty. / Blue Salo/Wikicommons

LUSAKA, Jan 31 (IPS) – Zhang Daliu, 46, a carpenter from China never imagined himself in the dreadful confines of a stinking and overcrowded Zambian jail where conditions [...]

By Kristin Palitza

HIV/AIDS has caused a steady increase in the number of orphans in South Africa. / Kristin Palitza/IPS

CAPE TOWN, Jan 27 (IPS) – If there was no HIV/AIDS, South Africa would have 4.4 million more people than today, the size of a major city. This significant slow-down in population growth is causing [...]

By Ignatius Banda

In 2008, bread cost 35 million Zimbabwean dollars and the country began printing large bills like this 100 billion dollar one. / Wikicommons

BULAWAYO, Jan 26 (IPS) – From downtown shops that stock cheap clothing and shoes that fall apart after one wear, to mining concessions in platinum, gold and diamonds – the [...]

By Claire Ngozo

Vice President Joyce Banda (r) and Minister of Gender Reen Kachere (l) at a meeting to condemn the abuse of women by the vendors. / Claire Ngozo/IPS

LILONGWE, Jan 25 (IPS) – A campaign to stop people buying merchandise from street vendors is gaining momentum in Malawi’s main cities of Lilongwe, Blantyre [...]

By Kristin Palitza

A Moringa tree in fruit, near Sprokieswoud in Namiba. Moringa leaves are dubbed a "super food". / Hans Hillewaert/Wikkicommons

CAPE TOWN, Jan 25 (IPS) – When a food crisis hits the continent, African countries tend to look to the international donor community to mobilise aid. But a fast-growing, drought- resistant tree with [...]

By Nasseem Ackbarally

Mauritians are abandoning shopping at dirty and disorganised cooperatives in favour of shopping malls. / Nasseem Ackbarally/IPS

PORT-LOUIS, Jan 21 (IPS) – Amateurism, high prices, mismanagement, and a limited product range have discouraged Inderjeet Rajcoomarsingh, the former chairman of the Mauritius Agricultural Cooperative Federation, from shopping at cooperative stores.

Instead you can find [...]

By Stanley Kwenda

Francis Tachirev, a fruit seller in Zimbabwe lives in fear of the local police confiscating his goods. / Stanley Kwenda/IPS

HARARE, Jan 19 (IPS) – There are some unlikely comparisons between the work lives of Mohammed Bouazizi, the Tunisian fruit seller who sparked the Arab revolution, and Francis Tachirev, a fruit seller in [...]

By Ignatius Banda

Many Zimbabweans have shunned formal employment. / Stanley Kwenda

BULAWAYO, Jan 18 (IPS) – Tinashe Zuze’s story is a typical one of Zimbabwe’s professionals who have shunned formal employment. Instead of working for someone else, Zuze left his job as a bank teller and entered into the world of "wheeling and dealing" [...]

By Mantoe Phakathi

Soon a railway line will link South Africa and Swaziland and add a much-needed boost to the economies of these two countries. / Oxyman/Wikicommons

MBABANE, Jan 17 (IPS) – The 146-kilometre railway line to be established between South Africa and Swaziland will help reduce the cost of doing business between the two countries.

Swazi [...]