The mausoleums of Timbuktu have been destroyed. But most of the manuscripts which constitute the great literary treasure of the desert holy city do still exist. That is no miracle but the result of the patient and brave work of many Malians who scooped the fragile papers and ferried them out in secret. Heading this operation: Abdel Kader Haïdara and Stéphanie Diakité. However, their efforts could come to ...

Among the washer women, carpenters, busy waiters and squabbling children sweltering under the midday sun on this dusty Dakar street an Internet revolution is taking place in the world's first tablet cafe. Next to the workshops, meat stores and barbershops on what could be any bustling street in sub-Saharan Africa, a grey concrete building stands out with a garish sign advertising the Tablette Cafe. "This is ...

Microsoft launched Thursday a campaign aimed at helping 3,000 graduates find information technology jobs in South Africa, where one in four workers is officially unemployed. The software giant will partner with the South African government's job creation fund to train the youths and place them in permanent employment. "We cannot let an entire generation of young people become long-term unemployed," said ...

Belgian Dr Peter Piot and Ugandan Alex Godwin Coutinho were awarded on Sunday the Hideyo Nogucho Prize for Africa in recognition of their achievements respectively in the fields of medical research and health services across the African continent.The awards ceremony was held during an official dinner offered by Japan's Emperor as part of the 5th Tokyo International Conference on Africa's Development (TICAD ...

Hackers cracked into the website of South Africa's police and downloaded information that could leave whistleblowers vulnerable, police and a government data agency said Wednesday. State Information Technology Agency (Sita), which hosts all of the government's websites, said that last week the hackers accessed information relating to crimes posted by some 15,000 whistleblowers and complainants. "Most of the ...

The government of Japan has awarded the Second Hideyo Noguchi Prize for Africa to Dr. Alex Godwin Coutinho of Uganda for his outstanding contributions in the medical services. Dr. Coutinho, a renowned Ugandan physician won the Prize for Medical Services for his pioneering efforts to expand access to life-sparing medicine for people infected with HIV. The Hideyo Noguchi Prize is awarded by the Japanese ...

A fly factory that transforms blood, guts, manure and discarded food into animal feed has walked away with a $100,000 UN-backed innovation prize. The Stellenbosch, South Africa-based initiative uses the prolific egg layers to recycle industry's cast-offs into reusable protein by mimicking nature and harnessing the winged insects, usually regarded as pests. "We've created the first industrial farming ...

The unique healthy pregnancy text messaging (SMS) service reached 100,000 active registrants in March 2013. More than 4 million text messages have been sent to those who signed up for the free healthy pregnancy and safe motherhood information, since the launch late November 2012. The text messaging service sends out timely free healthy pregnancy and safe motherhood information "Now people can have access to ...

Tunisia's highest court failed on Thursday to review, as expected, the jail terms given to two men for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, their lawyer said, creating confusion in a controversial case. "I was surprised to discover that the court has not acted because the demand for an appeal was mysteriously withdrawn," Ahmed Mselmi told AFP. He said he intended to "investigate what could have ...

Both private and state-owned Chinese companies are investing heavily in Africa. Part of this media push into Africa is about winning new friends and influencing the right people. The other part is straightforwardly looking to create new markets for both its technology and content. Sylvain Beletre, Balancing Act’s Broadcast Analyst looks at how the impact of the new Chinese media presence will affect Africa. ...