East Africa hit by drought

climate change news: "The long rains, one of two wet seasons that quench the thirst of the East African region, failed this year for the second time in a row. Lack of water, withering crops and starving cattle plunged Somalia, Ethiopia and parts of Kenya into a food crisis that the countries are not prepared for.

Humanitarian assistance has helped and will be needed well into 2018. But in war-affected Somalia and South Sudan famine has emerged; in Ethiopia aid money is running short after repeated droughts; and in Kenya the shortage of resources is giving rise to land conflicts."

You shall board public transport for free - Nana Addo assures senior citizens

YEN.COM.GH: "- Government has put out steps to reward all senior citizens in the country

- This will see such persons given free passes for public transportation

- Click here for the latest stories in Ghana

Government says it stays committed to ensuring that all senior citizens in the country are made to live in the comfort they so deserve."

Western societies steal from Africa

Global Justice Now: " “There’s such a powerful narrative in Western societies that Africa is poor and that it needs our help. This research shows that what African countries really need is for the rest of the world to stop systematically looting them.  While the form of colonial plunder may have changed over time, its basic nature remains unchanged.”
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Americans don't know there are 96 concurrent US military missions in Africa

The New Yorker: "At the moment, seventeen hundred members of the Special Forces and other military personnel are undertaking ninety-six missions in twenty-one countries, and the details of most are unknown to Americans. "

Humans growing by 190,000 per day

Africa Science News: "Environmental summits keep calling for actions which governments adopt or not. There were many of those summits, the last one in Paris. But all the delegates keep discussing the wrong issues. We are facing the fact that there will be seven and, in the nearby future, even eleven billion potential car owners in the world.
A substantial part of this population surplus of four billion people will exacerbate the present problems of pollution and migration. As long as environmental summits ignore the fact that the world population grows with about 70 million people each year – that is 190.000 people on a daily basis – , we will be fighting a running battle with every environmental protection measure. At first sight, those measures may leave a good impression, but everybody who takes the effort of thinking a little bit longer will understand that they should be considered as mere window dressing, less than an treatment of symptoms."

Fortunately birth rates are falling where energy footprint is biggest. We can accelerate this by providing the following.

• car-free cities
• education for all
• good health-care 

Lagos choked by motor traffic -- but writer blames pedestrians!

BusinessDay: "While these limitations are real, my submission is that, Lagos roads and highways are too accessible to all manners of pedestrians. Therefore, it is imperative that government prevents unwanted users from major roads and highways, especially cart pushers, street hawkers/traders and okada riders who create illegal bus stops on every inch of major roads and highways."

Exploitation of Africa means #IslamicState will flourish

GRAPHIC: Colonial control over Africa in 1914 pic.twitter.com/AnYDg9Wr60

— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) February 20, 2017

Western nations have plundered Africa for hundreds of years. This has created a deep abiding anger which will fuel the Islamic State for a long time.

Full speed ahead on paving Africa

Scrapping Nigerian superhighway buffer isn’t enough, say conservation groups: "The six-lane superhighway, which would connect the inland cities of Katsina Ala and Ikom with the port of Calabar, is seen by proponents as vital to Cross River state’s economy.

“We need to open the horizon to get teeming young people employed,” said Ben Ayade, the state’s governor, in a speech at a groundbreaking ceremony for the project in 2015.

“It became imperative that we reconstruct a new means of production,” of which the superhighway would be a critical component, Ayade said."

Chart: Public Transport in African Cities Often Unaffordable

The Data Blog: "The typical household in many African cities cannot afford public transport fares. According to a new report, public transport in Sub-Saharan Africa's major cities is dominated by informal minibuses, and is expensive relative to household budgets making it largely unaffordable on a daily basis, especially for the poorest.
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