Bird Stories

Nairobi, Kenya | BIRD AGENCY | Kenya, the most famous country in Eastern Africa, was named the world’s leading Safari destination for 2021 by the World Travel Awards for the seventh year in a row. With over 50 national parks and game reserves, the country’s vast wildlife preserves have remained a competitive destination among domestic and international tourists.

A typical workday in the life of Gbenga Adeku starts with sorting through materials in his studio, digitally sketching concepts, and collaborating with various contract workers to make his ideas a reality. Based in Osun State, Nigeria, this plastic artist is motivated to transform plastic waste into something valuable.

At only 13 years old, Cleopatra Wanjiku's worst fears were confirmed when a hospital nurse informed her that she had tested positive for HIV. Before the diagnosis, her classmates had often insinuated that her mother, who died when she was eight, had succumbed to the virus. But Wanjiku paid no heed; after all, her grandmother continuously reassured her that her mother died from 'chest pains.'

Nigeria's former minister of finance, now World Trade Organisation (WTO) DG Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu and Nigerian media mogul Mo Abudu are the three Africans who made it to the Forbes' annual list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women.

Construction of the world’s largest telescopes has officially begun in South Africa and Australia, with 2028 as the completion date. The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project will see an area of about 33,000m² share data from space that the gigantic complex telescopes will collect.

The UN is seeking global consensus on taxing fossil fuel companies' windfall profits to fill Africa's energy transition and adaptation kitty. Ambitious new efforts are also underway to lower the carbon footprint in cement manufacturing in Africa on the back of population growth fueling demand for housing, schools and roads.

Kenyan e-mobility firm BasiGo recently secured $6.6 million (~R116 million) in new funding to fast-track commercial delivery of locally-assembled electric buses in the country, just the latest in a string of announcements that suggest that change is coming to African mobility.

Lorraine Sithole credits her passion for books to a family tradition instilled in her by her grandmother decades ago. This meant that early childhood literary success was celebrated and reinforced.

Africa’s carbon-intensive economies are racing to develop just energy transition plans as more green funding commitments begin to flow in.

Angelique Kidjo, Grammy Award Winning Artist, Batonga Co-Founder and UNICEF Goodwill AmbassadorMoky Makura, Executive Director, Africa No Filter

With the landmark “loss and damage” agenda adapted into the UN climate talks, Africa’s frontline negotiators now want a payment plan to feature in the final resolutions of the discussions.

Until recently, young children have been saving small amounts of cash on piggy banks or in physical banks through junior accounts that only allowed limited withdrawals at scheduled times of the year.

A chance encounter at the fish store where he worked led Franco Ndiba to drop his fillet knife for a paintbrush. Today, the artist is making international waves in the contemporary art scene.

In 2019, Obi Asika established the Iba Ajie Resource Center in Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria. The centre houses a tech hub, an academy, an audio-visual space, a museum, a library, a co-working space, and a restaurant.

As the continental men’s Africa Cup of Nations – a 65-year-old biannual event first held in Khartoum in 1957 – got underway, many eyes were firmly fixed on one stand-out referee, Mukansanga Salima. Mukansanga is the first-ever woman to officiate in the games and is one of 24 centre referees among the 63 official umpiring at CAN 2021.

In April, storms lashed Durban, claiming 460 lives and displacing 6 000 people. More than 8 000 houses, many informal and built on unstable foundations, slid down the city’s hills as the rains poured. Climate reports say these were among the worst weather events on the continent this year.

It was the first day of the much-anticipated Egoras Trade Fair in Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria. The company said it would sell refurbished electronics at steep discounts, up to 70% off. At different corners of the mini-football field, where the items were on display. The company printed about 1,500 tickets for the event. There was one problem: more than 5,000 people showed up.

In a life-sized compound located in the heart of the marbled hall of the Doudou Ndiaye Coumba Rose National Grand Theatre, Alioune Diagne offers a retrospective of Senegal’s history.

Ride-hailing services are finding success in Africa thanks to rapid smartphone adoption, reliable internet connection, mobile payments services and a drastic shift in consumer needs on the continent that values convenience.

In 2008, Sandras Phiri and his wife decided to up sticks and move overseas to take advantage of larger economies and more opportunities than they had at home. At first, they looked at Europe.

Kenya’s tech startup ecosystem — among the hottest on the continent — is looking to attract even more overseas interest as the country launches an International Financial Centre and giant tech firms renew their interest in East Africa’s “Silicon Savannah”.

Dr Chinonso Fidelis Egemba, 31, was in his fourth year at Nnamdi Azikiwe University when he and some of his medical student colleagues helped diagnose a stroke patient.

Sylvia Gathoni‘s passion has turned into a career, allowing her to travel the world. It’s also given her a platform – one she’s using to highlight issues of sexism and racism in e-sports.