The planting of so-called “fertilizer trees,” indigenous tree species that draw nitrogen from the air and replenish the soil, has significantly improved the crop yields in five African nations over the last two decades, researchers say.

Since the 1980s, when the World Agroforestry (more…)

The first part of this blog on South Africa looked at the country’s changing attitude to energy and the move to diversify its portfolio of energy generation technologies. Part 2 looks at the South African economy and the government’s drive to expand and diversify. (more…)

A UK company called Eight19 has announced a solution called IndiGo, a pay-as-you-go, personal electricity system for the developing world. The system combines solar energy and mobile phone technology and allows users to light their homes and charge mobile phones as a service, paid for using (more…)

The World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, or MIGA, has allocated $110 million to Kenya to finance increased production of geothermal power.

The World Bank released a statement commenting, “MIGA has increased its coverage against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, and war and civil (more…)

South Africa’s Eskom has secured a $100 million credit facility from French development finance group Agence Française de Développement for financing a wind power project.

The loan will be used to finance Eskom’s 100-megawatt Sere Wind Project in Vredendal in South (more…)

South Africa is changing rapidly, and the ANC government of Jacob Zuma has big plans. This blog will examine the changing picture in terms of its energy supply and its plans to become a primary supplier to the growing global fuel cell industry.

The South African economy is closely tied to the (more…)

As global agricultural companies turn to Africa, a U.S. firm is planning a massive oil palm plantation in Cameroon that it says will benefit local villagers. But critics argue that the project would destroy some of the key remaining forests in the West African nation and threaten species-rich reserves. (more…)

Ubbink East Africa has built a $2.7 million solar panel factory in Naivasha, Kenya. Ubbink East Africa Managing Director Haijo Kuper said during the official opening ceremony that the company will be producing 100 solar panels per day at the new facility, noting, “Our prices are at par with our (more…)

Seeking to secure reliable supplies of rare earths for the country’s growing industrial demand, South Korea is negotiating to open concessions in South African mines.

South Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy said that the nation is seeking a formal agreement to (more…)

Plastic bottles – they are an environmental disaster. They seem to be everywhere and although they have become, alongside plastic bags, much-maligned icons of mindless consumerism, they still are ubiquitous.

But some organizations in Africa have decided to (more…)