by Stella Mapenzauswa | 11 Aug 2022 | Africa, Economy, Educators' Catalog, Politics
One out of three young Africans is unemployed, and the youth population will double by 2050. How can Africa create jobs for the young and avoid unrest? A man holds a poster marking South Africa’s Youth Day holiday in Soweto, South Africa, 16 June 2020. (AP...
Marshaling official reports and authoritative data, correspondent Stella Mapenzauswa lifts the lid on one of Africa’s biggest challenges – youth unemployment. On a continent as large and diverse as Africa, it can be perilous to generalize across borders, but Mapenzauswa puts her finger on a problem that threatens numerous governments and societies there. Not satisfied with merely identifying the problem, the experienced journalist from southern Africa glimpses a solution in “hustling” – young Africans using whatever skills they have to earn money as entrepreneurs. Some of the best journalism identifies both problems and solutions.
Exercise: Ask your students to identify a critical problem facing their local community, assessing its economic and social impact, and then to list possible solutions and the attendant costs.
by Stella Mapenzauswa | 22 Sep 2021 | Africa, Educators' Catalog, Health and Wellness, Women's rights
In Africa as elsewhere, many schools have shut classes due to COVID-19. With more girls at home, teenage pregnancies have spiked in some nations. A new-born baby in Chiradzulu, southern Malawi, 26 May 2021 (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi) In much of the world, COVID-19 has...
COVID-19 has dominated headlines for the last year and a half. But the public health impact stretches beyond the virus. School closures did not just interrupt learning; they removed an essential form of protection for vulnerable youth. News Decoder correspondent Stella Mapenzauswa reports on the alarming rise in teenage pregnancies across the African continent since March 2020.
Exercise: Ask your students to enumerate some of the unanticipated consequences of the pandemic in their community. How are schools or governments addressing those challenges now?
by Stella Mapenzauswa | 7 Dec 2020 | Africa
Many Africans see religion as a path to prosperity. Self-professed prophets are soliciting church donations that bankroll their own lavish lifestyles. Anointing water from T.B. Joshua’s Synagogue, Church of All Nations in Johannesburg, South Africa, 14 February...
by Stella Mapenzauswa | 4 Mar 2020 | Africa, Europe, Globalization
Britain was once a colonial power in Africa but now lags other nations in trade with the continent. Boris Johnson says he wants to change that. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (C), Laurence Kemball-Cook, CEO of Pavegen Systems (L), and Ciiru Waweru Waithaka, CEO...