Covering Africa in an engaging way

Readers can now look forward to original and exclusive Africa content from local journalists.

Coverage will be balanced to ensure that readers are informed of positive and negative developments [Reuters].

We have revamped our Africa page and it now boasts of original, exclusive content from local journalists to give readers a rich and unique user experience.

There are already news organisations with web pages catering to Africa, but we want to do more and be better than others. And there is no better time to do this than now. 

Africa continues to attract global media attention as it is the continent with the fastest-growing economies, making it a good investment destination for both advanced and emerging economies. 

According to the International Monetary Fund, more than two-thirds of the countries in sub-Saharan Africa – which will be the focus of our coverage (see North Africa coverage here) – have enjoyed 10 or more years of uninterrupted economic growth.

This impressive growth, however, has not solved major problems. Poverty and unemployment, for example, are widespread. 

We will expand our coverage to highlight all these challenges, but the coverage will be balanced. We want to change the traditional way of reporting Africa which tends to focus only on stories of disaster, tribal and political conflict, disease, corruption, illiteracy and poverty. We will bring you stories from under-reported parts of Africa, and with our new page, you will have the chance to tell us – via social media – the stories you think we should cover.

One of our major goals is to generate content with a demonstrable relevance to the people who use our website.

Informed opinion

To give readers a full picture of what is happening on the continent, we will also engage with and involve African opinion and thought leaders, academics and scholars who will write informed opinion and commentaries on major events and developments.

The stories we have on the new page make interesting reading. We have gone to Ghana, one of Africa’s success stories, and written a piece about the West African nation’s successful but unpopular health insurance scheme. It has become a model for some countries in the region, but it is still plagued by problems of long queues.

From Uganda, we have a piece that looks at cabinet ministers who have made it a habit to sleep through important speeches, such as the annual state-of-the-nation address and the budget speech. 

The images of the culprits are here for all to see. Ugandans are not happy. Politicians earn hefty salaries and lead opulent lifestyles but they do not seem to be taking their work seriously.

There is plenty more to read and watch – we have opinions, photo galleries and shows. We have also brought you an interview with one of the continent’s foremost writers, Wole Soyinka. All captivating content that will make your time on this page thoroughly enjoyable. 

We treasure feedback, and we want to hear what you have to say about the content we have delivered and will continue to deliver. Tweet or use Facebook to send messages to us using #AJAfrica. We look forward to hearing from you and selected feedback will be featured here.


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