Experts push urgent action on Africa’s water and sanitation crises at African Academic Heritage Fair 2026

The Association of African Universities Television (AAU TV), under the auspices of the Association of African Universities (AAU), has held the 2026 edition of the African Academic Heritage Fair (AAHF) in Accra.

The event, organised as part of activities marking African Union Day, brought together university leaders, researchers, students, policymakers, development partners, and youth groups from across the continent.

Held under the theme, “Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation: The Role of Higher Education in Achieving Agenda 2063,” the fair focused on strengthening the role of African universities in addressing water insecurity, sanitation deficits, and climate resilience challenges.

Speaking at the event, the Country Representative for Ghana covering West and Central Africa at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Professor Kehinde Ogbunjobi, raised alarm over the continent’s worsening water and sanitation crisis. Read more

AD1187: Amid gloomy economic outlook, Namibian youth identify unemployment as the country’s most urgent problem

About 70% of Namibia’s 3 million people are under the age of 35 (World Bank, 2026; Itana,  2025). While mining, agriculture, tourism, and other sectors of the economy have recorded  substantial progress since independence in 1990, unemployment – currently estimated at  36.9% – has been a persistent problem (World Bank, 2026). The challenge is especially acute  for youth: According to the most recent labour force survey, conducted in 2023,  unemployment among 15- to 34-year-olds stood at 44.4%, a figure that rises further in  economically marginalised regions as well as if “discouraged workers” are added (Namibia  Statistics Agency, 2023; Ndjavera, 2022; Tendane, Hartman, & Alberts, 2023). A recent survey  by the Active Youth Organization (AYO), a youth-led organisation focused on the United  Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, reinforces these findings, with 85% of young  respondents reporting frustration over unemployment, 72% citing limited access to  education, and 68% expressing concern about inadequate resources (Itana, 2025).  

Both government and nongovernmental actors have invested in youth empowerment.  Alongside local partners such as the AYO, the United Nations Development Programme has  supported initiatives connecting young Namibians to training, funding, and regional networks  (Itana, 2025). The UN recognised Namibia as a “Pathfinder Country” for the Global  Accelerator Programme in 2023, leading to the development of a national roadmap  focused on employment creation, youth entrepreneurship, social-protection expansion, and  economic formalisation (African Peer Review Mechanism, 2025).   Read more

Youth-led enterprises must be at the heart of Africa’s value chain revolution

Addis Ababa, 22 May 2026 – “Africa will not transform itself without its youth, and Africa’s youth will not transform the continent without opportunities.” This was the central message from Ms. Eunice G. Kamwendo, Director of the Economic Commission for Africa’s Subregional Office for Southern Africa, during a pre-Africa Development Impact Forum webinar held on 14 April 2025 on the theme “Unlocking Regional Value Chains: Empowering Youth-Led Enterprises in Africa to Thrive Under AfCFTA“.

Organized by ECA SRO-SA in collaboration with the Southern Africa Youth Forum, the webinar brought together policymakers, private-sector representatives, youth organizations, entrepreneurs and development partners to examine how the African Continental Free Trade Area can become a practical engine for youth entrepreneurship, industrialization and job creation. Read more

Experts discuss overcoming Africa’s challenges at UN forum

Addis Ababa, May 11 (IANS): United Nations (UN) experts and officials have called for new policy approaches that place social inclusion, resilience and regional integration at the heart of Africa’s development strategies to overcome inequalities, youth unemployment and accelerating climate threats.

They made the call at a high-level global policy dialogue, themed “Africa’s Development Pathways in a Fragmenting World,” which was convened by UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, in collaboration with the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on Friday in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. Read more

Africa’s youth are shaping the continent’s climate future

Africa is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, warming faster than the global average and facing disproportionate climate impacts, despite contributing the least to global greenhouse gas emissions. This is particularly evident in the growing pressures that climate change is placing on water resources and systems across the continent. As water underpins agriculture, livelihoods, ecosystems, and energy production, water-related climate impacts are deepening inequalities and threatening sustainable development across Africa. Read more

Junior Achievement (JA) Africa and ExxonMobil Foundation Launch Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) Africa 2.0 to Equip the Next Generation of African Innovators

JA (Junior Achievement) Africa (www.JA-Africa.org), with support from the ExxonMobil Foundation, announces the launch of the 2026 ExxonMobil Foundation STEM Africa Program, an initiative designed to equip young Africans with critical science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) and artificial intelligence (AI) skills.

The program builds on a successful partnership that has already reached more than 10,000 young people across Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, and Nigeria. The 2026 edition, dubbed STEM Africa 2.0, is an initiative that integrates AI learning pathways and aims to equip 4,000 additional students aged 14–17 with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital economy. Read more

AU-SAFGRAD Training on Climate-Smart Irrigation & Greenhouse Design for Agrifood Systems Transformation

The African Union’s Semi-Arid Food Grains Research and Development (AU-SAFGRAD), one of the specialized technical Offices (STOs) in the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment (ARBE), organized a training on Design, Operations and Maintenance (DOM) of Climate smart agricultural technologies for agrifood systems transformation in Africa.

The 10-day intensive training from 31^st March- 9^th April 2026,  was organized in collaboration with the League of Arab States’ Arab Fund for Technical Assistance to African countries (AFTAAC) and l’ Agence Tunisienne de Coopération Technique (ATCT). The Training course adopted a mixed mode of seminar lectures, practical training, and field visits delivered and facilitated by technical and field experts from agricultural research institutes and commercial farms. Read more

Artificial Intelligence: Governance, Peace and Security in Africa

Tomorrow (16 April), the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) will convene its 1339^th session on ‘Artificial Intelligence: Governance, Peace and Security in Africa’. The session will be held at the Ministerial level.

Following opening remarks by Gedion Timothewos Hessebon, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Chairperson of the PSC for April 2026, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the AU Commission will make the introductory statement. The meeting will then receive briefings from Worku Gachena Negera, Director General of Ethiopian Artificial Intelligence Institute, and Samson Itodo, Chairperson of the African Union Advisory Group on Artificial Intelligence. Bernardo Mariano Junior, Assistant Secretary-General, Chief Information Technology Officer, UN Office of Information and Communications Technology (UNOICT) will also make a statement. Read more

Peaceful Dissent or Security Threat? State Responses to Youth-led Protests in Kenya (2023– 2024)

In the period 2023–2024, Kenya witnessed an upsurge in youth-led protests that significantly challenged state legitimacy and governance. This article explores the dilemma in which the state is split between viewing the protests as legitimate expressions of peaceful dissent and perceiving them as threats to national security that necessitate the use of significant force to deter. Using the human security and bottom-up peacebuilding frameworks, it analyses the Kenyan state’s response to recent youth-led protests, examining the impact of securitisation of the protests on peace and stability, and recommending actions that may engender the re-imagining of state-youth engagement for a better Kenya. Through identified practice and policy recommendations, it aims to balance the civic rights of the youth with the security needs of the state. Read more

13th Meeting of the COMESA Ministers Responsible for Gender and Women’s Affairs

16 April 2026, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The 13th Meeting of the COMESA Ministers Responsible for Gender and Women’s Affairs convened in Addis Ababa, bringing together Ministers, senior officials, COMESA institutions, and cooperating partners to advance a results-oriented agenda on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and social development across the region. Read more