The High-Stakes Game: Inside the Rise, Risks, and Rewards of East Africa’s Exploding Sports Betting Industry
Gambling is no longer just a vice whispered about in backrooms; In East Africa, it has gone digital, mobile, and mainstream. With smartphones in hand and sports on their minds, millions of young people, many from rural areas and fueled by poverty and unemployment, are turning sports betting into a booming industry.
Back to the Boma: The Sustainability of Traditional East African Architecture
Many of East Africa’s metropolises are adorned with steel high-rises, concrete shopping centres, and homes with red tile roofs. This is, however, a relatively recent phenomenon, and regionally, traditional architectural styles remain. The beauty and remarkability of traditional East African architecture cannot be over-stated.
TeleHealth Adoption in East Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Digital Healthcare Solutions, Opportunities and Challenges Across East African Jurisdictions
Telehealth has the potential to revolutionise East Africa’s healthcare landscape, with critical gaps in access being bridged and quality of care improved. With the rising cost of illness, rapid population growth, and stark rural-urban healthcare disparities, digital health solutions offer scalable and cost-effective means to improve patient outcomes.
From Soil to Stability: The Future of Smallholder Farming in East Africa
Agriculture in East Africa is more than an economic activity – it is a way of life. Contributing up to 40% of the region's GDP and employing over 80% of its population, it remains the primary livelihood for millions. Agriculture has not only ensured food security for local communities but also driven export revenues and supported agro-based industries.
Hidden in Plain Sight: East Africa’s Battle Against Non-Communicable Diseases
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – the chronic health conditions resulting from complex interactions between genetic predisposition, physiological factors, environmental exposures, and behavioral patterns – have emerged as the most pressing public health challenge of the 21st century. While they account for a staggering 71% of all global deaths annually (approximately 41 million lives lost), nowhere is this crisis more acute than in Sub-Saharan Africa, where NCDs are advancing at an alarming rate.
Rising Currents: How Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam Is Shaping Africa’s Energy Landscape
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), perched on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region, is a monumental feat of hydropower engineering designed to harness the abundant monsoonal precipitation of the Ethiopian Highlands. Envisioned to produce nearly 6,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity annually, GERD promises to revolutionise Ethiopia’s energy infrastructure, propelling industrialisation and electrification on a massive scale. The project’s vast reservoir has ignited intense debate among downstream states, particularly Sudan and Egypt, where anxieties over water allocation and agrarian sustenance loom large.
The Great Migration: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of East Africa’s Labour Expatriation
Labour expatriation has become a defining force in East Africa’s economic story. At its best, labour migration fuels economic growth – remittances sustain households, diaspora investment strengthens industries, and cross-border knowledge transfer enriches both home and host economies. However, the steady outflow of human capital leaves gaps in critical sectors, while many migrant workers face weak labour protections, limited bargaining power, and exploitative work conditions.
Big Data in Urban Planning: Transforming East African Cities
Rapid urbanisation – evident in the growth of cities like Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, and Kampala – poses a special challenge to East Africa’s urban landscape and contributes to the widespread development of informal settlements. This expansion places immense pressure on existing infrastructure, leading to critical gaps in transportation, water, sanitation, and energy provision. These challenges are aggravated by the impacts of climate change, including escalating weather extremes and increasing water scarcity.
Kenya’s Shift in IMF Engagement: Fiscal Freedom or Miscalculation?
Last year, Kenya witnessed widespread protests driven by public discontent over tax hikes, rising living costs, and its government’s economic policies. These demonstrations hinted not-so-subtly at growing frustrations with Kenya’s fiscal management, particularly with its reliance on external debt and the stringent, unforgiving austerity measures linked to International Monetary Fund (IMF) programs.
