Category: Conservation

Africa’s plants: a database project has recorded 65,000 species – and is still growing

Mr Mohammed

First Published: July 10, 2025 4.00pm SAST,The Conservation Author: Cyrille Chatelain, Scientist, Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques de Genève (CJBG) The African Plant Database lists 65,000 species of flowering plants, ferns and conifers found on the African continent and Madagascar. Since 2006, every plant species ever documented in Africa and Madagascar has been included in the massive online database, with about 200 new species added every year. Cyrille Chatelain is a curator at the Geneva Botanical Garden in Switzerland. He’s researched plants in Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar and north Africa and manages the plant database. Here…

All set for Bindira Chugu(Traditional Culinary Art Festival) 2025

Mr Mohammed

Report: Mohammed A.Abu The second edition of Bidira Chugu (culinary art festival) and exhibition is due shortly to take off in Ghana’s Northern Regional capital of Tamale. This year’s edition is scheduled to take place from October 17th and 18th,2025 under the theme, “Reclaiming Our Food, Restoring Our Identity,” focusing on indigenous foods and their role in a sustainable future. Symposium and Exhibition For the symposium component of the event, one hundred and fifty (150) participants, 6 speakers, and 20 exhibitors are expected.  Partners The key partners to the event…

All Set for EARLYFEST 2025: Africa’s Festival for Children, Innovation and Sustainability

Mr Mohammed

The TERIA Foundation has announced the 5th edition of EARLYFEST 2025, Africa’s leading festival dedicated to children, innovation, and sustainability. This was contained in an official statement issued in Accra, Saturday.The festival, the statement said, will take place on 21st–22nd November 2025 at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park, Accra, Ghana. EARLYFEST 2025, it disclosed, will bring together children, educators, innovators,organizations, and businesses across Africa to celebrate creativity, promote sustainable solutions, and highlight the importance of early childhood development. “EARLYFEST is more than a festival. It is a movement to reimagine…

Celebrating Women in Waste: Samu Mkhize on Building Inclusive Recycling Systems

Mr Mohammed

This  Women’s Month, we’re celebrating the women who are transforming Africa’s waste and recycling sector from the inside out. One of them is Samu Mkhize, Collections & Training Manager at Petco Producer Responsibility Organisation, who works across South Africa to build inclusive, effective recycling systems. From empowering women-led enterprises to designing national training programmes, Samu is proving that passion, innovation, and purpose are key drivers of change. We spoke to her about the challenges, the opportunities, and what inspires her in this work. Q: What are the key operational challenges in scaling…

Attaining Food Security and Combatting Global Warming: Scientists Eye Africa’s Baobab and Marula

Mr Mohammed

Report: Mohammed A. Abu Amidst food security concerns and the disastrous global warming that constitutes an existential threat to humanity today, scientific researchers posit that two iconic trees, the African baobab (Adansonia digitata) and Marula (Sclerocarya birrea) might be more important for food security and preventing disastrous global warming than any other species growing on our home planet. Baobab and marula, they say could be grown sparsely on vast areas without changing the existing land-use patterns. Their Unique Selling Points They can become large trees in arid conditions, where nothing…

First Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hackathon Showcases Innovation in Islamic Finance

Mr Mohammed

ALGIERS, Algeria, May 27, 2025/ — The Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) (www.IsDBInstitute.org) has announced the winners of the first-of-its-kind Artificial Intelligence (AI) Hackathon in Islamic Finance, organized to showcase the potential of AI-powered tools to support the progress of the global Islamic financial industry. The awards were announced and presented to the winners during the 19th IsDB Global Forum on Islamic Finance on 20 May 2025 in Algiers, Algeria, on the sidelines of the IsDB Group Annual Meetings. As the Islamic finance industry evolves to meet the demands of…

Maximizing Gold Mining Benefits and the GoldBod Idea in Ghana

Mr Mohammed

Interview Story: By Mohammed A.Abu Hari Iyer, Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Managing Director(MD) of the Sakthi Tading Group, a prominent international gold trade industry player, has noted that, a strict eco-friendly or sustainable mining regime is crucial for Ghana to address the significant socio-ecological costs of gold mining, such as deforestation, water pollution, and soil degradation. By adopting sustainable practices, Mr. Iyer intimates, Ghana can protect the environment, ensure long-term economic sustainability, and improve community welfare. A focus on responsible mining he contends, will enhance global competitiveness, attract ethical market…

Morocco Earmarks One Million Hectares of Land for the Construction of Green Hydrogen Projects and Real Estate

Mr Mohammed

Morocco has pledged to award one million hectares of land to facilitate the construction of its green hydrogen projects. Furthermore, the government plans to allocate this vast land to develop real estate projects as part of its “Morocco Offer” initiative. Prime Minister Aziz Akhannouch highlighted that this enormous land allocation will support integrated green hydrogen projects, enhancing Morocco’s competitiveness in the global market. In addition to the land allocation, the government is implementing measures to streamline the real estate sector. This includes simplifying administrative procedures, reducing required documents, and establishing regional…

World’s oldest termite mounds discovered in South Africa – and they’ve been storing precious carbon for thousands of years

Mr Mohammed

First Published June,16,The Conversation The landscape along the Buffels River in South Africa’s Namaqualand region is dotted with thousands of sandy mounds that occupy about 20% of the surface area. These heuweltjies, as the locals call them (the word means “little hills” in Afrikaans), are termite mounds, inhabited by an underground network of tunnels and nests of the southern harvester termite, Microhodotermes viator. I’m part of a group of earth scientists who, in 2021, set out to study why the groundwater in the area, around 530km from Cape Town, is saline. The groundwater salinity seemed…

Ghanaian and Senegalese entrepreneurs to benefit from African Development Bank Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEI MDTF) grant for green jobs in natural resources

Mr Mohammed

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, April 8, 2024/ — The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org), through its Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEI MDTF) (https://apo-opa.co/3J81Cnx), has approved a $999,000 grant to support an initiative to foster green jobs for women, youth and people with disabilities. The Strengthening Women, Youth and People with Disabilities’ Micro-Entrepreneurship for Green Jobs (https://apo-opa.co/3U9MFqb) in Natural Resources (MicroGREEN) project aims to foster inclusive economic growth by providing up to 500 green job opportunities and business development services to marginalized groups in Ghana and Senegal. The target reach group…