Tag: Africa:

Johnson Controls Launches Technology Contracting in Africa

Loknath Das

Governments and businesses in Africa are making sizable investments in smart buildings, precincts –including airports, universities – and cities. However, ‘smart’ is not easy to do. To address the growing challenge of planning, integrating and maintaining a multitude of different, highly connected systems, Johnson Controls’ is launching a new offering in the Africa region — it’s called ‘Technology Contracting’. It’s one very few can match. “With technology advances and an explosion in cloud connectivity, a new approach is needed to construct and run smart buildings,” says Archibald Makatini, Regional General…

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Africa buoys French international education as security concerns remain

subhadip

  The latest figures from Campus France show that student mobility from Africa has increased 6.7% in the last five years, driven largely by students from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. “The perception of security after the attacks impacted students still at home more than the students in France” In total, French higher education institutions hosted 133,893 African students in 2015/16 – 43.2% of all international students in the country – up from 126,986 last year. According to Campus France stakeholders, international student visa applications to France took a hit after…

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Rio 2016: ‘Hands off Caster’ trends in South Africa

subhadip

More than 17,000 tweets made the hashtag #HandsOffCaster South Africa’s top trend over the past weekend. It sent a clear message – South Africans were ready to defend their middle-distance runner Caster Semenya from persistent questions over whether she should be excluded from racing in Rio. Semenya was made to undergo gender testing after winning gold at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. She was cleared to compete in 2010 after being sidelined for 11 months while the tests were carried out. The tag #HandsOffCaster appears to date back to…

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‘Let’s get more travel stories on Africa by Africans’

subhadip

This month actor Louise Linton caused a social media storm when an extract of her African gap year memoir was published by the Telegraph and was widely panned online for being a tick list of cliches and stereotypes in the way the west has always liked to portray the continent. On Twitter, #LintonLies, set up by Zambian writer Lydia Ngoma, was trending as people started to pour scorn on Linton’s version of certain events and her take on life there. Think: “close encounters with lions”, “brutal tales of rape and…

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ANC supporters killed as bus overturns in South Africa

subhadip

At least 11 people were killed and 59 more injured when a bus transporting African National Congress (ANC) supporters from an election rally in Port Elizabeth overturned on Sunday, South African emergency services said. The bus rolled off the N1 highway between Ventersburg and Winsburg in the Free State, trapping passengers underneath the vehicle, ER24 paramedics said in a statement. The cause of the accident, after which 21 passengers were in a critical condition, is not yet known, ER24 said. President Jacob Zuma launched the ANC’s manifesto in Port Elizabeth…

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Cambridge University students call for looted bronze cockerel statue to be returned to Africa

subhadip

Students at Cambridge University are calling for a bronze cockerel statue looted in a British colonial expedition to be returned to Africa in a public ceremony. The cockerel – dubbed the “new Cecil Rhodes” by one student, following the row over whether a statue of the colonialist should be taken down at Oxford University – holds pride of place in Jesus College’s dining hall, and reflects the three cockerel’s heads on the college’s official crest. Students say it should be “repatriated” to Nigeria in a ceremony at the country’s royal…

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South Africa: No proper consultation on technology in the classroom

subhadip

An ambitious government plan to flood classrooms with technology was met with many questions and strong criticism during the national congress of the country’s second largest teachers’ union. Basil Manuel, President of the South African Education Union (NAPTOSA)   In its plan, which was developed without proper consultation with the teaching profession, the government intends to provide tablets to all learners, but seems to overlook the necessary professional development programs needed to help teachers use the new technology. “How far removed from the classroom are those so called experts and…

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South Africa: Support grows for status change for temporary educators

subhadip

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has voiced its support for the South African Democratic Teachers’ Union’s demand that educators employed on temporary contracts become permanent employees. This is a significant vote of support as the Congress of South African Trade Unions is that country’s national trade union confederation. High School in South Africa. © UNESCO/Darryl Evans   The South African Democratic Teachers’ Union (SADTU), affiliated to Education International (EI), had urged national public authorities to change their treatment of temporary educators. It said that temporary educators have been…

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