After a series of field trips to the Horn of Africa region conducted by the Brenthurst Foundation over several years, most recently in Somaliland in June 2011, the Foundation made a documentary film to tie-in with the publication 'African Game Changer? The Consequences of Somaliland’s International (Non) Recognition'. The film is based on interviews conducted in Somaliland in June 2011. It explores the issue of recognition/non-recognition through the eyes of Somalilanders, as well as the social and economic challenges they face in their daily lives.

Severe malaria threatens tens of millions of lives across the globe. Up to a million children, most in Africa, succumb to it each year. The survivors risk life-long neurological deficit and other serious problems. Accurate diagnosis and injectable treatment are urgently needed to deal with the condition. Yet, children with signs of severe malaria often reside in remote locations. Professor Karim Hirji of Muhimbili University in Tanzania describes the significance of his own research.

Uganda's Makerere reflects the crisis facing many African universities – how to fund higher education amid rising demand for places and concerns about falling academic standards, argues a piece on The Guardian's Poverty Matters blog.

With the highest rate of human trafficking in East and Central Africa, several non-governmental organisations in Kenya are now under investigation by INTERPOL. The trail of corruption may also reveal human trafficker’s collusion with Kenyan authorities including the police and intelligence, as well as the judiciary.

Guest blogger Andy Kristian, a US based Ugandan photographer, writes that Africa is on the brink of losing her land. The telescopes of several countries and corporations are on Africa, which until recently still possessed vast areas of arable and virgin land. This shift is due to rising food prices, climate change and massive populations in Asia, particularly, China, Arab Countries such as Egypt and Kuwait, and India.

Public spending on education in Africa has been increasing annually according to a new report, but how is the money distributed? A report examined by The Guardian reveals that in some countries in Africa development aid accounts for 50% of government education budgets.

While mobile phones are ubiquitous in Africa, the internet has nothing like the same penetration and is almost non-existent in rural areas. Ken Banks, founder of Kiwanja.net, advocates going back to basics – using mobile phones rather than the internet, and pretty basic phones at that.

E-applications and value-added services will see Africa emerge as a major contact centre hub, with significant concentrations in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius and South Africa. This was one of the micro-trend findings that emerged at a Frost & Sullivan congress, which took place in Cape Town.

Jean-Paul Pougala answers questions from readers concerning his article 'The Lies of the Western war against Libya', which was translated into forty languages.

The Mental Health and Poverty Project (MHaPP) is a 5- year study of mental health policy development and implementation in four African countries: Ghana, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. Following broad situation analyses in each of the four countries, three areas of intervention were identified.

Pulling the strings from behind the scenes...

Non-governmental organisation Defense of Foreigners has accused Libya's new authorities of jailing and torturing some 300 foreigners, mostly Tuaregs from Mali and Niger, suspected of being backers of ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

The documentary film 'The Axe and the Tree: Zimbabwe’s Legacy of Political Violence' screened in Johannesburg at The Bioscope on Thursday 8 September at 6:30pm, followed by a Q&A with the director, Rumbi Katedza. More screenings are scheduled during the Tri Continental Film Festival.

The IOM office in South Africa is backing the production of a feature film which seeks to explore the complex themes of migration, xenophobia, identity, fear and reconciliation. The movie titled 'Man on Ground' is centred on Ade, a successful Nigerian banker based in the UK and Femi, his estranged brother who lives and works in South Africa.

The world’s first solar-powered netbook, Samsung Electronics’ NC215S laptop, is the ideal product for a continent where electricity access can be limited, but sunlight is never in short supply. The solar-charging capability means that it is also the first genuine environment-friendly product of its kind, with a lower carbon footprint than any other laptop on the market.

Remittances from Africans abroad are booming, growing fourfold in the past 20 years and shrugging off the global financial crisis, to total $40 billion a year. 'Tapping into this money with so-called diaspora bonds could help provide Africa with the equipment and services it needs for long-term growth and poverty reduction,' World Bank policymakers Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Dilip Ratha wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times.

An international pressure group is to be launched in Britain to tackle the rise in homophobic violence around the world, with a focus on Africa and the Middle East. The UK's three main political parties have declared their support for Kaleidoscope, an independent group campaigning for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, after a series of high-profile attacks on sexual minorities in developing countries.

The court trying Hosni Mubarak over the killing of protesters in January summoned the head of Egypt's ruling military council and other top officials to give testimony that could prove decisive in determining the fate of the ousted president.

Durban should not be the burial ground for the Kyoto Protocol, says Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, about his expectations from the 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change happening in his hometown in South Africa later this year.

An infographic by the Global Sociology Blog details the slum population in urban Africa by country.