Hasil untuk "History of Africa"

S. Gravel, B. Henn, R. Gutenkunst et al.

R. Guiraud, W. Bosworth, J. Thierry et al.

Nathan Nunn, D. Puga

Masike Malatji

The artificial intelligence (AI) digital divide in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) presents significant disparities in AI access, adoption, and development due to varying levels of infrastructure, education, and policy support. This study investigates the extent of AI readiness among the top SSA countries using the 2024 Government AI Readiness Index, alongside an analysis of AI initiatives to foster inclusivity. A comparative analysis of AI readiness scores highlights disparities across nations, with Mauritius (53.94) and South Africa (52.91) leading, while Zambia (42.58) and Uganda (43.32) lag. Quartile analysis reveals a concentration of AI preparedness among a few nations, suggesting uneven AI development. The study further examines the relationship between AI readiness and economic indicators, identifying instances where AI progress does not strictly correlate with Gross Domestic Product per capita, as seen in Rwanda and Uganda. Using case studies of AI initiatives across SSA, this research contextualises quantitative findings, identifying key strategies contributing to AI inclusivity, including talent development programs, research networks, and policy interventions. The study concludes with recommendations to bridge the AI digital divide, emphasising investments in AI education, localised AI solutions, and cross-country collaborations to accelerate AI adoption in SSA.

Soumia Bentahar

This article argues that So Long a Letter (1979) constructs African female subjectivity as a dialogical self forged through the confessional epistle’s denouncement of colonial and patriarchal forces that have long sought to bend African women’s heads to external and internal orderings of their society. It contends that Bâ carves temporal and narrative spaces for African women by casting a subversive gaze on the interlocking systems of oppression that repress their sense of agency. Through the enabling potential of epistolary writing, the Senegalese writer fashions her heroine into a subjectivity that is neither given nor fixed, but constructed in the shifting positions of friend, wife, mother, widow, and at times Bâ’s own mouthpiece, and through a continuing dialogue with past memories, present dilemmas, and alternative temporalities beyond dominant chrononorms. Drawing on Bakhtinian dialogism, Anzaldúa’s mestiza consciousness, Freeman’s chrononormativity, and Barrett’s affective continuum, this analysis therefore seeks to offer a transdisciplinary investigation into the ways how the novel reimagines African female subjectivity as a dialogic process of becoming emanating from the interstices of epistolary voice, affective temporalities, and the repudiation of colonial and patriarchal chrononormative imperatives. Ultimately, the paper concludes that the novel becomes a canvas onto which Bâ inscribes alternative modes of self-articulation, collective agency, and female futurity for African women.  

Fenwick C. Cooper, Shruti Nath, Andrew T. T. McRae et al.

Ensemble forecasting has proven over the years to be a vital tool for predicting extreme or only partially predictable weather events. In particular life-threatening weather events. Many National Meteorological Services in East Africa do not have the computing resources to enable them to run their local area models in full ensemble mode over the full period of the 2 week medium range. As a result, weather users in these countries are not being given sufficient information about weather risk that is needed to make reliable decisions about taking preventative action. Consequently, society in many parts of the world is not as resilient to weather events as they could be. In this paper we test the performance of our forecast system, cGAN, which is the only high-resolution (10 km) ensemble rainfall product that does real-time, probabilistic correction of global forecasts for East Africa. Compared to existing state-of-the-art AI models, our system offers higher spatial resolution. It is cheap to train/run and requires no additional post-processing. It is run on laptops and can generate many thousands of ensemble members at little computational cost (compared with physical local area models). It is ideally suited to Meteorological Services with limited computational facilities.

Zainab Akhtar, Eunice Jengo, Björn Haßler

This study presents a lightweight, domain-informed AI model for predicting indoor temperatures in naturally ventilated schools and homes in Sub-Saharan Africa. The model extends the Temp-AI-Estimator framework, trained on Tanzanian school data, and evaluated on Nigerian schools and Gambian homes. It achieves robust cross-country performance using only minimal accessible inputs, with mean absolute errors of 1.45°C for Nigerian schools and 0.65°C for Gambian homes. These findings highlight AI's potential for thermal comfort management in resource-constrained environments.

Abdelghani Belgaid, Oumnia Ennaji

Data scarcity in African agriculture hampers machine learning (ML) model performance, limiting innovations in precision agriculture. The Synthetic Agriculture Data for Africa (SAGDA) library, a Python-based open-source toolkit, addresses this gap by generating, augmenting, and validating synthetic agricultural datasets. We present SAGDA's design and development practices, highlighting its core functions: generate, model, augment, validate, visualize, optimize, and simulate, as well as their roles in applications of ML for agriculture. Two use cases are detailed: yield prediction enhanced via data augmentation, and multi-objective NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) fertilizer recommendation. We conclude with future plans for expanding SAGDA's capabilities, underscoring the vital role of open-source, data-driven practices for African agriculture.

Jessica Pidoux, Sofia Kypraiou, Sonia Kgomo et al.

Content moderation and data labelling work has shifted to the Global South, particularly Africa, where workers operate under precarious conditions while remaining invisible to users. This study addresses the gap in understanding the scope of this industry and the working conditions of African content moderation workforce through a participatory approach. We collaborated with a union of content moderators to conduct desk research, deploy a questionnaire (n=81), and gather ethnographic observations across nine months that could answer their social needs. Our findings show that content moderation operations span 43 out of 55 African countries, involving 17 major firms serving predominantly North-American and European clients, with workers facing insecurity and inadequate psychological support. We contribute the first comprehensive map of Africa's content moderation industry, demonstrate a participatory methodology that centers workers' collective actions in documenting their conditions, and apply Honneth's ``struggle for recognition'' framework to understand data workers' demands for professional acknowledgement.

Samson Tesfay, Firayad Ayele, Birhane Fissahaye et al.

BackgroundCoronavirus-19 disease is more severe in patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Low-income countries, such as those in Sub-Saharan Africa, are particularly vulnerable to the virus’ spread. However, there is little information on antiretroviral therapy (ART) use in Ethiopia during the pandemic, particularly in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the level of antiretroviral treatment adherence and associated factors during the COVID-19 pandemic era in public hospitals in Jigjiga City, Somalia, and Eastern Ethiopia.MethodsAn institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 382 randomly selected HIV patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) follow-up in public hospitals in Jigjiga City from March 1–30, 2022. The data was collected through face-to-face interviews and a review of the patient’s record. To explore the relationship between variables, both bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) was utilized, along with a 95% confidence interval, to assess the strength and direction of the association. Statistical significance was considered at p < 0.05.ResultsThe antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence rate of HIV patients was 76.9% (95% CI, 71.9–82). Disclosing HIV status to sexual partners [AOR = 2.3, (95% CI (1.22–4.19)], having communication with health care providers’ [AOR = 3.2, (95% CI (1.57–6.53)], having no history of current substance use [AOR = 2.6, (95% CI (1.45–4.63)], and patients who did not fear COVID-19 infection [AOR = 5.8 (95% CI (11–10.98)] were significantly associated with antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence.ConclusionIn this study, the level of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence was poor in comparison to the expected level. Patients’ adherence status was favorably related to disclosing their status to families and having contact with their healthcare providers, whereas worrying about COVID-19 pandemic infection and current substance use was adversely associated.

Gilles Quentin Hacheme, Akram Zaytar, Girmaw Abebe Tadesse et al.

Cropland mapping can play a vital role in addressing environmental, agricultural, and food security challenges. However, in the context of Africa, practical applications are often hindered by the limited availability of high-resolution cropland maps. Such maps typically require extensive human labeling, thereby creating a scalability bottleneck. To address this, we propose an approach that utilizes unsupervised object clustering to refine existing weak labels, such as those obtained from global cropland maps. The refined labels, in conjunction with sparse human annotations, serve as training data for a semantic segmentation network designed to identify cropland areas. We conduct experiments to demonstrate the benefits of the improved weak labels generated by our method. In a scenario where we train our model with only 33 human-annotated labels, the F_1 score for the cropland category increases from 0.53 to 0.84 when we add the mined negative labels.

Mohammad Kakooei, James Bailie, Markus B. Pettersson et al.

Accurate and consistent mapping of urban and rural areas is crucial for sustainable development, spatial planning, and policy design. It is particularly important in simulating the complex interactions between human activities and natural resources. Existing global urban-rural datasets such as such as GHSL-SMOD, GHS Degree of Urbanisation, and GRUMP are often spatially coarse, methodologically inconsistent, and poorly adapted to heterogeneous regions such as Africa, which limits their usefulness for policy and research. Their coarse grids and rule-based classification methods obscure small or informal settlements, and produce inconsistencies between countries. In this study, we develop a DeepLabV3-based deep learning framework that integrates multi-source data, including Landsat-8 imagery, VIIRS nighttime lights, ESRI Land Use Land Cover (LULC), and GHS-SMOD, to produce a 10m resolution urban-rural map across the African continent from 2016 to 2022. The use of Landsat data also highlights the potential to extend this mapping approach historically, reaching back to the 1990s. The model employs semantic segmentation to capture fine-scale settlement morphology, and its outputs are validated using the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) dataset, which provides independent, survey-based urban-rural labels. The model achieves an overall accuracy of 65% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.47 at the continental scale, outperforming existing global products such as SMOD. The resulting High-Resolution Urban-Rural (HUR) dataset provides an open and reproducible framework for mapping human settlements, enabling more context-aware analyses of Africa's rapidly evolving settlement systems. We release a continent-wide urban-rural dataset covering the period from 2016 to 2022, offering a new source for high-resolution settlement mapping in Africa.

Harry F. Mbacham, Diange M Mosume, Tobias O. Apinjoh et al.

Abstract Background Plasmodium falciparum resistance to intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) continues to spread throughout sub-Saharan Africa. This study assessed the occurrence of microscopic and sub-microscopic P. falciparum parasitaemia, dihydropteroate synthase mutations associated with resistance to SP and maternal anaemia in the Mount Cameroon area. Methods Consenting pregnant women living in semi-rural and semi-urban/urbanized settings were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Socio-demographic, antenatal and clinical data were documented. Microscopic and sub-microscopic parasitaemia were diagnosed using peripheral blood microscopy and nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) respectively. The dhps mutations were genotyped by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The presence of A437G, K540E, and A581G was considered a marker for high-level resistance. Haemoglobin levels and anaemia status were determined. Results Among the women, the prevalence of microscopic and sub-microscopic P. falciparum infection were 7.7% (67/874) and 18.6% (93/500) respectively. Predictors of microscopic infection were younger age (< 21 years) (AOR = 2.89; 95% CI 1.29–6.46) and semi-rural settings (AOR = 2.27; 95% CI 1.31–3.96). Determinants of sub-microscopic infection were the rainy season (AOR, 3.01; 95% CI 1.77–5.13), primigravidity (AOR = 0.45; 95% CI 0.21–0.94) and regular ITN usage (AOR = 0.49; 95% CI 0.27–0.90). Of the145 P. falciparum isolates genotyped, 66.9% (97) carried mutations associated with resistance to SP; 33.8% (49), 0%, 52.4% (76) and 19.3% (28) for A437G, K540E, A581G and A437G + A581G respectively. The A581G mutation was associated with ≥ 3 SP doses evident only among sub-microscopic parasitaemia (P = 0.027) and multigravidae (P = 0.009). Women with microscopic infection were more likely from semi-rural settings (AOR = 7.09; 95% CI 2.59–19.42), to report history of fever (AOR = 2.6; 95% CI 1.07–6.31), to harbour parasites with double resistant mutations (AOR = 6.65; 95% CI 1.85–23.96) and were less likely to have received 2 SP doses (AOR = 0.29; 95% CI 1.07–6.31). Microscopic infection decreased Hb levels more than sub-microscopic infection. Conclusion The occurrence of sub-microscopic P. falciparum parasites resistant to SP and intense malaria transmission poses persistent risk of malaria infection during pregnancy in the area. ITN usage and monitoring spread of resistance are critical.

Tuan Ha Manh, My Le Thi Ai, Anh Nguyen Tuan et al.

Background: Acute respiratory infection (ARI) is the most common disease in children under 5 years. Maternal knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAPs) affect children's morbidity and mortality from acute respiratory infections. The study aimed to assess the mothers’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices in caring for children under five with ARIs and identify associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study interviewed mothers of children under 5 with ARIs. A questionnaire was used to assess the maternal KAPs. Each question was rated on a 5-point Likert scale. The KAPs levels were measured in mean values. Results: A total of 172 mothers were included in the study. Mean item scores for knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding ARIs were 3.8 ± 0.6, 4.2 ± 0.4, and 3.9 ± 0.4, respectively. Only 38.4%, 30.3%, and 47.5% of mothers had good KAPs scores about watching for danger signs, using antibiotics, and giving cough syrups, respectively. Mothers with higher education levels and higher income obtained higher KAPs scores than their counterparts (4.1 ± 0.4 vs. 3.5 ± 0.7) (p = 0.01), (4.2 ± 0.4 vs. 3.7 ± 0.4) (p = 0.03), respectively. Factors affecting maternal KAPs were education level, occupation, and family income (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Although maternal KAPs regarding ARIs are generally good, some inappropriate issues in the mother’s practices are reported in this study. The study also identifies factors affecting maternal KAPs. These findings may be necessary for interventions toward improving the quality of care for children with acute respiratory infections.

Luis M. A Bettencourt, Nicholas Marchio

Sustainable development is an imperative worldwide but metrics and data on poverty and quality of life have remained too coarse and abstract to characterize challenges adequately and guide practical progress. Nowhere is this challenge greater than in Africa where we still know relatively little about the systematic spatial details and scope of development. Here, we leverage a complete, high-precision dataset of building footprints to identify infrastructure deficits and infer informal settlements down to the street level everywhere in sub-Saharan Africa. We identify a general pattern of informality with urbanized areas showing, on average, greater access to infrastructure and services than rural and periurban areas, each characterized by a statistically consistent spectrum of uneven local development. We show that our physical measures of informality are systematically associated with many indicators of low human development, and that these form a single principal component predicted by specific functional changes of the built environment. These results demonstrate that the localization of sustainable development is possible down to the street level at a continental scale and provide a general distributed strategy for accelerating progress in infrastructure and service expansion that taps local innovations in a way that is equitable and context appropriate.

Matthew Hines, Gregory Glatzer, Shreya Ghosh et al.

The interaction between elephants and their environment has profound implications for both ecology and conservation strategies. This study presents an analytical approach to decipher the intricate patterns of elephant movement in Sub-Saharan Africa, concentrating on key ecological drivers such as seasonal variations and rainfall patterns. Despite the complexities surrounding these influential factors, our analysis provides a holistic view of elephant migratory behavior in the context of the dynamic African landscape. Our comprehensive approach enables us to predict the potential impact of these ecological determinants on elephant migration, a critical step in establishing informed conservation strategies. This projection is particularly crucial given the impacts of global climate change on seasonal and rainfall patterns, which could substantially influence elephant movements in the future. The findings of our work aim to not only advance the understanding of movement ecology but also foster a sustainable coexistence of humans and elephants in Sub-Saharan Africa. By predicting potential elephant routes, our work can inform strategies to minimize human-elephant conflict, effectively manage land use, and enhance anti-poaching efforts. This research underscores the importance of integrating movement ecology and climatic variables for effective wildlife management and conservation planning.

Sisay Awgichew, Enguday Ademe

This study examined the role of history education for nation building in Ethiopia, Germany Rwanda, South Africa, Switzerland, and USA using a comparative research method. Student textbooks and syllabi were the main data sources. Document review was the principal data-gathering tool and the data was analysed qualitatively. Findings revealed that there are some aim and learning objectives embedded in the textbooks and syllabi to cultivate unity and patriotism, and promote democratic values that facilitate nation building. Except in the context of Rwanda and USA, in all countries national history textbooks gave more emphasis to regional and global topics than national topics. In Rwanda, South Africa, and Ethiopia centrally prescribed one-size-fits-all contents focused on national narratives that appear to intentionally overlook ethnic-narratives. After the historic genocide in Rwanda and apartheid in South Africa, history textbooks focused on peace and reconciliation, and settlement of ethnic and race-based clashes. In the United States, Switzerland, and Germany, the instructional materials’ preparation process is decentralized to regional states or cantons. Except in South Africa, virtually in all countries, history is a compulsory subject. In Ethiopia, South Africa, and Switzerland history is taught as a separate subject, where as in the remaining countries it is taught as a combined social studies subject. Vis-à-vis the pedagogy, learner-centred methods and continuous assessment techniques appeared in the curricula often. The main lessons for Ethiopia include the need to incorporate more contents that help to ensure peace and national understanding, settle ethnic-based clashes, and facilitate national integration and the nation-building process.

KHAYRULLIN Timur Radikovich

The article presents the results of a historiographical review of foreign scientific literature on the nature of Islamism in the 21st century. An important role in the foreign discourse of the 21st century was played by the study of the radical component in Islamism, which has various modifications and shades. In addition to studying radicalism and studying the issue of the social base of Islamism, special attention is paid to its political features and definition. The events of the Arab Spring led to speculation about another «decline of Islamism». According to foreign scholars, Islamism failed to achieve the main goal of building an Islamic state in the shortest possible time and underwent revision, resulting in more liberal post–Islamist ideas. There is an attempt to systematize the accumulated knowledge about Islamist ideology.

Astawus Alemayehu, Abebaw Demissie, Mohammed Yusuf et al.

Background Vaccines are an effective and ideal solution that can reduce the burden of disease worldwide. Although vaccines are the most effective way to prevent infectious diseases. Anti-vaccine conspiracy theories impair vaccination acceptance intentions. Several studies were conducted in East Africa. However, these studies had reported inconsistent findings. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to pool the prevalence of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and identify its determinants. Methods PubMed, Google Scholar, and GLOBAL HEALTH databases were used to retrieve previously published studies. All papers published in the English language up to February 28, 2022 were included. The result was written and reported according to the PRISMA updated guideline. A random-effect model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence and effect sizes. Heterogeneity was assessed using I 2 test statistics. Publication bias was assessed using funnel plot and egger’s test statistics. Statistical tests result at P-value<0.05 were declared as having significance. Result: A total of 25 Cross-sectional studies with a total sample size of 33,044 were included in this study. The pooled prevalence of Covid-19 vaccine acceptance was 60.2%, (95%CI: 52.8- 67.3). Egger’s test statistics (P = 0.003) showed there is a significant publication bias. Attending above secondary school (AOR: 2.1, 95%CI: 1.37, 2.96), having good knowledge about the vaccine (AOR: 2.1, 95%CI: 1.6, 2.8), having a positive attitude towards vaccine (AOR: 3.8, 95%CI: 2.3, 6.2), history of COVID-19 infection (AOR: 2.7, 95%CI: 1.6, 4.7) and being male (AOR: 1.8, 95%CI: 1.2, 2.7) were found to have a significant association with COVID-19 vaccine acceptance. Conclusion The COVID-19 vaccination acceptance rate was good, but it could be improved. The findings could help governments to figure out the best way to carry out COVID-19 mass vaccination campaigns. There is a lack of data in most countries. Therefore, we suggest more studies be conducted in the future.

Masayuki Nakahata

The first solar neutrino experiment led by Raymond Davis Jr. showed a deficit of neutrinos relative to the solar model prediction, referred to as the "solar neutrino problem" since the 1970s. The Kamiokande experiment led by Masatoshi Koshiba successfully observed solar neutrinos, as first reported in 1989. The observed flux of solar neutrinos was almost half the prediction and confirmed the solar neutrino problem. This problem was not resolved for some time due to possible uncertainties in the solar model. In 2001, it was discovered that the solar neutrino problem is due to neutrino oscillations by comparing the Super-Kamiokande and Sudbury Neutrino Observatory results, which was the first model-independent comparison. Detailed studies of solar neutrino oscillations have since been performed, and the results of solar neutrino experiments are consistent with solar model predictions when the effect of neutrino oscillations are taken into account. In this article, the history of solar neutrino observations is reviewed with the contributions of Kamiokande and Super-Kamiokande detailed.