The construction industry has enjoyed a relative boom period in many African countries over the past five years. Football stadiums, shopping malls, schools and clinics have all been completed, while social housing schemes have created millions of jobs across Africa as a whole. African firms have won a large proportion of the contracts on offer and the share prices of listed construction companies have risen strongly over the period. The construction and real estate markets are often the first to feel the effects of an economic slowdown, as well as the last to emerge from recession, yet there are few signs of a collapse in investment in most parts of the continent. Reports by Neil Ford and Sarah Rundell. More...

The honeymoon for Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s new president, was cut short not only by the pressing need to get his new administration up and running, but by other rude interruptions such as the economy and labour disputes. Tom Nevin reports. More...

The decades-long row over the impact of gas flaring in the Delta region appears to be taking a decisive turn with lawsuits against the major operators and the imperatives of global warming calling for an immediate change of practice. Khadija Sharif explains. More...