By Laurent Bossard. The attacks that took place in Paris on 7, 8 and 9 January are part of a global, complex, diffuse and multi-faceted threat of which the bloodiest zones of action are presently in the Middle East and Africa, including within the confines of the Maghreb and the Sahel. The emergence of Salafist Jihadism in this area dates back to the early 2000s. When the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) moved further south and jihadists arrived from Afghanistan and Pakistan following the events of 11 September 2001, terrorist activities quickly merged with the trafficking of weapons, drugs, cigarettes and human beings. More...

The higher education sector is at risk due to lack of funding, the University of Witwatersrand said on Wednesday.
"The amount of funding available for students wanting to pursue tertiary education is inadequate and well below that of international norms in similar developing countries," vice chancellor and principal, Professor Adam Habib said in a statement. More...

By Collins Mabinda. In the past few months, several African universities have churned out hundreds of thousands of graduates. Although there are scant statistics on the exact number of college and university students in Africa, it is thought to be between 3 and 5 million. And yet, even as the number of graduates from African universities increases, employers still insist that there is a shortage of key skills that employers are looking for. More...