Editor's note

In the 19th and 20th centuries, archaeologists were rock stars. They headed to Africa from Europe and the US, making incredible discoveries and capturing the public’s imagination. But, Julien Benoit points out, these professionals were often preceded by amateurs who gathered fossils for cultural and religious reasons. Their stories should be told to honour their findings and to motivate a new generation of African fossil hunters.

South Africa has been rocked by a series of femicides. How can the brutal deaths of women at the hands of their intimate partners be stopped? Most interventions to combat violence tend to focus on women. But so far they’ve had little impact. One alternative would be to work with men as a form of violence prevention, writes Karen Graaff.

Kenya is gearing up for elections later this year. George Ogola explains why the media has a particularly important role to play in a country that’s experienced terrible post-election violence.

The South African Reserve Bank has a critical role to play as South Africa faces tough economic times following recent credit rating downgrades. The governor, Lesetja Kganyago, fielded questions from three economic scholars: Nimisha Naik, Alan Hirsch and Jannie Rossouw.

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Natasha Joseph

Africa education editor

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Local people at Tendaguru (Tanzania) excavation site in 1909 with Giraffatitan fossils. Wikimedia Commons/Public domain

It's time to celebrate Africa's forgotten fossil hunters

Julien Benoit, University of the Witwatersrand

Africa has one of the world's richest fossil records, and evidence suggests that amateurs collected really important fossils long before professionals arrived on the scene.

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