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Chinese migration to Africa has been limited both in size and scope until relatively recently. It was only in the late 1990s and the 2000s that significant numbers of Chinese migrants began arriving in Africa, with the first significant waves hitting South African shores. Chinese entrepreneurs, fortune seekers, and professionals, together with temporary workers – from across China – made their way in increasing numbers to destinations across the African continent. Many entered Africa with or following Chinese state-owned and private companies, on contracts to work on construction, oil, and mining projects. Beyond these large state-sponsored and private-sector projects, reports of the development of Chinatowns, Chinese shops, and Chinese farms and factories across the African continent have been circulating for nearly three decades. This paper examines these new, intensified Chinese flows to Africa and explores the possibilities of their future on the continent. Based on my in-depth examination of developments in South Africa, I argue that while the Chinese state's global ambitions and African ambivalence towards these latest arrivals influence Chinese migrant lives and destinies, the migrants themselves are also having impacts on their African host nations and changing the way we understand human flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 1925 and 1950, Robert Broom described one new genus and four new species of extinct suids from Plio-Pleistocene sediments in South Africa – three of them of giant proportions and one the same size as the extant Wart Hog (Phacochoerus). Since the end of the Second World War, dozens of papers have been published on Plio-Pleistocene African suids, yet only one of the genera has had a detailed scenario of its origins published: Broom's genus Notochoerus, which is widely admitted to belong to the Tetraconodontinae and to be a descendant of Nyanzachoerus. The aim of this paper is to examine the well documented Late Miocene and Pliocene suid fossil record of Eurasia in order to determine whether any of the taxa could be closely related to the other African taxa described by Broom. A new species of suid from Egypt is described, which probably represents the earliest African record of the lineage that eventually gave rise to the kolpochoeres. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The fascination with special forces could be ascribed to the prominence of their use in contemporary conflicts across the globe. There is, however, a paradox of employing such a highly lethal force in order to pursuit peace. With peacekeeping evolving parallel with the strategic environment, especially in Africa, the trend towards more robust interventions has become prevalent since the end of the Cold War. As such, the requirement for accurate and timely intelligence in peace missions has become crucial. Admittedly, special forces would not necessarily be the soldiers expected to wear blue berets and participate in peace missions. It may come as a surprise to the uninformed, though, to learn that special forces have indeed participated, and are still involved, in peace missions across the globe. Drawing from a case study where special forces have been involved in peace missions under the umbrella of the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this article investigates the utilization of special forces and the role they could play in peace missions in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central for governance, official statistics are far from natural artefacts. The purpose, meaning and interpretation of statistical conventions evolve across time and space, in relation to social and political aspects. If criticism of indicators is growing since several years, less is understood on the process of quantification himself, especially in non-Western countries. Understanding quantification processes in different contexts is even more important as statistics are widely used in the development field. With a different complexity compared to Northern societies, African countries appear as privileged fields for this understanding and its connection with state-building. By using the analytical framework of the conventions school, I reread the case of official statistics in South Africa. Based on process-tracing, I show the history of the quantification process through its relations with the state, from a racial state during the apartheid to a developmental state nowadays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This piece argues for the importance of critical engagements with photographs in order to explore and rethink the past, to reflect on the present and to imagine the future. It provides a brief overview of the articles that constitute the first part of theSocial Dynamicsspecial issue on photography in Africa, a collection that contributes to the growing body of scholarship that deepens our understandings of the significance of photography on the continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review article supplements and extends earlier reviews on the state and practice of HRM and employment in Africa, encompassing earlier landmark empirical studies. Work published from 2014 is reviewed and concentrated on. Recent empirical concerns have centred on MNE HR practices, and ones from emerging markets; this reflects changing patterns of FDI and the decline of African large firms. There has been persistent interest in indigenous modes of management. The study accords particular focus to South Africa, given the relative volume of work published on that country. In theoretical terms, there has been an interest on comparative institutional analysis, and how this explains similarity and diversity in HRM; we explore present theoretical controversies and future research directions. The conclusion is that recent literature on HRM, and work and employment in Africa remains fragmented in scale, scope, and in terms of reaching distinct scholarly communities; the article argues for theoretical synthesis, and increased dialogue between different disciplines. Despite the undeniable heterogeneity of studies, a key divide at theoretical and applied levels is between studies that focus on unique contextual features, encompassing culture and material circumstances, and those that locate HR in Africa within broad trends in the global political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The aim was to map and describe the university-based addiction studies programs in Africa, as part of continuing international research. Methods: The study was conducted in 2016–2017. The first phase was based on Google and literature search of academic programs through pre-defined keywords. The second phase consisted of an in-depth analysis of characteristics of the identified programs. Results: We identified six universities in Africa that provided eight specific addiction education programs, two operating in Kenya and four in South Africa. Two programs were graduate level and four postgraduate level programs, one was a certificate. Four programs were offered both in full time and part-time formats. Two were on the part-time basis, and two were available only online as distance learning programs. Six programs charged fees. Four programs offered a clinical practicum as a part of the studies. Courses included counseling skills; research methods; ethical and professional issues; assessment and screening. Two programs required a thesis or research project. Conclusion: As programs become more linked to each other through efforts like the ICUDDR, additional programs may be identified in the region. The main strength of the study lies in opening debate about African addiction studies education opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To describe the patterns of uveitis in South Africa.Methods: Prospective cross-sectional study.Results: One hundred and six patients were enrolled and 37.7% had human immune-deficiency virus (HIV) infection. Anterior and panuveitis occurred most frequently. Infectious, non-infectious and idiopathic uveitis were diagnosed in 66.0%, 17.0% and 17.0% of all cases, respectively. Eighty percent of HIV+ cases had infectious uveitis. Overall, intraocular tuberculosis (IOTB), herpetic and syphilitic uveitis were the commonest infectious causes. Sarcoidosis and HLA-B27-associated uveitis were the commonest non-infectious causes. In anterior uveitis, HIV+ cases most frequently had probable IOTB, syphilitic or idiopathic uveitis while HIV- cases had possible IOTB, idiopathic or HLA-B27-associated uveitis. In panuveitis, HIV+ cases mostly had syphilis, probable IOTB, toxoplasma and varicella-zoster virus whereas HIV- cases mostly had possible IOTB, sarcoidosis and idiopathic uveitis.Conclusion: Infectious uveitis is common in South Africa, especially amongst HIV+ patients. Causes of anterior and panuveitis differ between HIV+ and HIV- patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the migrant rich peri-urban sites of Rongai, Kenya and Katlehong, South Africa, social engagements are being shaped by usufruct ethics. The resulting modes of mutual accommodation are shaped by spatial circumstance and instrumental, pragmatic concerns rather than claims for ownership, representation, or cultural hegemony. In Kenya, ‘being cosmo’ enables residents to brace themselves against ethnicised violence and exclusion while opening space for multi-ethnic newcomers to pursue varied economic and social ambitions often tied to exclusive, ethnicised membership elsewhere. In South Africa, outcomes include multiple ethics of difference simultaneously practiced: some violently exclusive, others remarkably inclusive, yet without enduring hegemonies. Here, residents manage their every-day interactions with Others through disconnection—by ‘minding their own business’—a principle manifested in both passive tolerance and active benefit-seeking. These findings from Africa’s rapidly transforming urban peripheries speak to a growing, global trend in which varied forms of membership are being locally negotiated in the thrown together spaces that characterise many cities of the South. Beyond understanding such local dynamics, they give cause to question the spatial scale at which we locate integration and the very ethics and desired ‘outcomes’ scholars often presume ought to underlie diverse societies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This review of African Payment for Watershed Services (PWS) schemes describes ongoing and proposed initiatives, and describes the factors that cause Africa to have far fewer PWS initiatives than Latin America. An understanding of these factors can help natural resource management and development practitioners identify the field characteristics under which PWS programs can succeed. One particularly important element of existing and proposed African PWS initiatives is their focus on poverty alleviation. As a PWS objective, poverty alleviation in Africa is considered as valuable, or more valuable, than the watershed services that are the ostensible target of these payments. The implied social targeting that comes with a focus on poverty alleviation increases the transaction costs and decreases the level of watershed services provided by PWS in Africa. Moreover, it implies that the current dependence of African PWS programs on general tax revenues for financing, rather than direct payments from beneficiaries, will likely continue. Further experimentation and information-sharing over the next 5 years should offer a clearer picture of the potential for PWS to achieve environmental and social objectives on the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]