MINNEAPOLIS –Learning about healthy eating empowers Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) to take action.
MPS, Saint Paul Public Schools and HealthPartners are piloting a program designed to increase fruit and vegetable intake among elementary school students. Approximately 7,500 students in 13 Minneapolis schools and nine Saint Paul schools are participating in the program, which aims to increase the number of students who consume three to five servings of fruits and vegetables on most days.

Nigeria’s candidate for the presidency of the World Bank, Ms. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, enjoyed the support of the African Union, Brazil, and South Africa but it was not enough to defeat the U.S. pick - Jim Yong Kim – for the powerful global finance position.

 Kim’s selection was announced this week, ending a tight race between the developing world candidate with years of World Bank experience and a candidate endorsed by Washington, Europe and Japan.

By Fungai Maboreke

(GIN) – Following the sudden death of Malawi’s President Bingu wa Mutharika last Thursday, Vice President Joyce Banda was sworn into office, making her the second female President in Africa.

President Bingu wa Mutharika died from cardiac arrest. His death was officially confirmed Friday after a day of denials that he had passed.

Chefs Wosenyeleh Wolde worked in the hospitality industry basically all his life, from his hey days as young man in Addis Ababa

(GIN) The Tuareg people in their bright indigo robes may have won the war for a homeland in the northern half of Mali only to lose it.

The resource-rich Taoudeni basin in Tuareg lands bordering Mauritania and Algeria has drawn the interest of major oil and gas companies and in February, concession deals were signed with the Algerian company SONATRACH and the Canadian company Selier Energy.

With thousands of acres to be explored for oil, the nomadic lifestyle of the Tuareg people could face new restrictions of movement in the dry Sahara lands. Ownership of these wells may be another source of contention.

An organization that wants to play a bridge between Somali Community and main stream agencies, Somali Health Coalition held its monthly meeting.

Rethinking conventional definitions of what it means to be ‘old’

Karsten Thormaehlen

Geneva -On World Health Day (7 April), WHO is calling for urgent action to ensure that, at a time when the world's population is ageing rapidly, people reach old age in the best possible health.

(GIN) – Search engine-advertising giant Google has singled out two Nairobi-based projects for a major grant, attesting to Kenya’s leadership as a global hub for mobile phone applications and advanced technology in Africa.

The grants are earmarked for Innovation Hub (iHub), an open space for web and mobile phone programmers, and KENET, a non-profit institution connecting schools with affordable high speed Internet. The grant totals $337,000.

Editorial by Jef Vincent-Chief Underwriting Officer
 
Three pivotal events took place in 2011. Separately, they will impact how business is conducted in many African countries - together they may transform the economic landscape altogether.
 
The youth are beginning to assert themselves, and as the majority in most African countries, their voices are commanding attention. With 50% of Africa’s population aged 16 or under and a projected doubling of working age people in the next 30 years from 500 million to 1.1 billion, jobs growth will become an increasingly pressing issue.