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Can youth change the future of Africa?
CIPE Blog -- President Obama’s Forum with Young African Leaders gathered together more than 100 young Africans for three days to discuss how young people can positively impact the future of their continent. Representing 43 African nations, participants hailed from all facets of society, including journalists, entrepreneurs and human rights activists. The excitement of these young African leaders was palpable as they shared with each other their continued challenges and examples of success. At the conclusion of the President’s Forum however, the question still remains: Can youth change the future of Africa?

Dirty water no more
BBC -- A bottle that uses ultraviolet light to sterilise drinking water has won the UK leg of the James Dyson Award. The Pure bottle is the brainchild of Timothy Whitehead, a design and technology graduate from Loughborough University, who had the idea while traveling in Zambia. It eliminates the need for chlorine and iodine tablets which take 30 minutes to work and can leave an unpleasant taste. Once filtered, the water is sterilised by a wind-up ultraviolet bulb in a process lasting 90 seconds. A prototype was effective in killing 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. "Pure provides a practical solution to a real problem - how to get clean drinking water in the most hostile of conditions. It has the potential to make a real difference to people's lives"...

Pretoria defends China's Africa policy
Financial Times -- South Africa’s trade minister on Tuesday embraced China’s surging investment in Africa, saying that Beijing was not pursuing a neocolonial policy and its growing interest in the continent would bring huge benefits. The trade minister is part of a delegation led by South African President Jacob Zuma that includes almost 400 business executives and 11 cabinet members, the biggest group yet to accompany a South African leader abroad. Rob Davies said China’s rapidly expanding African presence “can only be a good thing” because it meant increased competition between developed and developing countries in their pursuit of resources and influence in Africa...

Hope on a Hillside: Helping Small Farmers Help Themselves
Gates Foundation -- Somewhere in Rwanda, a rural farmer is dreaming of providing an education for her children. Not just high school, but maybe even a university degree. Such a dream used to seem out of reach. Like boosting the harvests on her hillside plot. Or multiplying her earnings. Or preventing topsoil from washing down the hilly slope when it rained. But now, an ambitious terracing program is working to reshape Rwanda’s landscape, helping farmers limit erosion, improve irrigation, and boost their yields. And, in the process, it will help transform the landscape of rural poverty, empowering smallholder farmers to provide a better life for their loved ones...