Every week, RuralReporters.com collate reports on development issues in rural Africa and its environs.

This report includes some of our top picks from recent must-read research, interviews, blogs, and in-depth articles, carefully selected to help you keep up with global issues.

Here are some of the updates you may have missed from the previous week:

Rural Banks Lose Millions of Cedis to Social Media Rumours

Some rural and community banks (RCBs) lost as much as GH¢1 million per bank within a week to panic withdrawals that were inspired by social media rumours concerning the viability of the community-based lenders, the Managing Director of the ARB Apex Bank, Mr Kojo Matta, has revealed.

The rumours were to the effect that the 144 RCBs, that are currently in operation, were experiencing liquidity challenges and were, therefore, next in line to be cleaned by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) after the ongoing reforms in the microfinance subsector had concluded, Mr Mattah said.

Focus On Africa: Rural Teachers in Zimbabwe Brace for Strikes

Zimbabwe’s new rural teachers union has warned the government of a catastrophe that it says is likely to flatten the country’s strategic education sector.

“School workers remain incapacitated, with parents unable to afford fees and learning materials for their children,” writes the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), in an open letter to the government published by Newsday. “The ruling elite and their allies in the business world have launched a brutal onslaught on the working class under what has become known as anti-people austerity measures.”

‘We Live In Fear’: Facing Dry Times, Rural South Africans Rethink Water

At the height of the 2015 drought that parched South Africa’s eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, Julie Mkhize had to pull carcasses of dead cows from the dried riverbed near her village, after the desperate animals perished seeking water.

Soon people in her rural community were collapsing as well from dehydration, with 10 dying from drought-related illnesses as drinking water ran short, Mkhize said.

In the years since, the village has seen water flows recover. But this year they are beginning to shrink again, producing deep-seated fear in KwaMusi, a village of 4,000 more than two hours’ drive northwest of Richard’s Bay.

Donors Pledge $17m to End Rural Poverty in Africa

African and non-regional donors have pledged $17 million to replenish the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund, an initiative that aims to provide food security and eliminate rural poverty on the continent. The pledges were made at a high-level donor roundtable convened by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Equatorial Guinea President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, on the sidelines of the African Development Bank’s 2019 Annual Meetings currently underway in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.

Mastercard’s Nairobi Lab Targets Rural Financial Inclusion

The Nairobi Lab, established by Mastercard in 2015, plans to use SMS and USSD technologies to address the challenge posed by the lack of critical data which continues to hamper financial inclusion in Africa.

This is according to Salah Goss, Vice President and the Head of Lab for Financial Inclusion at Mastercard who said that the availability of historical information only is dissuading lenders from offering credit to prospective partners. Goss explained that basic economic activities are not fully digitised in most rural economies and this fuels the lack of credible data. This, in turn, puts financial players off from extending credit, which perpetuates the financial exclusion issue.

South-South Leads Nigeria’s Huge Alcohol Consumption, NBS Data Shows

Federal statisticians at the NBS say the South East with N44 billion, the South West with N37 billion, the North-central with N30 billion, and the North-east with N19.6 billion follow in that sequence of alcohol consumers in the country.

However, in terms of rural-urban divide, federal statisticians say there are way more drinkers in Nigeria’s rural communities than in the urban areas. Rural communities spent N125 billion naira on alcohol consumption, whilst the urban spend N82.5 billion naira.

Rural Entrepreneurship in Texas Gets Boost from UT Austin Research Projects

To help support entrepreneurs and small-business owners — key drivers of prosperity in rural Texas — the IC² Institute at The University of Texas at Austin is funding new research on entrepreneurship in rural and small city environments.

UT Austin researchers funded by the institute will look at a range of ways to promote economic development including tracking regional entrepreneurship, promoting rural innovation networks and building economic resilience in areas where employment fluctuates with the cycles of the energy industry.

“Entrepreneurship is vital to all regions of Texas,” said President Gregory L. Fenves. “By partnering with entrepreneurs in rural communities across this great state, UT Austin can learn from them and share ideas that create opportunities for all Texans to improve their lives.”