AP photos spotlight a year of joy, triumph and resilience across Africa in 2025

In 2025, ordinary lives intertwined with extraordinary shifts across Africa's bustling cities and vast rural heartlands. The world’s youngest population found moments of joy, triumph and positive change even as it was dogged by challenges from election disputes to U.S. aid cuts.

AP photographers captured the youthful continent’s strength, passion and determination as economies grew, culture and traditions thrived, and citizens united on the streets during protests and in elections from Ivory Coast to Malawi.

While refugees from war-torn Sudan arrived in Chad as fighting escalated, thousands of couples gathered for a mass wedding and children enjoyed fair rides in South Africa. As residents fled the advance of Rwanda-backed rebels in eastern Congo, some found strength at a trauma center.

Elsewhere, white-veiled women celebrated Prophet Muhammad’s birthday in Senegal's Dakar, vultures found love in the hands of conservationists in South Africa, and Ghana's fantasy coffins highlighted a colorful celebration of life and legacy.

These are just some of the moments captured by AP photographers across the African continent in 2025.

Photo editing by Courtney Dittmar and Anne-Marie Belgrave.

A fish fantasy coffin crafted by Eric Kpakpo Adotey is displayed by the roadside in La, Accra, Ghana, July 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)

Election volunteers count ballots in Blantyre, Malawi, Sept. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Thoko Chikondi, File)

Fanuse Adete, 38, holds up a candle she uses to light her home at night in the Menabichu district on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

A Kenyan police whips a protester during a demonstration in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

People react during the viewing of the body of former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga at Jomo Kenyatta Stadium in Kisumu, Kenya, Oct. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Samson Otieno, File)

Patients sit outside the malnutrition ward of Bunj Hospital in Maban, South Sudan, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly, File)

A Sudanese farmer carries his livestock after his farm was destroyed by floods, in Wad Ramli village, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Khartoum, Sudan, Oct. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Marwan Ali, File)

Voters line up to cast their votes in the Burundian legislative elections at Musama Primary School, in Gitega, Burundi, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Berthier Mugiraneza, File)

Mariam Nasibu stands by her 10-year-old daughter Deborah, who was wounded in the fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces, in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

A person displaced by the fighting with M23 rebels evacuates with their belongings to downtown Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

Ousmane Sambou, a sergeant with Senegal's Direction of National Parks, holds up a confiscated leopard skin at the DPN headquarters in Tambacounda, Senegal, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag, File)

Women selling chickens wait for customers at the Virunga market in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Feb. 27, 2025, one month after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels captured the city. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

A mother and daughter pose for a photo at a beach after Eid al-Adha prayers in Keta, Ghana, June 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)

Audrey Delsink, left, and Matthew Schurch watch a vulture take off following a release in Hartbeespoort, South Africa, July 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

Physiotherapist Gisèle Kantu, bottom right, works with amputees wounded by fighting in the region, at an orthopedic center run by the Catholic church and supported by the Red Cross in Goma, eastern Congo, Aug. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

Riziki Olinde, 26, looks out from the window of a school where she found shelter after her soldier husband was sent to Rumangabo for mixing and integration into the rebel M23 forces, Feb. 18, 2025, in Goma, eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

A suspected pro-government supporter is attacked by protesters during a demonstration over the death of blogger Albert Ojwang in police custody, in downtown Nairobi, Kenya, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

Fishermen carry a tuna fish to the market in Mogadishu, Somalia, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File)

People fleeing M-23 rebel advances arrive by boat in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa, File)

A woman processes gold at a mining site in the Kedougou region of Senegal, Jan. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Annika Hammerschlag, File)

A balloon bearing the image of President Alassane Ouattara floats above supporters during a campaign rally in Koumassi, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Oct. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)

A woman recites prayers as people mark Prophet Muhammad's birthday, known as Mawlid, in Dakar, Senegal, Sept. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Misper Apawu, File)

People protest in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, against the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels' advances into eastern Congo's capital, Goma, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Samy Ntumba Shambuyi, File)

A child pushes a suitcase towards Rwanda security officials checking people crossing from Congo in Gisenyi, Rwanda, Jan. 29, 2025, following M23 rebels' advances into eastern Congo's capital Goma. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Around 180 Nigerian migrants wait before being deported from Tripoli, Libya, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Yousef Murad, File)

Lisebo Lechela, 53, an HIV-positive sex worker, poses for a portrait in her house in Maputsoe, Lesotho, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Bram Janssen, File)

A model is reflected in a mirror applying makeup during the Mr. and Mrs. Kibera leadership contest held on International Youth Day in Nairobi, Kenya, Aug. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga, File)

Girls ride the Tempest at the Rand Easter Show in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

Groomsmen shield their brides from the sun as they queue for an Easter mass wedding at The International Pentecost Holiness Church in Heidelberg, South Africa, April 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)

Refugees arrive at the Tine transit camp in Chad's Wadi Fara province, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly, File)

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec 16, 2025--

Third paragraph, first sentence of release dated December 11, 2025, should read: The joint project will explore innovative smart RFID technologies for energy harvesting, backscatter signal reflection, and reliable signal acquisition.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251211411976/en/

The updated release reads:  

HANSHOW AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP TO ADVANCE NEXT-GENERATION AUGMENTED RFID

Hanshow, a global leader in digital retail technology, has launched a multi-year research partnership with the University of Cambridge to develop next-generation Augmented RFID systems powered by distributed hardware architectures. The collaboration brings together Cambridge’s world-leading expertise in ultra-low-power sensing and communication with Hanshow’s industrial-scale deployment capabilities, aiming to set a new technological benchmark for the global retail sector.

As retailers worldwide transition to increasingly automated, data-rich, and energy-efficient store environments, demand is rising for IoT systems that can sense, adapt and operate reliably at scale. The partnership will tackle this challenge head-on by integrating Cambridge research in intelligent sensing, energy harvesting and algorithmic optimisation with Hanshow’s edge-computing platforms and extensive real-world retail data infrastructure.

The joint project will explore innovative smart RFID technologies for energy harvesting, backscatter signal reflection, and reliable signal acquisition. By combining theoretical modelling, simulation and in-store experimentation, the team aims to dramatically improve signal coverage, data fidelity and resilience in complex retail environments.

For Cambridge researchers, the collaboration offers an opportunity to demonstrate how state-of-the-art engineering in distributed hardware systems can deliver measurable commercial and societal impact. For Hanshow, it provides a direct innovation pathway to future AIoT-driven retail solutions that enhance operational accuracy, reduce energy consumption and support more sustainable, responsive store infrastructures.

“With this collaboration, Hanshow is taking a decisive step toward reshaping the technological backbone of future retail,” said Min Liang, CTO of Hanshow. “Working with Cambridge enables us to convert advanced research into scalable, intelligent systems that deliver meaningful value for retailers worldwide.”

“By combining our work in low-energy, high-efficiency hardware with Hanshow’s global innovation capacity, we can accelerate the arrival of truly adaptive retail IoT,” said Associate Professor Michael Crisp, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge. “This partnership is a powerful example of how academic–industry collaboration can drive real-world impact.”

The programme will progress through a series of research milestones and experimental deployments, generating both academic outputs and commercially ready technologies. It forms a central part of Hanshow’s global R&D strategy to connect digital and physical retail through AIoT architectures that improve efficiency, transparency and sustainability.

Hanshow continues to expand its worldwide innovation network, investing in open research collaborations that transform cutting-edge engineering into solutions that help retailers compete in an increasingly data-driven marketplace.

About Hanshow

Hanshow is a global leader in developing and manufacturing electronic shelf labels and digital store solutions. The company offers customers a series of customized IoT touchpoints and digital store solutions that deliver customer-centric insights. Hanshow’s solutions have provided services to a vast number of stores in over 70 countries and regions, helping them streamline operations, optimize pricing strategies, and offer customers a more personalized experience. In addition, Hanshow delivers advanced digital energy solutions, supporting clients with intelligent in-store energy optimization and integrated PV storage charging systems to reduce energy consumption, lower carbon emissions, and accelerate their transition toward sustainable operations. Learn more: www.hanshow.com

CORRECTING and REPLACING Hanshow and the University of Cambridge Announce Strategic Research Partnership to Advance Next-Generation Augmented RFID