This Week in Africa

February 17, 2023

Here is the week in Africa:

Quote of the week

“What does it do to your notions of white superiority, to know this thing that we thought was all French is not all French? To know that the creators of this great culinary tradition were people of African descent?” – New Orleans writer and food authority Lolis Eric Elie

Nigerian elections

EGAP’s primer on the upcoming elections is very helpful. Nigerian youth are galvanizing for the upcoming presidential vote. The 1993 annulled vote still trails Nigeria’s election. This is how to mitigate risks of violence for the upcoming polls.

The Obedients take to the streets.

Struggle for rights and freedom

This podcast explains Kenya’s devolution of government. Malawi’s president faces a fall from grace. Chao Tayiana Maina is rewriting Kenya’s colonial history. This is a cool visualization of the average proportion of seats held by women in Africa.

Security and instability

This is an important story about the thousands who have disappeared in northern Nigeria. These are five key drivers of the conflict in northern Kenya. This is why local peace deals are causing controversy in Darfur. There is very little military justice in Cameroon. Check out the journey to extremism in Africa.

African international relations

Somalia opens its UK embassy after 32 years. A helpful thread on Russia in Africa. The EU is rethinking its support for the rule of law. This report examines EU’s peacebuilding in the Horn of Africa. W. Gyude Moore makes the case for Africa’s permanent presence on the UN Security Council and G-20 membership. This is how not to engage with authoritarian states.

Elizabeth Schmidt declares: Hands off Africa.

Africa’s rapid urbanization

This is how to solve the Lagos water crisis. Understanding Kilwa. This is a cool article on public housing spillovers in South Africa. Renters could be getting important relief on housing in Tanzania. Colorful shipping containers provide affordable housing to Johannesburg residents. I can’t wait to read this: Brenda Chalfin’s Waste Works: Vital Politics in Urban Ghana.

Research corner

When do citizens expect secure property rights in weak states? Rebel governance or governance in rebel territory? Take a look at “Symptoms and Stereotypes: Perceptions and Responses to Covid-19 in Malawi and Zambia.” This is interesting: “Living standards of copper mine labour in Chile and the Central African Copperbelt compared, 1920s to 1960s.” Read this: “From ‘Anglophone Problem’ to ‘Anglophone Conflict’ in Cameroon.”

Check out Rachel Sigman’s Parties, Political Finance, and Governance in Africa. Get Understanding Ethiopia’s Tigray War. This looks interesting: Manufacturing in Colonial Zimbabwe, 1890-1979. Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives is out. This is important: Who Counts? Ghanaian Academic Publishing and Global Science. This looks like a great new anthology on peace and security.

The week in development

Africa is expected to experience gradual growth in 2023. The continent is estimated to have three billion people in the next century. Cote d’Ivoire is trying to change its cocoa industry so it actually supplies chocolate for itself. US must try to bridge divide between Africa’s economic innovators and its political class. More on Africa’s public debt. There are many good articles shared on Afritech. W. Gyude Moore provides his reflections on the Second Dakar Financing Summit. Ghana’s domestic debt-swap offer achieves 80 percent acceptance. Nigeria faces a large lawsuit in the UK which threatens its economy. Africa is not a country—especially when it comes to debt. Should Nigeria merge its ports with railways? Did US trade with Africa experience a post-COVID recovery? Do Africa’s regional blocs add value?

Abel Gaiya explains why economics alone cannot explain West Africa’s slow development. And this is good: White Saviorism in International Development: Theories, Practices and Lived Experiences.

Africa and the environment

Pay attention to the manifesto for an ecosocial energy transition from the peoples of the global south. This is a fascinating account of how climate change sparks migration from Senegal, which contributes to the rise of the right in Europe. Meet the people safeguarding the sacred forests and lagoons of West Africa. South Africa declares state of natural disaster over floods. This is cool: “The Village, the Elephant, and the State: Land Access and Vulnerability in Rural Botswana.” I am looking forward to seeing results from this project on climate adaptation in the gulf of Guinea. Is awareness of climate change driven by education or one’s experience?

David Malpass, who has been accused of climate denialism, is stepping down as World Bank President. A WMO report finds that Africa is extremely vulnerable to climate change. This is how climate change is spreading malaria in Africa. Food prices in South Africa hit a 14-year high as power cuts continue. Europe is turning to North Africa in a scramble for clean energy. Beware of the climate “doom loop.”

CFP: Special issue on Political Change in African Cities

Kristian Hoelscher, Taibat Lawanson, and I are editing a special issue on “Political Change in African Cities: Mobilization, Participation, and State-Society Relations.” See our CFP. The issue will assess how urban growth shapes political change, and identify the conditions in African cities that affect broader socio-political transformation. It takes a place-based approach and theorizes how the underlying structural, historical, and spatial contexts associated with urbanization condition the nature, sequencing and dynamics of political change. If you are interested in contributing to the Special Issue, please submit an abstract to Jeffrey Paller (jeffrey.paller@gu.se) by March 31, 2023. We then aim to have a remote workshop in early Fall 2023, and submit full papers to a leading comparative politics or African politics journal by November 30, 2023.

Daily life

In Bamako. DR Congo dandies gather to honor a fallen victim. Chefs are rewriting New Orleans’ culinary history.

All the best,

Jeff and Phil