Ufahamu Africa

It’s never too late to pay attention to what is happening in Sudan. The international community should be supporting everyday people’s needs as they navigate this humanitarian disaster and should also be supporting a way forward out of the war.

We're re-upping our conversation with Nisrin Elamin about the conflict in Sudan. Elamin is an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto. Her work investigates the ...

Today we have an extremely timely French-language episode on Senegal and the newly elected president, which is hosted by one of our non-resident fellows, Expédit Ologou. He talks with Mamadou Seck, who is the regional manager of the Natural Resource Governance Institute for Francophone West Africa and Central Africa, and is based in Dakar. Seck's work oversees research in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea and Senegal.

Fellow Gopolang Botlhokwane speaks to political analyst and media expert Dr. Metji Makgoba about the domestic implications of South Africa's recent case against Israel at The Hague in the Netherlands, and the country's upcoming elections in which the ruling African National Congress is expected to lose its majority. Makgoba is also an academic and teaches communication at South Africa's University of Limpopo. Makgoba...

Imagine other worldly visitors have landed on Earth and are trying to learn about and understand Ghana and its politics. This episode from our new fellows, Fu Asiedu and Ami Tamakloe, provides a people’s political history and Ghanaian voices about its political present and their dreams for the country’s future.

They don’t just share what they think about former leaders like the father of independence, Kwame Nkhrumah, or about the tw...

Lawrence Were is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Boston University, where he does research on public health. In a conversation with Kim, you'll hear more about the impact of health insurance and how access to it would improve health outcomes for individuals and communities. 

In the news wrap, we catch up on President Macky Sall of Senegal and his rescheduling of the presidential election...

Black African diaspora and their relationships with the African continent is the topic of today's episode. One of last year's fellows, Takondwa Semphere, spoke with Khaleelah Logan, a creative strategist, art director, curriculum developer, and storyteller with a background that ranges across the global social impact sector.

With the emphasis in recent years on black travel, and the government of Ghana setting up “return t...

Senegalese President Macky Sall has postponed the presidential elections originally scheduled for February 25. It's part of a series of concerning moves by Sall to extend his stay in power. We talk with experts on the topic: Bamba Ndiaye and Michelle D. Gavin. 

Bamba Ndiaye is an assistant professor of African studies at Emory University's Oxford College. He is also host of The Africanist podcast and a former Ufa...

We're wrapping up our panel on democracy from the African Studies Association with a presentation from Paul Friesen on local democratic resilience under national autocracy. Friesen is a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University, part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies's Democratic Threats and Resilience research team.

His research and teaching interests focus on democratization, elections, political part...

Dominika Koter, political scientist at Colgate University, presents the next case on democracy from our African Studies Association panel. You’ll hear her presentation on Benin and a news wrap from Kim and Rachel on South Africa's accusations of genocide against Israel, the current events in the Red Sea, and recent court cases involving Ousmane Sonko in Senegal.

Find the books, links, and articles we mentioned in this episode o...

 Our African Studies Association panel continues this week with a case study on democracy in Tunisia from Cornell University's Alexandra Blackman. You'll hear her presentation on current events in Tunisia and a news wrap from Kim and Rachel on elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a recent news story on a valuable mask from Gabon.

This is our final episode of 2023! We'll be back in your feed ...

Today, we have  part one of our African Studies Association panel on African democracy, focusing on democratic backsliding and sites and actors that have worked for democratic endurance, strengthening, and democratic governance. You'll hear Rachel's introduction on democratic backsliding on the continent and a case study from Kim on Malawi, written with Boniface Dulani. 

Next week, tune in for a presentation from...

Kwadwo Owusu, professor of geography and resource development at the University of Ghana, is our guest this week. He sits down with cohost Rachel Beatty Riedl for a conversation on climate and society, politics, and public policy around environmental health and well-being.

They discuss what issues are on the horizon as we consider natural resource changes, technological changes, and social changes surrounding climate adapt...

Sandile Mnikati, Lindah Mbaisi Chavuya, Eunice Ndeyapo Shapange, and Matshidiso Lencoasa are experts on public policy, planning, and governance from across the continent. We spoke with them about their visions for just governance while they were at Cornell University this summer completing the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (YALI). 

Find the books, links, and articles we mentioned in this episode on our webs...

"Few were surprised as, near midnight on August 26, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission announced incumbent president Emmerson Mnangagwa’s reelection in yet another of Zimbabwe’s tendentious contests," writes David B. Moore. "His inauguration on September 4 sanctified his return to power."

In this article by Moore, first published in The Conversation Africa, he explains how the country's ruling party has clung...

Aisha Namugga, Bashiru Koroma, and Louise Tekapso are climate experts from across the continent—Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon, respectively. We spoke with them about their expertise in climate change and sustainable environments while they were at Cornell University this summer completing the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (YALI). The fellows discussed their vision for sustainable future with environme...