Author: ufahamuafrica

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Ep. 80: A conversation with Emmanuel Katongole on a political theology for Africa

This week’s episode begins with congratulations to Rachel Beatty Riedl and her co-author Gwyneth McClendon on the publication of their book, From Pews to Politics: Religious Sermons and Political Participation in Africa. What perfect timing, given this week’s episode features a conversation with Father Emmanuel Katongole, Professor of Theology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. The news wrap also covers events in Burkina Faso and Gambia, Ugandan opposition parliamentarian Bobi Wine’s visit to the US, and a shoutout to TJ Tallie for his book being published this week, too!

This week’s episode includes the first interview by Ufahamu Africa’s research and production fellow, Zamone Perez, an undergraduate student at Northwestern University. Zamone talks with Professor Katongole about his book, The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology for Africa. The conversation covers broad territory on religion as offering social and political organizing principles as well as specifics, e.g., on forgiveness of the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army Joseph Kony. Their conversation begins at 15:17.

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Ep. 79: A conversation with Ken Opalo about political institutions, public goods, and more

In the newswrap this week, we talk about Nigeria fact-checking, Botswana’s elections, terrorist attacks in West Africa, and more. This week’s featured conversation is with Ken Opalo (@kopalo), an Assistant Professor at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He talks about his newly published book, Legislative Development in Africa: Politics and Postcolonial Legacies. Long-time listeners might recall that Ken was on the show back in 2017, ahead of the Kenyan elections. Have a listen to Rachel’s conversation with Ken about his book and about his next project, which examines government provision of public goods, like health services. Their conversation begins at 13:36. 

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Ep. 78: A conversation with Kathleen Klaus on land and politics in East Africa and beyond

We start this week’s newswrap talking about Russian interference in African elections using Facebook, Rose Mutiso’s TED talk about energy poverty in Africa, identification card politics in northeastern Nigeria, and more.

Our guest this week is Kathleen Klaus (@KathleenKlaus), an assistant professor of politics at the University of San Francisco. Her book, Political Violence in Kenya: Land, Elections, and Claim-Making, is in production at Cambridge University Press, expected to be published in 2020. Kathleen’s award-winning research has focused on land rights and political violence and Ufahamu Africa listeners may remember that she was our guest in Episode 28, helping us to understand the then recently announced decision by the Kenyan Supreme Court to nullify the 2017 presidential elections. Rachel sat down with Kathleen when she was at Cornell University earlier this month presenting some of her new research on refugee settlement and the politics of land in Uganda. Their conversation begins at 13:11.

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Ep. 77: A conversation on agriculture and innovation in Africa with YALI Mandela Fellows

This week’s episode opens up with discussion about the recent elections in Botswana and Mozambique, the anti-sanctions protests in Zimbabwe, post-peace prize Ethiopia, and more. 

Co-host Rachel Beatty Riedl moderates this week’s conversation on agriculture and innovation in Africa. Our guests are Kudzai Kutukwa, Kitso Dube, and Andrew Dillon. Kudzai and Kitso were YALI Mandela Fellows at Northwestern University earlier this year, when this conversation was recorded.

Kudzai is the co-founder and CEO of Mobbisurance, which is a startup that develops multi-based crop insurance products and other financial services for small-holder farmers. Kitso currently serves as a loan officer for FBC Holdings, helping communities that are marginalized access financial services in Zimbabwe. Andrew is a development economist, appointed as a Clinical Associate Professor within the Kellogg School of Management’s Public-Private Interface Initiative and a Research Associate Professor in the Global Poverty Research Lab at the Buffett Institute. The panel discussion begins at 12:36.

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Ep. 76: A conversation with Grieve Chelwa on how economics has an Africa problem

We start this week’s newswrap celebrating Kenyan marathoners, highlighting recent arts and culture pieces in OkayAfrica, talking about elections in Mozambique, protests in Guinea, and this year’s Nobel Prize in Economics winners. This week’s guest is economist Grieve Chelwa, a senior lecturer at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business. Prior to his appointment at UCT, Dr. Chelwa was a post-doctoral fellow with Harvard University’s Center for African Studies, the Southern African Institute for Policy and Research, and the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of the Witwatersrand. In addition to his scholarly work, he is a contributing editor to Africa Is A Country. We talk about economics (including what it means to be a development economist), research and collaboration, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, and more. Our conversation begins at 14:27.

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Ep. 75: A conversation with Richard Banegas on citizenship, identity cards, and more

Following a news wrap covering Facebook’s fact-checking initiative, Tunisia’s elections, Malawi’s protests, and more, this week’s episode features an interview with Richard Banégas, a professor at Sciences Po. He talks with co-host Rachel Beatty Riedl about his research on identity papers, citizenship, and how technological developments are shaping mobility globally. Rachel’s conversation with Richard begins at 10:43.

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Ep. 74: A conversation with Mandela Fellows from Zambia, Senegal, and Cameroon on mobile money’s challenges and opportunities

Ufahamu Africa is excited to launch its fourth season with a roundtable discussion about mobile money in Africa, its challenges, opportunities, and potential for social and political transformation. Co-host Rachel Beatty Riedl moderates the conversation with three Mandela Washington Fellows who participated in the Young African Leaders Initiative at Northwestern University earlier this year: Patton Kalunga of Zambia, Amadou Abdoulaye Sylla of Senegal, and Ngah Tse Ngah Benoit of Cameroon. Rachel and co-host Kim Dionne open the episode catching up on news in southern Africa, including protests in Malawi, xenophobic attacks in South Africa, and the death of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. They also talk about new research that listeners should check out and they share congratulatory messages for some of Ufahamu Africa’s earlier guests. 

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Bonus: A review of Erin Hern’s book on public service provision and political participation

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read her review of Erin Accampo Hern’s “Developing States, Shaping Citizenship.” The review was published as the twelfth and final installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular, and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.

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Bonus: Hear a review of three new books on power and politics in Nigeria

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read University of Cincinnati professor Alex Thurston’s review of John Campbell and Matthew Page’s “Nigeria: What Everyone Needs to Know,” Brandon Kendhammer and Carmen McCain’s “Boko Haram,” and Carl LeVan’s “Contemporary Nigerian Politics.” The review was published as the eleventh installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular, and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.

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Bonus: A review of Milli Lake’s book on NGOs and gender justice in Congo and South Africa

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read Laura Seay’s (@texasinafrica) review of Strong NGOs and Weak States: Pursuing Gender Justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, a book by LSE political scientist Milli Lake (@MilliLake).  The review was published as the tenth installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular (#APSRS19), and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage (@monkeycageblog), a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.

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Bonus: An author Q&A with Elizabeth Foster on her new book, African Catholic

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read a Q&A between TMC editor Laura Seay and Elizabeth Foster, author of African Catholic: Decolonization and the Transformation of the Church. The Q&A was published in this past Friday’s installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular, and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.

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Bonus: A review of Bleck and van de Walle’s book on electoral politics in Africa

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read her review of Electoral Politics in Africa Since 1990, a book by Jaimie Bleck and Nicolas van de Walle. The review was published in this past Friday’s installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular, and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.