Ep. 103: A conversation with Cyril Obi of the African Peacebuilding Network

Joining us in conversation this week is Cyril Obi, program director of the African Peacebuilding Network, to talk with Rachel about the geopolitics of oil in Africa, his work with the Next Generation Social Sciences in Africa Program, and the great work of the African Peacebuilding Network.

And if you’re still looking for gifts for your African studies friends, check out this week’s news wrap where Kim and Rachel share the books we should be reading. In other news, we talk Ghanian elections, all of the happenings in the Sahel, and Malawi being selected as the country of the year.

Ep. 64: A conversation with Hannah Armstrong on politics in Algeria, the Sahel, illicit trafficking and borders

In this week’s episode, we talk about Saharan Futures, protests and political change in Sudan, political maneuvering in Senegal, and what Cyclone Idai teaches us about governance of disasters and in urban spaces.Our featured guest this week is Hannah Armstrong, the Senior Sahel consultant at the International Crisis Group. She has worked across North Africa and the Sahel as a writer and researcher for various publications and organizations since 2006. She served as a Fulbright fellow in Morocco and as a fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs in Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Algeria, and the Western Sahara from 2012 to 2014.  Rachel spoke with Hannah earlier this week when she was visiting Chicago from Dakar, where she is based. Their conversation begins at 13:03.

Ep. 57: A conversation with Nicholas Kerr about Nigerian elections, citizens’ opinions about election quality, and more

Nigeria’s elections have been postponed, but that didn’t keep us from sharing our insightful conversation with Nicholas Kerr this week. Nicholas is an assistant professor of comparative politics in the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida. We talk about his research on electoral management bodies in Africa and in particular about his research on election management and popular perceptions of election quality in Nigeria. Our conversation begins at 10:06.