New publications

Philosophers beyond borders, published by the ASCL and made by Saskia Pfaeltzer and Maria van Enckevort, celebrates an array of philosophers hailing from Africa and the African diaspora, South America, South Asia, the Caribbean, and beyond. The diverse collection spans the ages, including philosophers such as Anton Wilhelm Amo, W.E.B. Du Bois and Frantz Fanon, as well as those alive and still teaching: Gayatri Spivak, bell hooks and Achille Mbembe. Succinct biographies are accompanied by characterful black and white portraits of each individual philosopher. Adriaan van Dis about the book: 'An inspiring introduction that makes your world bigger and frees you from the stuffy western – and sometimes overly white – thinking'.

The decision by HEINEKEN subsidiary Nigerian Breweries to use locally grown sorghum in beer production in 1988 has been a catalyst for the creation of an industrial market for sorghum. Researchers from the ASCL, in collaboration with partners from Nigerian tertiary institutions, have conducted an exploratory research of the socio-economic and agronomic dynamics in this industrial sorghum market. Sorghum production has become an important source of revenue for farmers and the study found impacts on children’s education, meeting food expenses and general well-being.

This thematic map, based on the subnational human development index data for African countries for the years 2000 and 2018, makes clear that almost all of Africa’s 546 regions showed improved living conditions in 2018. The few exceptions are regions in Libya and Somalia, and in the new country South Sudan, which deteriorated between 2010 and 2018. The back side of the map shows the three basic indices: health, education and standard of living.

On the occasion of the Africa 2020 year, the ASCL has created Infosheets about the countries that became independent in 1960. Of the seventeen colonies gaining independence in that year, Nigeria was the sixteenth one: on October 1. Read about Nigeria's political, demographic, socio-economic and agricultural developments in the past 60 years. Also find out about Nigeria's leaders of independence in the ASCL web dossier!