News & Events

The third edition of Africa Works! will take place on 10 & 11 November in Amsterdam. With over 500 participants, Africa Works! Innovation in Finance is expected to be the largest conference in Western Europe which focuses on doing business in Africa. Among the keynote speakers are Klaas Knot (Dutch Central Bank) and Amine Bouabid (Bank of Africa). Dr Chibuike Uche, senior researcher at the ASCL, will host the workshop 'Opportunities for Lease financing in Africa' on day 1.

In 2013, two thirds of Africans were reckoned to live in countries suffering from state fragility. The fragility of African states is regarded as a major explanation for the failure of countries to translate strong economic growth into sustained social and economic development. During this seminar Em. Professor Dele Olowu (Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria) will discuss approaches that would result in a change from state fragility to state resilience, based on lessons learnt from selected states in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Find out all about the (Research) Master's programmes in African Studies in this new video! Leiden University and its African Studies Centre offer multidisciplinary MA programmes that are unique in continental Europe. The master's and research master's programmes combine disciplines from the humanities with disciplines from social sciences. Listen to the students (and teachers') experiences! 

The ASCL proudly announces two new exhibitions: Loïs Diallo's photos, on the third floor of the Pieter de la Cour building, are inspired by the beauty of Senegal. Hand-made weavings of African portraits by Celine Michel can be admired in the ASCL library on the ground floor. Come and have a look!

After last year’s successful edition Voice4Thought will be back with its annual festival from 21-25 September! This year’s theme is ‘People in Motion’. Artists, scientists, journalists and activists from different backgrounds will come together in Leiden. They are all ‘people in motion’: refugee, migrant or traveller. V4T strives to give these people a voice and start a dialogue: through music, film, modern dance, visual arts, workshops, and debates.

Professor Wim van den Doel, dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Leiden University and chair of the Board of Governors of the ASCL, has been appointed member of the Executive Board of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) as of 1 January 2017. Van den Doel will relinquish his role as dean in Leiden but will retain his post as Professor of Contemporary History. Van den Doel became chair of the ASCL Board when the African Studies Centre integrated with Leiden University on 1 January 2016.