News & Events

The African Studies Centre publication Fundamentals of human resource management: emerging experiences from Africa (2011) by Josephat Stephen Itika is the most downloaded book from Leiden Repository in 2014. Leiden Repository is the Open Access publications bank of Leiden University and affiliated institutes. The Open Access repository is very popular: publications were downloaded 3,2 million times in 2014, the African Studies collection saw 378,000 downloads; both figures are 25% more than in 2013. Four out of the five most popular downloads were about an African subject.

Turkey has recently been showing increased interest in developing strong relations with African countries. The relatively new trend builds on the synergy of multiple public and private actors and Ankara has resorted to an arsenal of soft power instruments. Thus, development aid, humanitarian assistance and Islamic solidarity are strongly entwined with diplomacy and trade. Read this ASC Infosheet online or order a copy!

The new research project Society and Change in Northern Ghana: Dagomba, Gonja, and the Regional Perspective on Ghanaian History is a historical research and training programme. It focuses on the Dagomba and Gonja peoples, polities and cultures in Northern Ghana. The project provides an opportunity for universities in Ghana and the Netherlands to cooperate in developing academic expertise and capacity in the fields of regional history/regional studies. The launch of the project in Ghana took place in Tamale (University of Development Studies) on 5 February.

The ASC is delighted that Egosha E. Osaghae, Professor of Comparative Politics and Vice Chancellor of Igbinedion University, Okada, Nigeria, will give a public lecture on 20 March: 'Globalised Conflict Situations: Nigeria’s Boko Haram in Perspective'. In his lecture, Prof. Osaghae will analyse ethno-religious conflicts in Nigeria as a product of the intersection between local/domestic variables and global forces. This lecture is a co-production of the African Studies Centre Leiden, LUF (Leiden University Fund), ICCT (International Centre for Counter-Terrorism), Connecting in Times of Duress (Leiden University) and Grounding Land Governance.