News & Events

It is with immense shock and deep sadness that we have to announce the death of our colleague at King’s College (London), Patrick Chabal. Patrick died on Thursday 16 January, surrounded by his family, after bravely fighting a long illness. Patrick Chabal was one of the founders of AEGIS (Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies) and was a board member for many years. He had a long career in academics. His latest position was Chair in African History & Politics at King’s College.

Rhodesia was founded as a colony in 1890; most of its white population only arrived after World War II. The country did not have a deep history to tie white settlers’ loyalty to the land. So why would citizens fight a 14-year guerrilla war for its sake? That question is complicated by the respective rights and obligations of citizenship and residency. This seminar on 3 April by Luise White will argue that this complexity can only be understood by considering many sources: especially memoir and fiction.

The fourth and latest report in the series Agricultural Dynamics and Food Security Trends has just been published: the one about Kenya. As part of the Developmental Regimes in Africa (DRA) project, four case studies were done about the most promising agricultural sectors in Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. The DRA project is a collaborative venture between the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in the UK and the ASC in Leiden, and is funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Nigerian scholar Chibuike Uche started as a senior researcher at the African Studies Centre as of 1 January 2014. Prior to joining the ASC, he was Professor of Banking and Financial Institutions at the University of Nigeria and a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria. Chibuike has a PhD in accounting and finance from the London School of Economics. His current research focus is on the political economy of foreign business operations in Africa.

January 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the so-called Zanzibar Revolution on Sunday 12 January 1964. In the week following the toppling of the newly elected government, the Sultan of Oman fled the island and thousands of people were killed. While a lot of African citizens of Zanzibar will celebrate these events and see them as marking the beginning of the real era of independence, the January Revolution and its aftermath will be mourned by many others. Among them is the Omani writer Nasser Abdulla Al-Riyami, author of Zanzibar: Personalities & Events (1828-1972), subject of our latest Acquisition Highlight.