News & Events

The ASC Country Portal is online! Offering an abundance of information on African countries. This database brings together sources of digital information, grouped per country: news, statistics (UN, Worldbank, elections turnout), publications, Africa experts, Twitter, maps and much more. While 29 out of the 54 African countries are now ready, all countries can be accessed. Countries that are still under construction are marked as such.

On the occasion of his appointment as a Professor of History of Southern Africa, ASC researcher Prof. Jan-Bart Gewald gave his inaugural address 'To Grahamstown and Back: Towards a Socio-Cultural History of Southern Africa' at the Department of Humanities at Leiden University on Friday 6 June. The video of the inaugural address can now be watched on our website.

On 21 August 1986 all human and animal life in the Nyos Valley in Cameroon died, without a trace of damage to houses or crops. Until today the cause of this disaster is not known. Was it an eruption of gas from a nearby crater? Or a French nuclear test? An Israelian bomb? Or punshment from the gods? In his book Stikvallei Dutch author Frank Westerman examines not only the facts and theories with respect to this catastrophe, but also the emergence of myths surrounding the mysterious mass deaths. The splendidly researched Stikvallei is our latest Acquisition Highlight. (Please note that it is written in Dutch, as is the book).

Five research fellows are currently visiting the ASC: Romain Dittgen (photo) from Luxembourg, Nurit Hashimshony-Yaffe from Israel, Daniel O. Spence from South Africa, Felix Kaputu from DR Congo and Moses Mwangi from Kenya. Romain Dittgen is the first joint fellow at the African Studies Centre and the International Institute for Asian Studies, also in Leiden. Read more about the fields of interest of our visiting fellows!

 Verina Ingram will defend her PhD thesis entitled 'Win-wins in forest product value chains? How governance impacts the sustainability of livelihoods based on non-timber forest products from Cameroon' on 18 March at the University of Amsterdam. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as nuts, leaves, resins, barks and honey have medicinal, food, energy, tool and cultural uses. This study examines eight such NTFP value chains from Cameroon, sold locally and exported worldwide. It shows that their combined value is over 32 million US$ annually, more than previously realised. Around 34,000 people, including harvesters and traders, derive income from this trade.