News & Events

The African Studies Centre Leiden is a long-term partner of SAIL. The SAIL platform brings together seven international higher education and knowledge institutes in the Netherlands that contribute to the Sustainable Global Development agenda by means of research, education, engagement and projects, in collaboration with partners in the global south. SAIL has now launched a beautiful website!

It is with great sadness that the African Studies Centre Leiden has heard the news of the death of Prof. Dr Bill Freund. Bill Freund was a renowned scholar of South(ern) African economic history. He was also a prolific scholar, who continued his studies and publications after his retirement from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. For many years Bill Freund served as a member of the editorial board of the Afrika-Studiecentrum Series, viz. of the sub-series focusing on South Africa.

The Annual Report for 2019 is out now! In addition to an excellent list of publications by our researchers, you will find other highlights such as the well-visited conference 'The Future of the African City', the start of the Graduate Programme in African Studies, and the Stephen Ellis Annual Lecture by Emmanuel Akyeampong, Ellen Gurney Professor of History and of African and American Studies at Harvard University.

According to Rahmane Idrissa in an article in the Guardian, the swift toppling of Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta as president of Mali on 18 August, does not bode well for two overlapping (and troubled) sections of west Africa: the Sahel and the Francophone countries. Mirjam de Bruijn gave several interviews to Dutch media about the situation in Mali after the coup. She urges the international community to initiate a dialogue instead of condeming the coup. 

Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta ('IBK') abused his position as president of Mali – but his ousting further destabilises an already volatile region, Rahmane Idrissa writes in an article for The Guardian. The coup of 18 August does not bode well for two overlapping (and troubled) sections of west Africa: the Sahel and the Francophone countries.

Mirjam de Bruijn, currently in Mali for 'Voice4Thought', has given several interviews about the situation in Mali after the coup on 18 August. 'The international community should not condemn this development, but accompany it', she said to daily newspaper Trouw.