African Studies

Utafiti: Journal of African Perspectives

 

Call for Papers: Utafiti is inviting you to submit your manuscript – any topic in the humanities - for consideration in the next issues.

 

More

 

News & Announcements

Stay up-to-date with the Brill African Studies Community and sign up to our newsletter!

Sign up

New at Brill: Afrika Focus

This journal promotes critical and worldly debates with Africa at the centre. 

New Series: Africa Futures / Afrique Futurs

Published in association with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Africa Futures features cutting-edge research that critically reflects on some of the big questions relevant to imagining Africa’s future as a place.

Listen to our podcast on Africa and Climate Change

Robin Attfield talks about how Africa finds itself vulnerable to drought but also the flooding of its coastline, among other untoward environmental effects of climate change and civil war.

Author:

6 November was a historic day of great symbolic importance in Cameroon’s modern history: President Paul Biya celebrated his thirtieth year in power. However, the year’s most important political event was, without a doubt, the sidelining of Marafa Hamidou Yaya, one of the barons of the Biya regime, who was arrested and convicted of corruption. There were no major developments on the social and economic fronts, but the country was shaken by disturbing social unrest arising from specific events.

Author:

Although West Africa’s hotspot, Mali, was grabbing media headlines worldwide, Central Africa again had its share of violent conflict and related damage elsewhere too. As in previous years, this mostly concerned the DRC and CAR. With the CEMAC Commission in a severe leadership crisis, it was only CEEAC that appeared to function more or less according to expectations; a timid first initiative to merge the two main and semi-competing sub-regional organisations started towards the end of the year.

Author:

The CAR continued on the downward spiral it had been experiencing since 1996 of frequent violent episodes with intervals too short to allow for recovery, and state capacity deteriorated further. In December, a new rebel alliance attacked major provincial cities, threatening to march on the capital, Bangui. The dreaded Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), of Ugandan origin, stepped up its activities during the year with 48 attacks recorded, despite a new multinational military initiative.

Author:

The first ever local elections were held in a year that passed in relative calm, despite some movement on the social front. Economic growth picked up after a slowdown towards the end of 2011 following a bad harvest. Relations with neighbouring countries were marked by more efforts towards cooperation on security and economic issues. The political situation in Chad’s southern neighbour, the CAR, slowly deteriorated and demanded a lot attention from President Idriss Déby Itno. There were major developments in the organisation of the trial of former president Hissein Habré for crimes against humanity in Senegal, his country of exile.

Author:

The year in Congo was marked by a combination of tragedy and political intrigue. In March, a munitions depot exploded in the heart of Brazzaville, killing hundreds of Congolese citizens and displacing at least 15,000. The government pressed forward with parliamentary elections scheduled for July, which President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s ‘Parti Congolais du Travail’ (PCT) won overwhelmingly: of the National Assembly’s 139 seats, the political opposition now held less than 20. Sassou Nguesso reshuffled his government in September, and the appointments reflected both the intrigue surrounding the March explosions and the July election results. Congo’s foreign policy was marked by increasingly warm relations with China and Russia, reducing the regime’s vulnerability to Western diplomatic pressure. Dominant at home, Sassou Nguesso fashioned himself as an elder statesman of Central Africa, mediating in diplomatic crises throughout the sub-region. The Congolese economy continued to grow rapidly, buoyed by persistently high global crude prices. Yet these gains did little to improve the living standards of most Congolese citizens, who remain among the world’s poorest.

Author:

The year was marked by the aftermath of the contested November 2011 elections and a new outbreak of full-fledged rebellion in the east of the country. A new government was formed after months of confusion, protests and post-election violence. The political climate in Kinshasa, as well as relations with donors and African partners, deteriorated significantly. Within this tense political situation, a mutiny by officers from the ‘Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo’ (FARDC) in North and South Kivu resulted in the formation of a new rebel group, the M23. The rebellion quickly took control of parts of North Kivu, culminating in the seizure of the provincial capital, Goma, in November. Regional peace talks started in the summer between ICGLR countries and were complemented by talks between the government and the M23 starting in December. Due to fighting between the M23, the FARDC and a plethora of other armed groups, the humanitarian situation in the eastern provinces deteriorated further.

Author:

This was a year of transition in political terms, between the constitutional reforms in 2011 and the local and legislative elections announced for 2013. The ruling PDGE held its 5th Congress in April and a new government was appointed in May. President Obiang Nguema finished his term as AU chairperson at the beginning of the year and took advantage of Equatorial Guinea’s joint organisation with Gabon of the (football) Africa Cup of Nations to present a positive picture of his regime abroad. At the same time, legal proceedings brought against top officials and some of the president’s relatives (notably his eldest son) in France, the USA and Spain revealed the mismanagement of oil revenues.

President Ali Bongo continued to consolidate his personal rule, reshuffling the cabinet, running parallel agencies, and cutting major international deals with foreign corporations. Singapore’s Olam increased its direct investments in palm oil plantations and timber processing, part of Bongo’s effort to diversify Gabon’s economy away from oil-dependency and towards what he calls ‘Gabon Emergent’.

Author:

At the end of the year, the country was hit by another political crisis. Prime Minister Trovoada (‘Acção Democrática Independente’ – ADI) was dismissed after a motion of censure in parliament and the lawyer Gabriel Costa assumed the office of prime minister of a coalition government constituted by the ‘Movimento de Libertação de São Tomé e Príncipe/Partido Social Democrata (MLSTP/PSD), ‘Partido de Convergência Democrática’ (PCD) and ‘Movimento Democrático Força da Mudança’ (MDFM). Both the president and the prime minister strengthened diplomatic ties by making numerous trips abroad in order to attract investments. The withdrawal of the Chinese Sinopec and other investors from the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) with Nigeria marked another setback for the archipelago’s oil hopes.