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.
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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.
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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.
Congo’s political climate was marked by new tensions, as President Denis Sassou Nguesso continued his efforts to engineer a constitutional revision that would enable him to retain power beyond 2016. The local and senatorial elections of September and October, respectively, highlighted the political opposition’s weakness. With most citizens overwhelmingly opposed to the constitutional revisions, Sassou Nguesso sought to deter protests by demonstrating the regime’s capacity for violence. Abroad, he attempted to fashion himself as the region’s elder statesman, mediating in the conflict in the car and amplifying his efforts to curry favour in Paris and Washington. Although these endeavours met with limited success, they acquired greater urgency following the revolution in Burkina Faso, which swept President Blaise Campaoré from power as he contemplated a similar constitutional revision. Amid declining oil production, the government held a series of conferences in Brazzaville to attract foreign investors. But enshrined corruption, a poor regulatory framework, and the spectre of political instability limited their success. Congo’s gdp growth rate continued to fall, and its citizens’ living standards remained among the world’s lowest.