The Nordic Africa Institute
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Federal solutions to state failure in Africa
No full textAs a legal-constitutional system of government of fairly rigid rules and practices, federalism in Africa might not have a positive image, but the overall relevance and utility of federalism for state-building on the continent has been grossly underestimated, for reasons related to narrow legal-constitutional standards. This paper shows that federal solutions offer the relevant framework and principles for rebuilding the state as a decolonial construct of collective ownership, shared rule and self-rule. The central argument is that the unravelling of the received state, whose failure is manifest in the contestations, conflicts and wars, and overall inability to function as a state, provides the opportunity for renegotiating and re-bargaining the state.CONTENTS: Foreword. -- Introduction. -- State failure. -- Federal solutions. -- Federal solutions to state failure. -- Conclusions. -- Acknowledgements. -- Bibliography.</p
A step forward but no guarantee of gender friendly policies : female candidates spark hope in the 2020 Ghanaian elections
No full textIn the forthcoming Ghanaian elections, for the first time ever a woman has emerged as a vice-presidential candidate for one of the two major parties. Her candidacy has given rise to hopes of progress on gender equality issues, but it has also led to anti-feminist and misogynistic comments. This policy note addresses certain challenges and opportunities to break the male dominance of Ghanaian politics
Invisibility in African displacements : from structural marginalization to strategies of avoidance
No full textAfrican migrants have become increasingly demonised in public debate and political rhetoric. There is much speculation about the incentives and trajectories of Africans on the move, and often these speculations are implicitly or overtly geared towards discouraging and policing their movements. What is rarely understood or scrutinised however, are the intricate ways in which African migrants are marginalised and excluded from public discourse; not only in Europe but in migrant-receiving contexts across the globe. Invisibility in African Displacements offers a series of case studies that explore these dynamics. What tends to be either ignored or demonised in public debates on African migration are the deliberate strategies of avoidance or assimilation that migrants make use of to gain access to the destinations or opportunities they seek, or to remain below the radar of restrictive governance regimes. This books offers fine-grained analysis of the ways in which African migrants negotiate structural and strategic invisibilities, adding innovative approaches to our understanding of both migrant vulnerabilities and resilience.CONTENTS: Introduction: The production of invisibility in African displacements / Jesper Bjarnesen and Simon Turner -- SECTION 1: Humanitarian in/visibilities -- 1. Renegotiating humanitarian governance: challenging invisibility in the Chad–Sudan borderlands / Andrea Behrends -- 2. Encamped within a camp: transgender refugees and Kakuma Refugee Camp (Kenya) / B Camminga -- 3. An unsettling peace: displacement and strategies of invisibility in post-war Burundi / Andrea Purdeková -- 4. Sufficiently visible/invisibly self-sufficient: recognition in displacement agriculture in north-western Tanzania / Clayton Boeyink -- SECTION 2: State in/visibilities -- 5. War refugees in Northern Cameroon: visibility and invisibility in adapting to the informal economy and the ‘tolerant’ state / Trond Waage -- 6. Entangled hypervisibility: Senegalese migrants’ everyday struggles for a place in the city / Ida Marie Savio Vammen -- 7. Paths to Paris: hodological space and invisibility among Malian migrants without papers in the French capital / Line Richter -- 8. Invisibility as a livelihood strategy: Zimbabwean migrant domestic workers in Botswana / Joyce Takaindisa and Ingrid Palmary -- 9. The Nigerien migrants in Kaddafi’s Libya: between visibility and invisibility / Oriol Puig Cepero -- 10. Violence, displacement and the in/visibility of bodies, papers and images in Burundi / Simon Turner -- SECTION 3: Social in/visibilities -- 11. (Dis)Connectivity and the invisibility of mobile Fulani in West Africa / Roos Keja, Adamou Amadou and Mirjam de Bruijn -- 12. Fugitive emplacements: mobility as discontent for wahaya concubine women with slave status in the transnational borderlands of Niger–Nigeria, 1960–2016 / Lotte Pelckmans -- 13. The paradoxes of migrant in/visibility: understanding displacement intersectionalities in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso / Jesper Bjarnesen -- Afterword: the times of invisibility / Loren B. Landau -- Index</p
Visions of urban modernity and the shrinking of public space : challenges for street work in African cities
No full textMaking cities inclusive is one of the goals of Agenda 2030, and access to publicspaces is identified as an important sub-goal. However, in urban Africa, access by street vendors and other marginalised groups to public spaces seems to be on the decline. This policy note discusses why this is so, what processes lie behind the decline and what the effects are for groups that depend on public space for survival.This policy note is based on the research project "The demise of the informal city? Economic growth and street work in urban Africa", funded by the Swedish Research Council (grant no 2015-03474). For more information and publications, go to: humangeo.su.se/urbanafrica</p
Women, peace and security in Rwanda : promises and pitfalls
No full textWith its high level of female representation and its successful reconciliation process after the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has emerged as something of an African and global 'model' of gender equality and conflict resolution. But beyond the 'politics of numbers' lies a male-dominated structure, where women and feminist thinking have little or no influence. This policy note assesses how Rwanda has adopted UN Security Council Resolution 1325, and offers policy advice on how to break gender barriers in the traditionally masculinist security sector.This policy note is inspired by the conclusions from the symposium Gender and Peace in Africa: Taking Stock of 20 Years with Resolution 1325 (Stockholm 9–10 March 2020), which was co-organised by NAI and the Namibian Embassy in Sweden and was supported by Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.</p
Ouattara's third-term bid raises old fears : risk of violence in Côte d'Ivoire's upcoming presidential elections
No full textThe unexpected death this summer of the front-runner in the upcoming elections and incumbent President Ouattara’s contested move to run for a third term in office have increased the risk of electoral violence in the ethnically divided Côte d’Ivoire. The threat of a return to armed conflict, as we saw after the 2010 elections, should not be excluded
The politics of citizenship : social contract and inclusivity in Africa
No full textIn many African countries, citizenship offers civil rights to those who are included. At the same time, many – especially youth, migrants and other marginalised groups – often do not receive equal recognition in the social contract between state and citizen. They do not have the same access to justice, social protection and welfare services. This policy note addresses the challenges facing inclusive citizenship
Resources, relevance and impact – key challenges for African universities : how to strengthen research and higher education in Africa
No full textGlobal and regional goals, such as Agenda 2030 and the African Union's Continental Education Strategy for Africa, foreground higher education as an engine for development and job creation. Yet, many African universities perform weakly in international comparison. This policy note looks at the challenges in strengthening the freedom, relevance and impact of research and higher education in Africa. Recommendations for policymakers: Minimise inequality Improve data collection Train more lecturers Benchmarking and networking Build equitable relationships Safeguard academic freedomThis policy note is based on conclusions and experiences drawn from the ongoing research project at the Nordic Africa Institute; "The Space and Role of Political Science in the Evolving Democratic Transformation in Africa", led by Professor Liisa Laakso and supported by Postdoctoral Researcher Kajsa Hallberg Adu. The project compares African countries and their levels of democratisation with the situation and status of the political science discipline.</p
Shifting the narrative on African migration : the numbers, the root causes, the alternatives – get them right!
No full textThe overall message of this policy note is that negative public opinion in Europe is a major obstacle to holistic and sustainable policies relating to African migration. It argues for a shift in wording and perspective away from politicised opinions about immigration, or misplaced ideas of humanitarian responsibilities, towards a more constructive and pragmatic focus on labour migration management
Multiple shocks call for alternative ways forward : African economies after the Covid-19 pandemic
No full textThe Coronavirus crisis hit Africa at a time when many of the continent’s economies were already at risk of debt distress. Multiple shocks caused by the pandemic have increased their need for new loans. The increasing complexity of the loan market makes it hard to achieve debt relief settlements. The way forward is instead diversification of the export industry, reform of the tax systems, investment in human development and closing the digital divide