African Studies Centre, University of Oxford

Oxford Africa Blog 7

Markus Hoehne and Jethro Norman trace a conundrum that challenges many assumptions about development and democratic consolidation.

In December 2025, Israel became the first country to formally recognise Somaliland. But while crowds celebrated in the capital of Hargeysa, hundreds of kilometres away in Lasanod, the mood couldn't have been more different. Somaliland hasn't controlled Lasanod since a massive uprising in August 2023 cut its territory by nearly a third.

How did a region prized for being a "beacon of stability" get here? Jethro and Markus show us that a stronger push to secure foreign investment and diplomatic engagement - which made international recognition thinkable - alongside the centralisation of power, has fuelled discontent. The outcome is striking: the very foreign investment and diplomatic engagement that made international recognition thinkable shattered the polity it was supposed to consolidate.

Read this fascinating story of unintended consequences on our site: https://shorturl.at/EXJPS

📸: Image credits Abdirashid Ibrahim

Join us TODAY for a lecture by visiting Africa Oxford Initiative Fellow, Felix Ajiola.

Felix's interdisciplinary scholarship spans the humanities and social sciences. His work critically examines African social, economic, cultural, and development histories, with a specific focus on how global forces shape local African realities, environments, and social structures.

Lecture starts at 4:00 PM at the African Studies Centre Seminar Room.

Oxford Africa Forum Blog 6

Global trade is getting unpredictable. Tariff wars, special arrangements, and the WTO stalemate are driving new challenges for African economies and causing severe volatility. Unpredictability makes international buyers nervous, pushes sellers to squeeze out already marginal profits, and makes workers' jobs increasingly precarious.

The solution, according to Dr Ese Stephen Owie in this blog, is for Africa to shift from reaction to strategy by fast-tracking the African Continental Free Trade Area, moving towards what he terms "Afri-multilaterism and focusing on real-time shock anticipation instead of just waiting to see what happens.

This is a must-read for development students, practitioners, and professionals in trade development and finance. Visit our website now to read the full article. Then come back and let us know what you think.

Pan-Africanism is a widely used but mystifying concept. Daniel Mulugeta (SOAS University of London), in the latest blog, looks at how we can approach Pan-Africanism as an analytical category to re-imagine African politics.

Daniel explores the roots of Pan-Africanism and its criticism as either essentialist thinking or a means for building strategic solidarity. His approach, viewing it as an analytical category, prompts questions that go to the core of how African politics functions and is understood.

Students of African politics and international relations, or development and civil society activists, as it shows the link between ideas and institutions, as well as shaping what is regarded as politically possible for Africa.

Read the short version of the article on our website. Or grab access Or, grab the free access article here ➡️ https://shorturl.at/rHqbr

This article is based on: Mulugeta, D. (2026). Bringing Pan-Africanism back in as an analytical category. African affairs (London). [Online]

Join the NorthEast Africa Forum for Hanno Brankamp's book launch on 2 June at 4:00PM at the African Studies Centre.

In conversation with Lorden Landau, Brankamp will be discussing his latest book. Hanno challenges the presumed innocence of refugee humanitarianism as a peaceful system of civilian protection. Drawing on extensive ethnographic research in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp, he illustrates how aid operations can function as militarised occupations that treat camp inhabitants as colonised subjects.

This is a hybrid event. Join in-person at the African Studies Centre or register online: https://shorturl.at/CMRj6.

Oxford Africa Forum Blog 4

What does “digital sovereignty” really mean for Africa? In the latest edition of our blog series, Bulelani Jili explores how African states, institutions and societies are navigating the politics of tech, data governance and digital dependency. Jili focuses on the structural challenges shaping Africa's digital future while asking how we can create more sovereign, inclusive and people-centred technological ecosystems.

Read the full blog here ➡️https://shorturl.at/xJ8B2.
You can also grab the full article over at African Affairs➡️https://shorturl.at/eyimv

This blog is based on: Jili, B. 2026. Pedagogies of Digital Sovereignty: The Un/Making Of Dependency Through Technical Education in Kenya. African Affairs [Online].

Remember to join us TODAY for the OSGA annual lecture.

This year's lecture will be delivered by Dr Harini Amarasuriya, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. She will explore the intersections of development, governance and politics in Sri Lanka, reflecting on what this experience reveals about the broader challenges of development worldwide.

Dr Amarasuriya brings together her insights as a sociologist, activist and university lecturer, alongside her political leadership, to explain the political context shaping reform efforts and the complexities of sustaining meaningful change.

Doors at the Nissan Theatre Lecture will open from 16:30 PM.

Our third blog in our Oxford Africa Forum is live!

In this blog, Gayatri Sahgal examines Somalia to explore how taxes, business, and the state are interconnected in fragile contexts. It’s a great read for anyone interested in Somalia, African politics, governance, taxation, or the interaction between states and markets.

With all blogs in this series, you can read the shorter version on our website 👉 https://shorturl.at/M1Tr8.
Or download the full article here 👉 https://shorturl.at/m8XNg.

The blog has been based on: Sahgal, G. (2025) ‘The state-capital nexus in fragile contexts: a case study of tax relations in Somalia’, The Journal of Modern African Studies, 63(1), pp. 25–50. doi:10.1017/S0022278X25100943.

How about a lunchtime read? Dive into our second blog post by Georg Lammich.

Domestic politics don’t stop at the border - they also shape how countries show up on the world stage. Georg unpacks how leadership changes, party competition and internal political priorities can influence Tanzania's international relationships, partners and role in the region.

You can read the shorter blog version on our website➡️https://shorturl.at/WaLQR.
OR read the full-length article in The Journal of Modern African Studies ➡️https://shorturl.at/7Vdif

This blog is based on: Lammich, G. “Understanding foreign policy through political settlements: insights from Tanzania.” The Journal of Modern African Studies 63, no. 3 (2025): 183–206.

We’ve moved! Update your bookmarks.

The African Studies Centre is now part of The Oxford School of Global and Area Studies, University of Oxford (OSGA) webpages.

Explore our new online home for news, research, events, teaching, and opportunities connected to African Studies at Oxford.

Same centre, different home. Visit the new website here:
https://www.osga.ox.ac.uk/african-studies-centre.