The Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa Annual Report is now out
You can read about all our activities during the 2016/17 academic year in our Annual Report. It is available in print format and pdf.
CPAID researcher presents to Australia’s Department of Defence
In December 2017, Patrcyja Stys was invited to present her research to Australia’s Department of Defence, by the Defence, Science and Technology Group.
Dr Stys, alongside Dr Johan Koskinen of University of Manchester discussed transborder trade networks, historical migration patterns, and networked conflict dynamics in Africa’s Great Lakes Region.
The presentation attempted to redirect Australian DoD’s focus on material resources as the cause of conflict by emphasising unresolved, historically-rooted tensions and their political instrumentalisation in context – linking what has been coined as ’the local’ to wider national and regional developments.
Dr Stys, Dr Koskinen, and present colleagues then discussed the comparability of the Central African case and its dynamics to those of Timore Leste and Indonesia, DoD’s primary concern.
Renewal of the The Beacon Equity Trust scholarship
LSE is pleased to announce the renewal of the The Beacon Equity Trust scholarship.
There will be one award of £20,000 per session for an applicant from Kenya, Tanzania or Uganda. More information on candidate eligibility can be found here. All of LSE's undergraduate programmes are applicable.
This information sheet, provided by the Beacon Trust, covers all aspects of the scholarship.
SeXYZ is the Winner of 2017/2018 LSE PfAL Group Project
The Programme for African Leadership is proud to announce the winner of this year’s group project competition, SeXYZ. Out of the ten groups that took part , SeXYZ was voted the winner by the PfAL 7 students for their idea to “empowerment for education through sex conversation”. This initiative aimns to educate young people on sexual health and reproduction and the influences it can have on their future education prospects.
The group members: Atem de Kuek, Munashe Musuka, Nomonde Ndwalaza, Landry Geoffroy Kabore, Hiral Chudasama, Claudia Atsufui Hihetah and Emily Van der Merwe aim to raise awareness of this issue through visual learning and relatable themes to encourage young people to learn and speak about sex education.
The Programme for African Leadership (PfAL) Group Project was designed to help the PfAL participants develop confidence in presenting their ideas, working as part of a collaborative team to deliver common goals and think about how to develop and implement realistic strategies to address African challenges.
The winners of last year’s group project were the D4Dignity campaign that rolled out a campaign to provide sanitary products to internally displaced people in Nigeria.
New Report Partnerships in Conflict launched at LSE
A new report from Oxfam and International Alert was launched at LSE on Tuesday 31 October 2017. Partnerships in Conflict explores the impact of violent conflict on civil society organisations (CSOs) and the implications for international actors who partner with them.
Hosted by the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa, 130 people were in attendance as Summer Brown, Gerard Howe, Jawed Nadar, Danny Sriskandarajah and Yoma Winder debates some of the reports findings and conclusions.
Watch the event and Read the report
Meet our new PfAL Scholars
We are thrilled to welcome the seventh PfAL cohort for the 2017-2018 academic year
The Programme for African Leadership ( PfAL) was established at LSE to empower a new generation of African leaders who will promote best practices of economic and social development in their organisations and countries.
More information
LSE Visiting Fellow provides expert analysis on Kenya elections
Ahead of the 2017 Kenya general elections, Dr Michael Amoah, Visiting Fellow at the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa was interviewed on the BBC and Al Jazeera about Kenya's general elections which took place on 8 August 2017. While the BBC discussion centred around general aspects of the elections, the Al Jazeera interview focused on the reasons why it is difficult to hold fair elections in some African countries.
Listen to the Al Jazeera Interview
ESRC awards LSE £5 million for new centre looking at successful models of government in fragile African countries
The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has awarded LSE a five-year grant to research governance in fragile, conflict-affected, and impoverished areas in Africa. Launched on 1 April 2017, the Centre for Public Authority and International Development (CPAID) will be led by Professor Tim Allen and hosted at the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa. Its aim is to produce high-quality research and evidence that can help to generate informed and successful international development policies.
The research will look at how families, clans, religious leaders, aid agencies, civil society, rebel militia and vigilante groups contribute to governance, by sharing the experiences of affected populations particularly marginalised and excluded groups.
The funding of the centre forms part of ESRC’s contribution to the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), a £1.5 billion UK Government investment to support cutting-edge research that addresses the challenges faced by developing countries.
Read more about CPAID
Students graduate from PfAL 2016-17 programme
Students participating in the 2016-17 Programme for African Leadership completed the programme on Monday 12 June in a full-day event at LSE.
The students gathered together to discuss their ideas of how they can respond to current issues in their home countries and the African Continent. One of the sessions welcomed PfAL alumna Navalayo Osembo-Ombati, Co-founder of Enda Athletic, Inc., to share about her own LSE journey and the experience of founding a company that aimed to make the first Kenyan running shoes.
Dr Kumi Naidoo, Launch Director of Africans Rising and former Executive Director of Greenpeace International, delivered the keynote address: 'The role of the African graduate in a turbulent and unjust world'.
The event - and the 2016-17 programme - concluded with commencement addresses from current PfAL students Efua Kumea Asibon and Muna Ngenda, who reflected on the cohort's past year and the responsibility that was now in their hands. Professor Paul Kelly, Pro-Director of Teaching and Learning at LSE, presented PfAL certificates to the students in a certification ceremony that saw the 52 students join the PfAL Alumni Network.
Ibukun Awosika delivers inspiring closing keynote at the 2017 LSE Africa Summit
A successful fourth LSE Africa Summit, led by students, concluded on Saturday 1 April with a rousing address by the Chairman of the First Bank of Nigeria, Ibukun Awosika who urged the students in the audience to actively engage in solving the issues facing Africa today.
Awosika’s keynote underlined the theme of this year’s Summit, Built for Africa: African Solutions to African Issues. Although Africa has problems, young Africans can use their education to think constructively and strategically about how to solve these problems, she said, as she urged students to think of themselves as leaders of today, not tomorrow.
Ghanaian undercover investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas gave a spirited defence of what he called “results-based journalism” in the closing keynote of the research conference on Friday 31 March.
Professor Muhammadou Kah, Vice Rector For Technology & Innovations at the ADA University in Baku, Azerbaijan, also emphasised the importance of the diaspora’s contribution to developing African countries.
Security, education and financing were also among the topics debated at the research and business conferences.
Watch video of the 2017 LSE Africa Summit
Applications deadline fast approaching for LSE-UCT MSc Global Media and Communications scholarships
If you fancy being part of the first class of students to enrol in the new MSc Global Media and Communications double degree from LSE and UCT, time is running out to apply.
There are two scholarship opportunities for African applicants for this degree, but in order to be considered, it is recommended that you apply by 31 March. If an offer is received, holders must then complete the LSE Graduate Financial Support Application form by 5pm GMT on 26 April 2017.
Find out more about the degree and how to apply
Discover more scholarships available to African students applying to LSE.
Mauritius Vice President will deliver the opening keynote at the fourth LSE Africa Summit
HE Mr Paramasivum Pillay Vyapoory, Vice President of Mauritius, will give the opening address on the first day of the 2017 LSE Africa Summit on Friday 31 March. Mr Vyapoory is a former High Commissioner to South Africa and a former academic.
The theme of this year’s two-day conference is Built for Africa: African Solutions for African Issues.
Applications open for MSc African Development at LSE
If you are looking for Masters programme which can provide you with a high quality academic introduction to the study of politics, economic development and economic policy in Africa, then you may be interested in applying for the LSE MSc African Development programme.
Find out more about the programme
D4Dignity launch their campaign
The winner of the PfAL projects campaign, D4Dignity have launched their fundraising campaign to provide menstrual products to women and girls in a refugee camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria.
The group of six postgraduate LSE students aim to raise £10,000 which will be used to acheive their goal of providing menstrual hygiene kits for 1400 women and girls in the Maiduguri camp.
Find out more about the campaign on the website and the GoGetFunding page.
Apply to attend the 2017 LSE-UCT July School
The fifth LSE-UCT July School will take place from 17-28 July 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa.
This innovative and prestigious two-week ‘summer school’ style programme provides the highest calibre students, graduates and professionals from across the globe with an exciting opportunity to study important social science issues relevant to Africa today across subject areas as diverse as international relations, economics, management, government, geography, law, media and social policy.
Find out how to apply for the 2017 LSE/UCT July School
Women Leaders on Global Stage: lessons for Africa
To commemorate International Women’s Day 2017, the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa gathered three notable women, Fadumo Dayib, Nemata Majeks-Walker and Joice Mujuru, at LSE on Tuesday 7 March to share their personal challenges and successes in securing political office and campaigning to increase women’s representation in government.
The following day, Dayib, Majeks-Walker and Mujuru had the opportunity to speak to an intimate audience at the UK Parliament at an event hosted by Maria Miller MP, Chair of the Women’s and Equalities Select Committee.
Watch the video of the event and discover how the event unfolded on social media with Storify
African Revolutions: From the streets to the written word
As part of the LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival 2017, the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa held an event African Revolutions: From the streets to the written word which explored the impact of the Arab Spring on the literature of the region.
Yasmine El Rashidi, Samar Samir Mezghanni and Nii Ayikwei Parkes shared personal reflections on how the popular revolutions in North Africa since 2011 continue to inspire their work and those of their colleagues.
Listen to a podcast of this event
Professor Tim Allen Gives Evidence at The Hague
Professor Tim Allen, Director of the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa and head of the Department for International Development at LSE, was the first witness of the prosecution at the ongoing trial of the former Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader Dominic Ongwen at the Hague on 16 and 17 January 2017.
The LRA sprung up in Uganda in the 1980s when Professor Allen, then a young academic, was living and conducting research in Uganda. In his testimony, he explained the origins of the LRA and gave some insight into how the LRA leader Joseph Kony inducted junior recruits into his army.