Conflict & Development in Africa Podcast

This week, I am joined by Dr Adeoye Akinola, Head of Research & Teaching at the Institute for Pan African Thought and Conversation South Africa, to discuss Africa’s campaign for a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Issaka Souare, Senior Governance and Mediation Advisor and former UN Standby Team of Senior Mediation Advisor and former Special Advisor to the African Union Mission for Mali and the Sahel. Dr Souare and I discuss persistent collapse of negotiations and peace agreements in conflict zones in Africa-against the background of the problematic peace agreements betwee...

Today, we mark a milestone as we publish our 50th episode. Our guest is Elling Tjonneland, a political scientist with nearly 30 years of operational experience as advisor and consultant to all types of development assistance in several parts of the world including Africa. Elling joins me in discussing the recent strategic partnership between Nordic countries and West African countries. These partn...

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Omar Mahmood, Senior Analyst at International Crisis Group, to discuss the new UN-backed AU-led Peacekeeping and stabilization mission in Somalia and how the renewed Al-Shabaab terrorist attacks threaten the peace and stabilozation mission.

In this week's episode, we focus on Sir Keir Starmer's Labour-led government's policy on Africa. I am joined by Harry Burns, an experienced and trusted adviser to governments, institutions, and political and business leaders with a focus on African continent

In this episode, I am joined by Riccardo Fabiani, the Director, North Africa Project at the International Crisis Group to discuss France' contentious recognition of Western Sahara, the wider narrative on self-determination in the continent and the politicisation of state recognition by internal and external actors.

In this week's episode, I am joined by Emeritus Professor, Professor Filip Reyntjens, Professor of Law and African Politics at the Institute of Development and Policy at the University of Antwerp. Professor Reyntjens is a renowned expert on the Great Lakes particularly on Rwandan politics. Our topic focuses on the 2024 election that returned President Paul Kagame for the fourth time with a lan...

In this episode, our topic of focus is: The Junta Government of Burkina Faso and the Transition to Democracy. Our guest is Dr. Muhammad Dan Suleiman, Assistant Professor of International Relations at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and Research Fellow, Curtin University, Australia. Some of the issues we discuss include the geopolitics between the West and East in relation to the &#3...

In today's episode, I am joined by Editimfon Ikpat, an international legal professional and Business Compliance Officer at Intertrust Group, Amsterdam, to discuss the topic, African Regional Court: A Viable Alternative to the ICC. As the International Criminal Court (ICC) continues to face reservation from certain countries including the United States and many others in Africa, having an effec...

In our second episode of this week, I am joined by Barrister Liborous Oshoma, Head Attorney at Liborous Oshoma Chambers and popular public affairs analyst. Our topic today focuses on Nigeria's #endbadgovernance# protest, the threat against the Igbo people and the possible support of Russia.

In one of our two episodes on Nigeria this week, Ben Ezeamalu, the Chief Correspondent at Africa Report Nigeria, joins me in discussing the new EU-Africa Agreement ('Samoa Agreement') and the LGBT concerns in Nigeria.

In this week's episode, Dr. Mathieu Gotteland returns on the show to discuss the advancement made by the Rapid Support Force, RSF, and the role of external actors in Sudan's ongoing bloody war.

In this week's episode, our topic is on 'The Alliance of Sahel States: A New Challenge to ECOWAS'. This is a part two to Episode 16 that focused on coups and the newly established Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Our guest this week is Rida Lyammouri, Senior Fellow at the Policy Center for the New South (PCNS). Rida provides a rich assessment of the AES and its trajectory and relationsh...

Our second episode this week is with Professor David Shinn, a Professor of International Relations at the George Washington University's Elliot School of International Affairs. David is also a former U.S diplomat having served as ambassador to Ethiopia and Burkina Faso and in many other African countries. David joins me to discuss the recent controversial financial bill in Africa, the ensuing...

The first of this week's episode focuses on the Kenyan-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) Mission in Haiti. I am joined by Dr. Ruth Namatovu, a U.S-based analyst of peace and security who specialises in international affairs in Africa. Ruth provides a critical analysis of the MSS Mission, including the motivation behind it, risks involved and the expectations.

In this episode, I am joined by David Suber, a researcher, freelance journalist and PhD candidate at University College London, to discuss the controversial UK-Rwanda Migration Pact. David's works revolve around the intersection between organised crime, people smuggling and border policing.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr Henry Chingaipe, a political scientist and currently Director at the Institute for Policy Research and Social Empowerment, and President of the Political Science Association in Malawi. Dr Chingaipe discusses the potential return of former President of Malwai, Peter Mutharika as a contender in the forthcoming 2025 election. He juxtaposes this to similar events in...

This is the sequel to the previous episode on AI and African Development. In this episode, I am joined by Andre Vlok, a South-African based conflict resolution specialist and author of Hamlet's Mirror: Conflict and Artificial Intelligence , to discuss how non-state armed groups and rogue states in Africa use and can use AI.

This week, we have decided to bless our listeners with two episodes. This is one of two episodes on artificial intelligence. I am joined by Susan Otieno, an AI researcher and legal professional based in Kenya to discuss the huge benefit that AI presents to African development.

In this week's episode, I am joined by Dr. Andrew Poku-Yaw Tchie, a Senior Research Fellow at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Visiting Fellow at the University of Buckingham to discuss the future of UN peacekeeping missions in Africa. The UN peacekeeping missions in Africa have produced mixed results having faced some credible challenges that have led to withdrawal of some...

In this week's episode, our topic is Climate Change and it's impact on conflict and development in Nigeria. I am joined by Adewole Lawal, an Environmental, Social and Governance expert with over 10 years of experience supporting clients on their ESG strategy, reporting and assurance, ESG due diligence, impact investing, decarbonization, climate risk management, green financing, ESMS, ESIA,...

In this week's episode, Dr Ralph Mathekga, a guest expert at Geopolitical Intelligence Services, joins the host Dr Michael Nwankpa in discussing South Africa's 2024 Parliamentary election and the return of controversial former President of South Africa, President Jacob Zuma. This episode is worth listening to following the interesting outcome of the elections where the major party, ANC los...

In this week's episode, our topic focuses on Africa and the International Migration 'crisis'. I am joined by a special guest, Ms Ugochi Daniels, the Deputy Director for Operations at the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Ms Daniels challenges the framing of migration as a 'crisis' especially in relation to Africa and migration outside the continent of Africa.

In this week's episode, I am joined by Chris Ogunmodede, a foreign policy analyst, writer, political risk consultant and editor at World Politics Review, to discuss the Great Power Competition in Africa and the Myth of Russian Influence.

Former French colonies in Africa, from Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, to Gabon are gripped in a growing wave of popular discontentment against the persistent influence and control by France, their former colonizer, amidst a pervasive poverty and insecurity. This has sparked an anti-French, and by extension, anti-Western sentiment and narrative that other geopolitical actors such as Russia and the mili...