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Voices from Africa
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact across Africa, and as governments, organisations and individuals react to the challenges presented by the pandemic we are continuously seeing everyday people adapt in a variety of ways.
We reached out to some of the alumni from LSE and The Programme for African Leadership to ask them to share their current experiences, how their countries have reacted to the COVID-19 response and what they think will be the biggest challenges moving forward.
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Crisis: South Africa’s political economy after the local elections
Where next for the ruling party after the watershed local elections? We unpack the implications of the results, the growing fractures in the ANC, allegations of state capture and its effect on the economy with Dr Desne Masie and Nick Branson
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Somalia’s Foreign Policy Priorities

Somalia Foreign Minister Dr Abdusalam H Omer presents Somalia’s newly adopted foreign policy. He will also discuss the Somalia Government’s vision and the current challenges and future opportunities for a new era of peace, progress and prosperity in Somalia, the region and the world.
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From Oscar Pistorius to Reality TV: the implications of using the courtroom as a television studio

The Judicial Images Network Project was established in 2014 to bring together scholars and across disciplines and continents to explore issues surrounding the production, regulation and consumption of judicial images. Directed by Professors Leslie Moran and Linda Mulcahy this lecture is the final event in a series of three. The event will feature two speakers with extensive experience of the issues that arise from televised trials. The Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa Dikgang Moseneke will discuss the experience of, and issues arising from, the televising of the trial of Oscar Pistorious. Ruth Herz will reflect on her experience as a judge who took part in a popular German courtroom based reality TV show. Chaired by the Master of the Rolls this event will examine the ethical implications of allowing cameras into courts and whether and how the presence of cameras impacts on the dynamics of the trial.
Lord Dyson is the Master of the Rolls and Head of Civil Justice. Ruth Herz is a former judge in Cologne, author and for several years was presiding judge on German television programme Das Jugendgericht (Youth Court). Dikgang Moseneke is the Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa.
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Fraud at polls: can journalists and statisticians check? The Mozambican experience

In every Mozambican election, the ruling party (Frelimo) won, and the opposition cried fraud. Can we tell who really won? Teams of up to 150 journalists, organized by Joe Hanlon, covered the elections across the country and reported that fraud and misconduct did occur. But did it change the outcome? Mozambique reports results from each polling station (each with fewer than 1000 voters) which allows statistical analysis for ballot box stuffing, invalidating opposition votes, and other misconduct. This is a first report on a unique project to put the journalists and statisticians together – and test the official outcome of five presidential elections. Johan Ahlback is a PhD student in the Department of Government at LSE. Joseph Hanlon is a Visiting Fellow in International Development at LSE.
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Literary Festival 2016: Imagining African Futures

Western media reports that ‘Africa is Rising’ and a new middle class is emerging on the continent to transform political and economic systems. More sober stories from Mali, Northern Nigeria and Kenya reinforce earlier gloomy impressions and claim that Africa is not rising for all. Both optimistic and pessimistic accounts remain stubbornly dominated by outside voices. What do African writers and thinkers really think about the future?
Leye Adenle (@LeyeAdenle) is an actor and writer. He has written a number of short stories and flash fiction pieces, including The Assassination. His forthcoming novel, The Easy Motion Tourist, will be published by Cassava Republic.
Jennifer Makumbi’s first novel, Kintu won the Kwani Manuscript Prize in 2013. She is a lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Lancaster, where she also completed a PhD in Creative Writing.
Chibundu Onuzo (@ChibunduOnuzo) was born in Nigeria in 1991 and is the youngest of four children. She is currently studying History at Kings College, London.
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Enough! Will Youth Protests Drive Political Change in Africa?
Disaffected African young people risk their lives to try to reach Europe. Others join radical groups such as Boko Haram, Al-Shabab and Islamic State. Angry young unemployed South Africans were behind xenophobic attacks there. Youth protesting their socio-economic and political marginalization have changed governments in Tunisia and Senegal. One-third of Africans are between the ages of 10 and 24 and they are better educated than their parents and have higher expectations, but they are less likely to have jobs or political influence. Young Africans are organizing in many ways, and are making their voices heard. How will they force governments to listen?

Alcinda Honwana is author of The Time of Youth: Work, Politics, and Social Change in Africa and Youth and Revolution in Tunisia. She is Visiting Professor in International Development at the Open University and was director of the Africa Program of the Social Science Research Council, New York.
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Nigeria’s 2015 General Elections: giving democracy a chance

This lecture gives the inside story of Nigeria’s first successful transfer of power in the contentious 2015 elections that brought the country back from the brink.

Attahiru Jega has just completed his term as Chairman of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission. He is a professor of Political Science and former Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, and has authored and edited a number of books on democratization in Nigeria. He also negotiated a landmark agreement for Nigerian academics as President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities during the early 1990s.
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The Modern Mercenary: private armies and what they mean for world order

It was 2004, and Sean McFate had a mission in Burundi: to keep the president alive and prevent the country from spiraling into genocide, without anyone knowing that the United States was involved. The United States was, of course, involved, but only through McFate’s employer, the military contractor DynCorp International. Throughout the world, similar scenarios are playing out daily. The United States can no longer go to war without contractors. Yet we don’t know much about the industry’s structure, its operations, or where it’s heading. Even the U.S. government – the entity that actually pays them – knows relatively little.

In The Modern Mercenary, Sean McFate combines a broad-ranging theory of the phenomenon with an insider’s understanding of what the opaque world of the private military industry is actually like, explaining its economic structure and showing in detail how firms operate on the ground. McFate provides an unparalleled perspective into the nuts and bolts of the industry, as well as a sobering prognosis for the future of war.

Sean McFate (@seanmcfate) is Associate Professor at the National Defense University, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown School of Foreign Service. Sean is an alumnus of LSE.
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Is Africa Rising: a personal perspective from Winnie Byanyima

Winnie will reflect on her own life and experiences growing up in Uganda, and discuss the true nature of Africa’s growth story and how we must tackle crisis of inequality in Africa. Born in Uganda, Winnie Byanyima (@Winnie_Byanyima) is the Executive Director of Oxfam International.
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Women, Peace and Security: tackling the cycle of violence against women
15 years since the adoption of UNSCR 1325 and sexual and gender-based violence continues to affect millions around the world, primarily but not exclusively women and girls. Such violence destroys lives, families and communities, and threatens international peace and security. Combating the cycle of violence against women requires a real and concerted effort to work towards equality for women across all sections of society.

LSE is contributing to this effort with the creation of the Centre for Women, Peace and Security, founded with the support of the UK Government’s Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict Initiative and led by Professor Christine Chinkin.
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Shifting African Digital Landscapes
Developments in online media point to interesting possibilities for African engagement in the global public sphere. African subjects are taking their places as audiences and agents, rather than receivers of aid and information.
Sean Jacobs is a faculty member of The New School in New York City and the founder of the popular Africa is a Country blog.
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The Age of Sustainable Development
In this public lecture Professor Sachs will talk about his upcoming book, The Age of Sustainable Development, which explains the central concept for our age, which is both a way of understanding the world and a method for solving global problems – sustainable development. Sustainable development tries to make sense of the interactions of three complex systems: the world economy, the global society, and the Earth’s physical environment. It recommends a holistic framework, in which society aims for environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive development, underpinned by good governance. It is a way to understand the world, yet is also a normative or ethical view of the world: a way to define the objectives of a well-functioning society, one that delivers wellbeing for its citizens today and in future generations. This book describes key challenges and solutions pathways for every part of the world to be involved in problem solving, brainstorming, and determining new and creative ways to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth.
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Conor Gearty in Conversation with Chaloka Beyani
Dr Beyani will talk about international human rights, working with the UN and his duties as Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons.  Chaloka Beyani is Associate Professor of International Law at LSE.
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From Transformational Leadership to Mafia State? Observations from South Africa’s Two Decades of Democracy
Widely considered to be Africa’s oldest liberation movement, the African National Congress (ANC) played a historic role in ending apartheid in South Africa and has been the country’s ruling political party since 1994. More recently, however, the ANC’s legacy has been tarnished by allegations of corruption and inefficiency. Dr Mzukisi Qobo will discuss his view that political governance in South Africa has collapsed, and explore the possibilities of the country’s political future.
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Art and Activism: reflections on the anti-apartheid struggle and two decades of South African democracy
Hugh Masekela has long spoken out about South Africa’s struggle for civil rights. His talk will be about arts & activism, reflecting on the role that he and other artists, particularly those in exile, played in the anti-apartheid movement.
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Women in Public Life: above the parapet
Joyce Banda will reflect on her journey to the highest level of public life. This event launches a new Institute of Public Affairs project exploring the roads taken by women who shape public life.

Joyce Banda was the first female President of Malawi (2012 – 2014) and only the second woman to lead a country in Africa.
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Practical and ethical dilemmas of working in the current Ebola crisis
Benjamin Black is a London based obstetrics & gynaecology registrar, currently working for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as part of the Ebola response. He has a special interest in humanitarian emergencies and their impact on the reproductive health of affected populations. From June to September, Benjamin undertook a mission with MSF in Sierra Leone, he will be returning for his next MSF mission in Sierra Leone next week. In this talk, Dr Black will give provide an insight to the ethical dilemmas of continuing normal health services within the context of an Ebola epidemic.Listen

‘Secure the Borders!’ The Cost and Consequences of Europe’s ‘Fight Against Irregular Migration’
The summer of 2014 has been yet another season of misery at Europe’s southern frontiers. The unseaworthy boats carrying migrants and refugees towards an uncertain destiny and destination have again multiplied along Italian shores, despite the large investments in more patrols, surveillance and coordination at the borders. Elsewhere, in Spain and Greece, a similar story repeats. A decade on from the founding of Europe’s border agency Frontex, the challenges at the border seem as steep and intractable as ever. In this time, Europe has developed ever more complex initiatives for tracking, halting, returning and assisting undocumented migrants seeking southern European shores, involving an expanding range of sectors: European border guards and African security forces, humanitarians and policymakers, academics and intelligence experts, defence companies and data managers. What are the stakes for these diverse and at times conflictive groups working on irregular migration at and beyond the EU external borders? Who are the winners and losers among them – and are they succeeding in their job of ‘managing the frontiers’? To mark the launch of Illegality, Inc. (UC Press), this event grapples with such difficult questions about the ‘business of bordering Europe’ in the boats’ wake – while also suggesting ways in which the suffering at the borders may be alleviated in the future. Ruben Andersson (@ruben_andersson) is AXA Postdoctoral Research Fellow at LSE’s Civil Society and Human Security Research Unit.
Jeremy Harding is a contributing editor to the London Review of Books. Cecilia Malmström (@MalmstromEU) is the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs.
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Formality Bias: the habits holding Africa back

Dayo Olopade, Nigerian-American journalist and author, will expose the global pretensions that have stymied African development, and explore the ingenious workarounds that are driving regional progress. Olopade will share case studies in innovation, drawn from her reporting across 17 African countries—moving beyond the dire headlines and toward a realistic, constructive assessment of modern Africa

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Financing Africa’s Future: infrastructure, investment and opportunity

Low investment in infrastructure is a critical constraint on economic growth in Africa. Dr Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank, assesses the challenges and offers his views on the way forward.

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Emerging Africa: how the global economy’s ‘last frontier’ can prosper and matter
To many, Africa is the new frontier. As the West lies battered by financial crises, Africa is seen as offering limitless opportunities for wealth creation in the march of globalisation. In his new book, Emerging Africa: How the Global Economy’s “Last Frontier” Can Prosper and Matter, Kingsley Moghalu, in considering the questions of what Africa means to today’s Africans and whether Africa is truly on the rise, challenges conventional wisdoms about Africa’s quest for growth.

Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu is deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. One of Africa’s leading economic thinkers and policymakers, he worked for the United Nations for 17 years in New York, Cambodia, Croatia, Tanzania, and Switzerland, and was the founder and CEO of Sogato Strategies SA, a global risk and strategy advisory firm in Geneva, Switzerland.
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Good Morning, Mr Mandela
Zelda la Grange (@ZeldalaGrangeSA) grew up in South Africa as a white Afrikaner who supported the rules of segregation. Yet just a few years after the end of Apartheid she would become a most trusted assistant to Nelson Mandela, growing to respect and cherish the man she had been taught was the enemy.
Zelda la Grange will speak about her new book in conversation with John Carlin. Good Morning, Mr Mandela tells the story of how a young woman had her life, beliefs, prejudices and everything she once believed in utterly transformed by the greatest man of her time.
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Mandela, the lawyer
What role for law in the struggle against injustice? On 12 June 1964, Nelson Mandela and seven of his co-defendants in the Rivonia Trial were sentenced to life imprisonment for acts of sabotage against the apartheid regime. On the 50th anniversary of their sentencing, LSE hosts its official commemorative event to honour the life of Nelson Mandela. Eminent contemporaries and leading scholars of the late President of South Africa reflect on the role of law in the struggle against apartheid – and on Mandela, the lawyer.
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Harnessing the Power of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Fight to Eradicate Sexual Violence in Conflict
Zainab Hawa Bangura assumed her position as Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict at the level of Under-Secretary-General on 4 September 2012. In this capacity, she serves as Chair of the interagency network, UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict (UN Action).
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We must free our imaginations
Against the background of recent debates on gay rights on the African continent, Binyavanga Wainaina came out on his 43rd birthday, reproducing a lost chapter of his memoir, One Day I Will Write About This Place. He followed this declaration with a landmark YouTube personal manifesto, ‘We must free our imagination’. As Africa rapidly transforms, socially and economically, conservatives are starting to react, attempting to limit the scope for the imagination to freely conceptualise the open and free ecosystems that the continent needs for its next stage of independence and development. In this public lecture, Binyavanga reflects on recent events. Binyavanga Wainaina is a Kenyan author, journalist and winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. He is the founding editor of the literary magazine Kwani.
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Peacebuilding: what is it and why is it important?
Peacebuilding has become a buzzword over the past decade. Yet, there are many diverging ideas of what peacebuilding is and what it entails. The United Nations is not exempt from such uncertainty, diverging interpretations, and misunderstandings, as well as the resulting conceptual and practical debates. Assistant secretary-general for peacebuilding support, Judy Cheng-Hopkins, will seek to outline the concept of peacebuilding, its practical significance, and translation into operational activity, with a particular focus on the work and engagement of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and the Peacebuilding Fund, which finances activities of UN agencies, funds and programmes in fragile states around the world. Judy Cheng-Hopkins has been the United Nations assistant secretary-general for peacebuilding support since 2009.
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The Dialectics of the Arab Revolutions: 2011-2013
Far from the misconceptions of the “Arab Spring” or the “Islamist Autumn”, the upheavals of the Arab world over the last three years unfolded along a number of lines of understanding – some local, others regional or global – that were intricately mixed. Professor Gilles Kepel, who has extensively travelled the Middle East since Spring 2011 and met with many of the conflicting actors of the crisis, from Tunisia to Syria and the Arabian peninsula, introduces a contextual analysis of the events rationale, based on his award-winning travelogue Passion arabe [the Arab Passion].
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Social Movements, Political Violence and the State
From Gezi Park in Istanbul to Tahrir Square in Cairo, as well as in the heart of Europe, threatened regimes have faced down massive protests with brutal repression. But when do mass social movements go underground and choose violence? Della Porta brings to bear her extensive research into left-wing, right-wing, ethnonationalist, and religious forms of political violence to answer this question. The comparison of quite different cases of escalation allows to single out the competitive dynamics of radicalization both inside social movements and between them and the state. Donatella Della Porta is professor of political science and political sociology at the European University Institute with a distinguished record of research into social movements and political violence.
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The Politics of the Urban Everyday in the Arab Revolutions
In this seminar, Professor Salwa Ismail will discuss dimensions of contention and oppositional action anchored in urban space. It addresses the following questions: How, in the context of the Arab Revolutions, did the urban-based mass protests link with existing patterns of urban political action? What forms of contentious action undergird and animate these protests? In answering these questions, the focus will be on urban popular forces in Cairo and on their modes of inhabiting the city, and on the politics of the urban everyday. Salwa Ismail is Professor of Politics with reference to the Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
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Towards Reforming the International Financial and Monetary Systems
The current global financial crisis has already continued for six years now – much longer than most feared at the beginning. Moreover, there have been several sequels, the Euro crisis being the most notable. Let us reflect on the surprising technical origins of the crisis and the shocking moral ones. Let us ask what the system has learned, what insights have been acted upon, what reform is underway. And let us explore areas that remain to be reformed, in particular the responsibility of governments to embed practices of financial stewardship. Would the restoration of economic stability and prosperity be enough? Pope Francis would have the economy commit to real remedies for grinding poverty, growing inequality, social exclusion and environmental degradation. Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson is president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Archbishop emeritus of Cape Coast (Ghana).
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Nationalism, Internationalism and Global Sport
Why does the partisan choice between Real Madrid and Barcelona affect the identity of millions in North Africa, the Middle East and beyond? How does the India- Pakistan cricket rivalry remain salient in a world of ‘globalised’ sport? Why doesn’t North America enjoy the same sports as the rest of the world?’ Mike Marqusee seeks to explain the phenomena of ‘globalised’ spectator sport through examining its origins.
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Libya: a happy ending that wasn’t
The lecture will cover post-2011 Libya and ask key questions related to post-conflict reconstruction, security sector reform and transitional justice. What can we learn for future cases of regime change? How can security be built without external security provision? What are the factors that facilitate or impede political transitions? Florence Gaub joined the European Union Institute for Strategic Studies in May 2013 where she works on the Arab world with a focus on strategy and security.
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AIDS Drugs for All: social movements and market transformations
Drawing on a rich set of interviews and surveys, Joshua Busby shows how the global AIDS treatment advocacy movement helped millions in the developing world gain access to lifesaving medication. Joshua Busby is an associate professor of public affairs and a fellow in the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service.
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The People Want: a radical exploration of the Arab uprising
The euphoria that welcomed the Arab uprising in its initial stage tended to turn into gloom in recent months. Away from impressionistic reactions, Gilbert Achcar will assess and discuss the latest developments in the Arab-speaking region on the occasion of the publication of his recent book, The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising. Gilbert Achcar grew up in Lebanon, researched and taught in Beirut, Paris and Berlin, and is currently professor of development studies and international relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London.
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The Rise of the Global South: Towards an Agenda for a New Century
First Annual CAF-LSE Conference. The Rise of the Global South: Towards an Agenda for a New Century Perhaps the most important development of the contemporary century is the emergence of the global South onto the stage of world politics. The first annual CAF-LSE conference will be held on Friday 17th January 2014 at the London School of Economics. This conference will contribute to understanding the rise of the global South by focusing on key international actors from the regions, their perspective on global issues, the role of South-South cooperation as a development paradigm, and their current impact on a changing global environment.
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The Next Global Development Agenda: from aspiration to delivery
2015 was the date set for achieving most of the Millennium Development Goals’ targets. United Nations member states have agreed that there should be a post-2015 development agenda aimed at poverty eradication in the context of sustainable development. With negotiations on a new agenda set to begin in late 2014, Helen Clark will reflect on the inputs to the debate thus far and on how consensus can be reached on sustainable development goals.

Helen Clark (@HelenClarkUNDP) became the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme in April 2009, and is the first woman to lead the organization. She is also the chair of the United Nations Development Group, a committee consisting of the heads of all UN funds, programmes and departments working on development issues.
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Western Sahara: stalemate and its discontents
The outbreak of the Arab uprisings marked the 35th year of the conflict over Western Sahara, Africa’s last decolonization case. The international community has so far failed to produce a political climate conducive to the resolution of the conflict. If formal conflict resolution is locked in a stalemate, this paper analyses changes on the ground in recent years. These changes have been enacted by Sahrawis both in Western Sahara, and in the refugee camps in Algeria where exiled Sahrawis live.

Alice Wilson is is junior research fellow in social anthropology, Homerton College, University of Cambridge. Her research explores insights into state power and sovereignty brought to light by the changing significance of tribes in the government-in-exile of Western Sahara. She is currently working on a monograph entitled Remaking Sovereignty in a Saharan revolution.
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The Social-Cultural Foundation of the 21st Century New Pan-Africanist Consciousness
The Steve Biko Memorial Lecture Europe is an initiative of the South African based Steve Biko Foundation. The 2013 lecture takes place during Black History Month in the United Kingdom. Described as a resuscitative moment, the lecture is an opportunity to explore the inextricable link between the individual and society; to celebrate triumphs over inequality and to examine the importance of identity in the twenty-first century. In keeping with the tradition of Biko, the lecture focuses on issues of culture, identity and social change.
Adama Samassékou, a Malian national, will deliver the lecture. He is the founder and former president of the African Academy of Languages- an official organ of the African Union; president of International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences as well as the MAAYA Network, a global body promoting linguistic diversity.
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“Your Fatwa does not apply here”: the human rights struggle against Muslim fundamentalism
From Pakistani peace activists to Tunisian feminists, from Chechen journalists to Algerian victims of terrorism, Karima Bennoune highlights some of the most overlooked and important contemporary human rights struggles.
Karima Bennoune is professor of international law and a member of the board of the network of Women Living Under Muslim Laws.Listen to the lecture

Trafficking Networks and Threats to Security in West Africa: the case of Mali
An examination of the changing strategic security environment in West Africa and the effectiveness of the response initiated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with the support of the international community.
Speaker: Kwesi Aning is the head of academic affairs at the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Centre in Accra.
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The Politics of FGM: the influence of external and locally-led initiatives in the Gambia
A discussion of efforts made by grassroots Gambian activists and community campaigns, as well as external forces, in building resistance to female genital mutilation in one of the few countries in the world where the practice remains not legally prohibited.
SPEAKER: Dr Isatou Touray
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Healthy African Cities
Notwithstanding improvements, urban health in Africa remains a particular challenge, with 70 per cent of urban dwellers living in informal settlements, facing multiple disease burdens. How might we move towards healthy African cities?
Speakers: Dr Ama de Graft Aikins, Dr Gora Mboup, Professor Vanessa Watson
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Heroic Achievement or Folly, What would Kapuscinski Make of Development Today
Ryszard Kapuscinski exposed the follies of Africa’s rulers and officials while showing an intense emotional identification with the continent’s people. Would he see the current state of Africa as a further triumph of the elites or the redemptive emergence of a more just continent?
Speaker: Lord Malloch Brown
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African Security and External Interference: exploring the role of a newcomer, China
As Africa-China ties have grown tighter in the past few years, China’s engagement with the continent has evolved from being mostly economically focused to more sensitive socio-political fields. This talk provides in-depth discussion of African security issues in relation to China’s long-held non-interference policy.
Speakers: Dr Bonnie Ayodele, Professor Zhongying Pang
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Colonial Control in Algeria: the French Security and Intelligence Services Between two World Wars
This presentation seeks to examine some key developments in the political mobilisation of Algerians prior to the Second World War and how the French colonial authorities and more specifically the French security services responded to the political situation in Algeria by implementing a number of changes to the intelligence gathering process, changes that were marked by internal conflicts and tensions.
Speaker: Dr Rabah Aissaoui
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Zimbabwe Takes Back Its Land
A discussion with the authors of the new book, Zimbabwe Takes Back its Land which offers a nuanced assessment of land reform, countering the dominant media narratives of oppression and economic stagnation in Zimbabwe.
Speakers: Joseph Hanlon, Jeanette Manjengwa, Teresa Smart
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Conspiracies, distrust and suspicions of health programmes in Africa
Speakers: Professor Tim Allen, Dr Laura Bogart, Dr Heidi Larson, Professor Nicoli Nattrass, Dr Melissa Parker
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Economic Transition in the Arab World: Challenges and Opportunities
Almost two years after the start of the so-called “Arab Spring”, the countries concerned are facing significant economic challenges, against the backdrop of a difficult global environment. While much attention is rightly being paid to near term economic stabilization, there is an historic opportunity for structural changes that would liberate economic forces, and allow these economies to generate the growth needed for increasing income and employment opportunities. Notwithstanding their own difficulties, advanced economies must help. The speaker,David Lipton is the first deputy managing director of IMF.
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The Landgrabbers: the new fight over who owns the earth
‘Land grabbing’ has been described as the most profound ethical, environmental, economic and social issue in the world today. Financial speculation and concerns over food security are driving the acquisition of vast areas of land by foreign entities from beneath the feet of its occupiers in Africa, South-east Asia, South America and Eastern Europe. This debate examines the relative impact of land grabbing on the lives of poor people across the globe. Speakers: Fred Pearce, Professor Anthony Hall, Dr Charles Palmer
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The Challenge of Agricultural Development in Africa: What lessons from China?
Speakers: Professor Li Xiaoyun, Professor Henry Bernstein, Professor Thandika Mkandawire, Professor James Putzel
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Black Consciousness, Black Thought, Student Activism and the Shaping of the New South Africa
A programme of the Steve Biko Foundation, the Steve Biko Memorial Lecture is a platform to reflect upon the legacy of the late anti-apartheid activist; particularly in relation to issues of consciousness, leadership and the African development agenda.
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Interventions: A Life in War and Peace
Kofi Annan has been at the centre of the major geopolitical events of our time. With over forty years of service to the United Nations – the last ten as Secretary-General – he provides a unique, behind-the-scenes view of international diplomacy during one of the most tumultuous periods in global politics.
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South Sudan – the path back from war
Aggrey Tisa Sabuni, Economic Advisor to the President, will discuss the successes and challenges of building core Government institutions in South Sudan. Mr. Sabuni will discuss the role of the international community in this process, and identify where the development of these institutions has succeeded and where there is still more work to be done.
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Policy Challenges for Growth in Africa and South Asia
The developed world has recently fallen behind in the numbers game, as African and Asian countries have experienced enviable growth. However, this debate will focus on the challenges that the two continents now face in maintaining this positive trend and the policies that are necessary to ensure that growth is sustainable. IGC Sierra Leone Country Director Dr Omotunde Johnson and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Uganda, Dr Louis Kasekende are among the speakers.
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Winner Take All: the Race for the World’s Resources
Global economist and author, Dambisa Moyo iscusses the increasingly heated competition for the world’s water and land, and the likely geopolitical fallout of China’s biggest commodity rush in history. Are we heading for large-scale conflict and what can governments do to avoid it?

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After the Arab Spring: power shift in the Middle East?
As the revolutions of 2011 become the politics of 2012, has power shifted in the Middle East and has Iran been the main beneficiary?
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The New Population Bomb? The Politics of Population Change
Professor Jack Goldstone, Professor Eric Kaufmann and John Parker discussed the current global demographic revolution – the contrast between an aging developed world and a youthful developing world.
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Breakout Nations: in search of the next economic miracle
Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets at Morgan Stanley, discusses his new book, Breakout Nations. The world’s most celebrated emerging markets are poised to slow down after a decade of rapid growth. Which countries are set to overtake them?
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African Development: the miracle of Mauritius
Unlike other African economies since independence, Mauritius has experienced long term sustained economic growth and development. What explains this success? Pierre Dinan is an economic consultant and external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Mauritius.
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The Pattern of the Past in North Africa
The Maghreb, despite being perhaps historically the first region to be provided with a model of historical development (by Ibn Khaldun), remains to a large degree unidentifiable with its own distinctive ‘pattern of the past’. This may be changing as scholarship focuses more on global, cross-regional, and interactive histories in which North Africa, as a ‘hinge’ at the edge of three continents, can easily and productively be placed. But does this approach risk misconstruing North Africa’s own particularities? How can regional and global histories together best account for North Africa’s place in world history?

Dr James McDougall is Laithwaite Fellow and tutor in modern history at Trinity College. His research interest includes Modern and contemporary Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, African and Islamic history, especially Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco.
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The Burning Issue: Parasites – Enemy of the Poor
For millions of the world’s poor, parasitic infections can be debilitating or even lethal. There are high hopes for new mass medication programmes but treatment has not always proceeded as planned, and in some cases there has been fierce local resistance.

In this Burning Issue public lecture, Tim Allen – professor of development anthropology – will examine the facts, the failures and the future of our fight against one of humankind’s most endemic invisible enemies.
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The Global Banking Crisis: An African Banker’s Response
Against the backdrop of the ongoing global economic crisis, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria discusses the economic problems and prospects of sub-Saharan Africa over the decade ahead.
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The Year of Egypt’s Second Revolution, the Balance Sheet So Far
Professor Roger Owen of Harvard looks at Egypt’s Tahrir Square revolution in the light of the revolutions of 1919 and 1952, drawing on them to indicate some of the problems and possibilities ahead.
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The US and Arab Revolutions
The US has been an active player in the Middle East over the past century, but has been of minor relevance during the Arab uprisings of 2011. The upheaval, however, will have deep implications for US policy in the region. William Quandt is a professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Virginia.
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Covering the Arab Spring: Are the media getting it wrong?
A panel of seasoned journalists who have covered the Middle East extensively during their careers will critically reflect on the media coverage of the Arab uprisings. Why did reporters miss the build-up and tension which led to the Arab Spring? Have news stories exaggerated the role of social media? Are there wider questions that the coverage of the uprisings raise for reporting more generally?
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The Global Value of the Commonwealth
Kamalesh Sharma, Commonwealth Secretary General, reflects on the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in October 2011.
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Revolution and Counter-Revolution in the Arab World
From the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings to their suppression in Bahrain and Syria; from civil war in Yemen and Libya to the challenges arising from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – what are the prospects for the Arab revolt(s)?
Gilles Kepel is professor and chair, Middle East and Mediterranean Studies, at the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).
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State Violence and the Responsibility to Protect: the role of the international community
The UN has a responsibility to protect populations from genocide and crimes against humanity, but to what effect? Experts will consider how recent events, such as those in Libya, challenge the international concept of ‘Responsibility to Protect’. Speakers: Dr Chaloka Beyani, Ignacio Llanos, Professor Sir Adam Roberts
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The Arab Uprisings: mass protest, border crossing and history from below
LSE’s Dr John Chalcraft examines the Arab uprisings with a focus on popular protest and “history from below”.
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Is South Africa Society More Equal Today Than When Apartheid Ended in 1994
Dr Max Price is the Vice Chancellor of University of Cape Town. The lecture is part of the LSE-UCT lecture series.
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The Mountain Within: Leadership Lessons from Mount Kilimanjaro
Herta von Stiegel presented The Mountain Within, the book and award-winning documentary, telling the story of her climb up Kilimanjaro with 28 disabled climbers.
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(Recorded on Friday 14 October)

Framing the Arab Uprisings: a historical perspective
Juan Cole is Richard P Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan and author of the blog Informed Comment. This lecture is part of The Fred Halliday Distinguished Lecture Series.
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(Recorded on Thursday 6 October)

Hellenism, Universal Rights and Apartheid
George Bizos will speak about defending human rights under apartheid in South Africa, drawing on his own career as a human rights lawyer. George Bizos has had a distinguished legal career struggling against apartheid and promoting universal human rights. He has defended the likes of Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki and Morgan Tsvangirai.
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(Recorded on Wednesday 5 October)

Relevant Capabilities and Industrial Development: stories from sub-Saharan Africa (Part of International Growth Week at LSE)
Good advice for governments intervening to promote industrial development can only come from a detailed understanding of countries’ industrial capabilities, and institutional frameworks. The aim of the “Enterprise Map” project is to provide this information. John Sutton is a professor of economics at LSE.
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(Recorded on Tuesday 20 September)

Building Effective States (Part of International Growth Week at LSE)
Getting fragile states on a path of sustainable economic growth is currently a key policy imperative. This session will discuss ways of breaking out of a political equilibrium that creates state fragility and creating one that generates sustained economic growth. Paul Collier is director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies, Oxford University. Sushil Kumar Modi is deputy chief minister of Bihar, India.
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(Recorded on Monday 19 September)

Change in the Middle East? Democracy, Authoritarianism and Regime Change in the Arab World
In this lectuer, Lisa Anderson, President of the American University in Cairo examines the recent uprisings in the Arab world, highlighting where they happened, where they succeeded and what they may mean for both the practice and the study of politics in the region.
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(Recorded on Wednesday 13 July)

Arab Revolutions in the Making: Not a Perfect Storm
Fawaz Gerges is a Professor of Middle Eastern Politics and International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also holds the Emirates Chair of the Contemporary Middle East and is the Director of the Middle East Centre at LSE.
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(Recorded on Thursday 7 July)

Bread and Butter: Food, De-Development and the Arab Revolutions
In his lecture, Dr Rami Zurayk of the American University of Beirut will discuss his current work on food and de-development in Gaza and the use of food insecurity as a weapon of siege. He will also look at Egypt and its post-revolution agricultural policies.
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(Recorded on Thursday 23 June)

Global Imbalances and Social Challenges
Two of the world’s top commentators on economics, development and finance discuss some of the most pressing global imbalances and the social challenges that they pose in the years ahead. Jean-Michel Severino is general inspector of finances, French Ministry of Finance. Martin Wolf is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times.
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(Recorded on Wednesday 22 June)

Delivering Meaningful Results in Global Development
Dr Raj Shah, Administrator of the US Agency for International Development discussed how the organisation is reforming the way it administers development assistance.
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(Recorded on Tuesday 14 June)

A Shadow of Its Former Self? Robert Mugabe and Zimbabwe’s Education System
Peter Godwin is an Award-winning foreign correspondent, author, documentary-maker and screen writer. After practicing human rights law in Zimbabwe, he became a foreign and war correspondent, and has reported from over 60 countries, including wars in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Somalia, Congo, Ivory Coast, Sudan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kashmir and the last years of apartheid South Africa.
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(Recorded on Thursday 9 June)

Why Nations Fail
Countries grow economically if they can build inclusive economic institutions. They stagnate if they have exclusive institutions. It is political conflicts and how they are resolved which determines the path a society follows. James Robinson is David Florence Professor of Government at Harvard University.
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(Recorded Wednesday 8 June)

Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty
Professors Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo have worked with the poor in dozens of countries, trying to understand the specific problems that come with poverty and to find proven solutions. In this lecture, they argue that so much anti-poverty policy has failed over the years because of an inadequate understanding of poverty. The battle against poverty can be won, but it will take patience, careful thinking and a willingness to learn from evidence. This event celebrates the publication of their new book Poor Economics; A Radical Rethinking of the way to Fight Global Poverty.
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(Recorded Thursday 2 June 2011)

Africa’s Disease Burden
Dr Ama De-Graft Aikins, Dr Olugbenga Ogedegbe, Dr Francis Dodoo debate the public health crisis of chronic non-communicable diseases in Africa ahead of the UN’s High Level Meeting on the subject in September 2011. This event also launched the report Africa’s Neglected Epidemic: Multidisciplinary Research, Intervention and Policy for Chronic Diseases.
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(Recorded Wednesday 1 June 2011)

Africa’s Diasporas: a continental longing for form?
In 2005 the African Union declared the African diaspora to be the sixth region of the continent. But was the concept of “African Diaspora” understood correctly at the time? This lecture will offer a more complex definition. It will focus on the difference between dispersion and diaspora, the dynamics of identity formation, the contrasts between Indian Ocean and Atlantic processes of diasporization, and the growth of a mixed-race population. Ato Quayson is Professor of English and inaugral Director of the Centre for the Study of Disaporas and Transnationals at the University of Toronto.
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(Recorded Tuesday 24 May 2011)

African Revolutions and Political Transitions:the view from Paris
Long-standing French diplomat Stephane Gompertz discussed France’s overall perspective, and consequent policy, towards African political transitions and upheaval, emphasizing geopolitical principles (with the guiding strategies of aid and pressure), real politik and pragmatism.
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(Recorded Tuesday 17 May 2011)

Gender and Poverty in the 21st Century
Professor Sylvia Chant chaired a panel with Professor Diane Elson, Professor Nancy Folbre and Professor Maxine Molyneux. Each panellist reflected on a theme inspired by or departing from the International Handbook of Gender and Poverty by Sylvia Chant.
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(Recorded on Friday 11 March 2011)

Why Human Rights and Democracy are Critical to overcome Poverty
Although the overall trend in reaching the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is positive we still face major challenges in many places of the world. Millions of people suffer from hunger and lack of access to safe drinking water. Africa is particularly hard-hit. Governments that pursue democratic development hand-in-hand with human rights stand a better chance of achieving the Millennium Development Goals. How can we ensure that the developed world delivers on their promises? How can we further promote democracy development and human rights in developing countries? The Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation, Gunilla Carlsson is the speaker. The event was chaired by Professor Thandika Mkandawire.
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(Recorded on Monday 7 March 2011)

Literary Festival 2011 – Writing Across Borders: a Botswana Perspective
Lauri Kubuitsile spoke about the publishing climate in Southern Africa (in particular Botswana and South Africa) and how it’s different from the UK. She also talked about writing across genres including television writing, writing for children, writing short stories and writing for adults.
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(Recorded on Saturday 19 February 2011)

Literary Festival 2011 – Placing Mobilities
Writers Brian Chikwava, Abdulrazak Gurnah and Olumide Popoola consider a number of complementary and competing themes around the topic of diaspora and place. Particular places, and perhaps especially cities, consist of large diasporic populations often represented as indications of cosmopolitanism, multiculturalism and conviviality.
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(Recorded on Saturday 19 February 2011)

African Urbanism
Africa is the fastest urbanising region in the world, and has become the focus of increasing attention from architects and planners, academics, development agencies and urban think-tanks. Professor Edgar Pieterse argued for a new way of thinking about African cities to accompany this surge of interest and to replace traditional views of African cities as sites of absence and neglect. Rapid urbanisation along with impressive economic growth rates for much of the Continent represents an interesting moment to take stock of how academic discourses capture and animate African urbanism. Edgar Pieterse is holder of the NRF South African Research Chair in Urban Policy. He directs the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town. The event was chaired by Philipp Rode, the executive director of LSE Cities.
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(Recorded on 26 January 2011)

Trapped by the Past? Institutional Legacies and African Development
The relative poverty of Sub-Saharan Africa today is often attributed to the malevolent legacies of its past. This forum drew together three leading contributors to the ongoing debate about institutional legacies which still affect African development. Gareth Austin is professor of international history at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. Joseph Inikori is professor of history at the University of Rochester. James Robinson is the David Florence Professor of Government at Harvard University.
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(Recorded on 25 January 2011)

2011 Global Civil Society Yearbook launch
The 2011 Yearbook provides a critical examination of the ways global civil society promotes and delivers social justice. How does the ‘global’ make a difference to traditional concepts of social justice? Pierre Calame is director of the Fondation Charles Léopold Mayer for the Progress of Humankind. Judy El-Bushra is Programme Manager of Africa Great Lakes Region and Researcher at International Alert. Hakan Seckinelgin is a lecturer in international social policy in the department of social policy at LSE.
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(Recorded on 13 January 2011)

Africa and the World: the view from Washington
Ambassador Howard Wolpe commented on the Obama Administration’s Africa policy and its perceptions of the continent’s place in the international community today. Howard Wolpe is former special envoy to the Great Lakes Region for President Barack Obama. Dr Chris Alden is Co-Head of the Africa International Affairs Programme at LSE IDEAS. Michael Cox is Professor of International Relations at the Department of International Relations at LSE.
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(Recorded on 30 November 2010)

Lagos: Confronting Change in a Global Megacity
Lagos is one the fastest growing cities in Africa, and the seventh fastest growing city in the world. Governor Babatunde Fashola discusses how his administration is managing rapid urbanization and growth of this 17.5 million city, the engine of Nigeria’s economy. Central to his strategy is the view that cities must pursue a bottom-up approach to solve the environmental and social challenges of the contemporary city.
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African Whistle-blowers: fighting corruption from the inside
Efforts to tackle corruption in Africa tend to focus on international initiatives, but it is local struggles for public accountability that often have the most impact. The speaker was John Githongo, a former journalist and management consultant, was the Kenyan Permanent Secretary in charge of Governance and Ethics from 2003-2005, and a founding member of the Kenyan chapter of Transparency International. The event was chaired by Professor Thandika Mkandawire.
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(Recorded on 26 October 2010)

Wealth Creation in Developing Countries
This event marked the launch of a new DFID approach to private sector investment in developing countries and is the Department’s first high profile outreach to the business community since the formation of the new coalition government. The event was presented in partnership with the Financial Times magazines The Banker and This is Africa. Andrew Mitchell is Secretary of State for International Development. Paul Collier is Professor of Economics at Oxford University and academic co-director of the International Growth Centre.
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(Recorded on 12 October 2010)

IGC Growth Week 2010 – Mobile Phones for Development
Mobile phones have the potential to contribute significantly to economic growth in the developing world, in both the private and public sector. From improving market information for fish traders in Lake Victoria, to enabling medical outreach services in rural South Asia, the mobile is a versatile and adaptable tool. What impact can mobiles have on those previously excluded from financial services and communications networks? Which policies will help turn the promise of mobiles into real benefits for the poorest people? This session, moderated by Diane Coyle, OBE, of Enlightenment Economics, features a panel of researchers and practitioners sharing ideas and experience from the field, discussing a range of case studies from literacy and conditional cash transfer programs in Niger to SMS-based communications for rural hospitals in Malawi.
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(Recorded on 20 September 2010)

IGC Growth Week 2010 – Managing Natural Resource Rents: China and Africa
Is China’s strategy – of negotiating deals in which resources are exchanged for infrastructure – mutually beneficial, or a new variant of the plunder of Africa? China ‘asks no questions’ of African governments: is that respectful of African sovereignty or an abrogation of responsibility? This issue was debated by Professor Paul Collier, Dr Chris Alden, Dr Gobind Nankani and Alan Winters.
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(Recorded on 20 September 2010)

HIV/AIDS In Uganda: How Anti-Retrovirals Change People’s Lives
Until only a few years ago, an AIDS diagnosis in Africa was seen as the harbinger of an inevitable and lingering death. In rich countries, anti-retroviral therapy has made AIDS a manageable condition for most infected people. The challenge has been to provide such treatment in resource constrained settings, particularly in Africa. In a unique study combining sophisticated quantitative and qualitative analysis, Antonieta Medina Lara and Barbara Nyanzi-Wakholi examine the way that the roll out of anti-retroviral medications for HIV/AIDS have changed people’s lives in Uganda. In this lecture they report on the detail of their research undertaken as part of the DART (The Development of AntiRetroviral Therapy in Africa) reported in Lancet in December 2009.
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(Recorded on 27 May 2010)

HIV/AIDS And Disability: New Research Findings From Kenya
The WHO estimates that 10 per cent of the population in poor countries is disabled. Disabled people have and want sexual lives – and, because of their disabilities, they may also be sexually abused and exploited. In this lecture Dr Sam Tororei from the Nairobi based Regional AIDS Training Network (RATN) will present findings from the most recent research. He will talk about how in Kenya steps are being taken to protect disabled people from sexual abuse while encourage them to lead full sexual lives, this in an environment where HIV infection is an ever present threat. The lecture will be of particular interest to those interested in health, disability, HIV/AIDS, Kenya, gender and sexuality issues.
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(Recorded on 20 May 2010)

‘Running While Others Walk’: the challenge of African development
Africa lags behind other developing nations both economically and by other related social indicators. There is widespread feeling in Africa that, in the words of Nyerere, ‘Africa must run while others walk’. The lecture will consider the implications of this task on African scholarship. This was the inaugural lecture by the LSE’s African chair, Thandika Mkandawire.
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(Recorded on 27 April 2010)

Mandela’s Way – Lessons on Life
For nearly three years Time magazine editor Richard Stengel collaborated with Nelson Mandela on his autobiography and travelled with him everywhere. Eating with him, watching him campaign, hearing him think out loud, Stengel came to know all the different sides of this complex man. He became a cherished friend and colleague. Now he has distilled countless hours of intimate conversation with Mandela into fifteen essential life lessons. In Mandela’s Way, he recounts the moments in which ‘the grandfather of South Africa’ was tested and shares the wisdom he learned.
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(Recorded on 12 April 2010)

AFRICA TALKS: The Niger Delta: Confronting the Crisis
Abiodun Alao, Dauda Garuba, Ed Kashi, Michael Peel & Dimieari Von Kemedi discuss the complex situation in the Niger Delta.
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(Recorded 11 March 2010)

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