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ANU Africa Network
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This website was established in 2013 by David Lucas, and renovated and relaunched in 2020 as part of a project to increase awareness of Africa and African studies in the ANU and the ACT, funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Another outcome of that project was a major research report, published in August 2021, African Studies at the Australian National University and in the Australian Capital Territory, analyzing the past, present and future of the study of Africa at the Australian National University and the wider Australian University sector.
The major innovation on this updated website is the creation of the ACT Africa Expert Directory which lists experts on Africa from institutions around the ACT, primarily the ANU. We will continue to curate this list, offering a key resource for media, government and non-government organizations seeking expert facts and opinions on Africa. Individuals can request to be added to the list by contacting the website managers.
Another notable addition is the expanded directory of PhD theses on Africa produced in the territory’s universities, a solid measure of the vitality of the study of Africa in the city of Canberra.
Reviewing these directories, it is revealing to note that the vast majority of research on Africa is produced by disciplinary experts (environmental scientists, economists, demographers, etc.) rather than area studies experts. This means that the study of Africa is woven into the fabric of the research culture of the ANU and the ACT’s other universities in ways that are not necessarily apparent.
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AFRICA AND THE A U S T R A L A S I A N A I D CONFERENCE 2018
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A U S T R A L A S I A N A I D CONFERENCE
CRAWFORD SCHOOL ANU
14th FEBRUARY 2018
Panel 3d – Should Australian ODA re-engage in Africa?
Sally Moyle, CARE Australia
Fessehaie Abraham, Crawford School ANU
» view presentation ( This can also be seen as an Appendix to his submission to the Senate Inquiry https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Foreign_Affairs_Defence_and_Trade/TradeinvestmentAfrica/Submissions )Bob McMullen of the Crawford School presented the introduction to the session, asking whether the 21st would be the African Century ? He said that If the aim of aid is to alleviate poverty, then aid has to go where poverty is, that is Africa. Australia stresses the importance of giving aid to ‘our region’. But how then does Mongolia qualify as being in ‘our region’ ?
There were a number of points that secured widespread agreement in the general discussion which followed: (1) Australia should only increase aid to Africa IF the overall size of the aid budget increases. (2) There are already too many European aid donors to Africa resulting in piecemeal aid. (3) Australia should only give aid in sectors where we have special expertise such as mining regulation and some areas of agriculture where ACIAR should lead the way. (4) Scholarships to Africa are a good form of aid and build expertise and important people-to people links.
The only people who spoke in favour of giving a larger share of the existing Australian aid pie to Africa were the Africans who commented, and Professor Helen Ware who favoured reducing aid to the Pacific, which receives the highest per capita aid by several multiples, and of diverting the savings to assisting to reduce the harmful impacts of mining and to increasing agricultural outputs in dry land areas where Australia has specialised expertise in low technology improvements.
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Why There is No Such Thing as Institutionless Politics: Lessons From Africa
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ANU School of Politics & International Relations SPIR Seminar Series 2018
________________________________________Why There is No Such Thing as Institutionless Politics: Lessons From Africa
Professor Nicholas Cheeseman
(University of Birmingham) will present the findings from his latest book, Institutions and Democracy in Africa: How the rules of the game shape political developments (Cambridge University Press, 2018).Many of his interviews and insights can be found on the website that he founded and co-edits, www.democracyinafrica.org.
Thursday 5 April 2018, 12:00 – 2:00 pm
L.J. Hume Centre, Copland Building (24), 1st Floor, Room 1171
(Closest Street: Corner of Childers Street and University Avenue)Lunch will be provided at the seminar after the Q&A session.
Enquiries
Feodor Snagovsky: feodor.snagovsky@anu.edu.au
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Kirsty Wissing’s research on Water Sources in Ghana
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Kirsty Wissing is a PhD student with the School of Culture, History and Language at the ANU. Her research looks at Indigenous religious affiliations to water sources and how introduced influences, including colonialism, Christianity and the hydro-power industry, have affected such affiliations. Her PhD field research will be conducted in the Eastern Region of Ghana and her thesis title is ‘Water is Life: Consistencies and Fluctuations in Religious Value Attributed to Water Sources in Ghana’.
For more information about her experience and publications see
https://chl.anu.edu.au/our-people/details/kirsty-wissingFrom the January 2018 Newsletter of the Africa Studies Association of Australasia and the Pacific (AFSAAP):
‘Cherry Gertzel/AFSAAP Postgraduate Prize 2017
AFSAAP invited postgraduate essays for consideration for the Cherry Gertzel Postgraduate Essay for 2017. From all the brilliant entries received, Kirsty Wissing’s essay was judged to the best and thus claimed the Essay prize for 2017. The reviewers found that her paper entitled, ‘Environment as justice: Akwamu reflections on river justice in Ghana’, was original, insightful, interesting and well written, and based on primary research. Kirsty is a PhD student at the Australian National University. She is now working on submitting a revised version of the paper for consideration of publication to the editor of ARAS.’