Webinars

More than ever before, African countries are challenged by ravaging insecurity of different iterations. There is equally an unprecedented enthusiasm about the prospects of trade on the continent. Is there any form of relationship between free trade and insecurity? If so, how could African countries use trade policies to remedy insecurity?

Dr. Michael Nwankpa is an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute and the Founding Director of Research at the Centre for African Conflict and Development in London. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Roehampton and held two prestigious fellowships at the Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, and at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, University of Maryland. His research areas are the nexus between conflict and developments, counterinsurgency, counterterrorism, foreign and security policy, and African security.

Alazar Melkamu is a lecturer at Jigjiga University, Ethiopia. He holds a Master of Arts in Peace Studies and conflict resolution from the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is an author and coauthor with work appearances in national and international journals, including the International Journal of Peace and Development Studies. His research works focus on conflict detection and resolution, unemployment, African Continental Free Trade Area, the security sector and governance, amongst others.

The World Bank estimates that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFA) could lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty, boost the incomes of nearly 70 million people, and generate $450 billion by 2035. Could the informal sector, which employ millions across the continent, stand to be the AfCFTA’s biggest beneficiary? Or, does the sector stand to lose the most from such unprecedented trade integration?

Innocent Anguyo is the market leader of Istanbul Africa Trade Company in Uganda and is responsible for client relationships and sales procedures. He is a consultant at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a recipient of the 2023 Sustainable Investing Fellowship. Mr Anguyo has several years of experience in business and financial journalism, research and international development. He is passionate about developing African markets.

Dr. Socrates Majune teaches history of economic thought and institutional economy at the department of economics and development studies, University of Nairobi. He worked with the Economic Research and Statistics Division Department of the World Trade Organisation and was a short term consultant with the World Bank Group on Exporter Dynamics Database on Keyna. His research interests include: international trade, industrial economics, institutional economics, econometrics, amongst others.

For decades, Africa has had mutually beneficial economic relationships with China and the US. This relationship has significantly affected the economic status of the continent and its global relevance. China remains Africa’s number one trade partner. Does this relationship in any way undermine the trade relations that exist between the continent and the US? Our guests will answer this question and more in this month’s webinar edition.

Folarin Opeyemi is a policy engagement Analyst, Politician, Entrepreneur and social commentator. He holds a BSc in computer science and economics from Lead City University. He was the House of Representatives candidate in the last general election in the 2019 and 2023 elections, where he ran for a seat in the National Assembly to represent Mushin Federal Constituency 2. Folarin has over six years of experience in entrepreneurship, governance and public policy advocacy. He has been featured in magazines, radio and TV stations, including Sahara TV, Pen radio, and Daybreak Africa.

Dr. Felix Kumah-Abiwu is the Founding Director of the Center for African Studies and Associate Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Kent State University. He received his PhD in Political Science from West Virginia University. He also studied at Ohio University and the Legon Center for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), University of Ghana. His research focuses on the politics of development, African security issues, democratization in Africa, and foreign policy analysis.

Tam Alex is a political economist and electricity entrepreneur. He publishes Nigeopolis, a magazine dedicated to advocating for the absolute rights of Nigerians to life, liberty and property. He is also the co-founder of the Nigeria Libertarian Project @LibertarianNG, executive producer of the Despite The Government (DTG) Podcast @despitethegovt and a Senior Fellow at African Liberty. He also develops and operates electricity systems in underserved and unserved communities in Nigeria.

High inflation is tearing apart economies across Africa. The most recent impacts are linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. According to the Global Report on Food Crises 2022 mid-year update, more than one in five people in Africa suffer from hunger, and an estimated 140 million people faced acute food insecurity in 2022. This webinar is about the causes and solutions to inflation on the continent.

Jane Karonga is an Economic Affairs Officer in the Regional Integration & Trade Division of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Before joining the UN in 2010, she had been working successively for Nashville Community College, Tennessee Personal Assistance, and Vanderbilt University, all located in Tennessee, United States of America. She has over 12 years of work experience conducting research and providing policy advisory services to African member States and other stakeholders in regional integration, industrialisation, international trade, and infrastructure development.

Constantine Manda is the co-founder and Director of the Impact Evaluation (IE) Lab at Tanzania’s Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF). He has over ten years of experience working on expanding valuation in Tanzania and across Africa through capacity building, research, and policy engagement. He has won numerous awards, including the 30 most influential young economists of Sub Sahara Africa in 2022 by the Institute of Certified Chartered Economists (ICCE).

All over the continent, young Africans are rising to challenge the status quo of excluded leadership to question the lack of transparency and accountability in governance. A typical example was the End SARS protest in Nigeria in 2020. Fixing public funds mismanagement is a crucial requirement to maintaining democracy, and young Africans have pivotal roles to play. In this webinar edition, our guests will discuss these roles.

Rinu Oduala is the executive project director of Connect Hub Nigeria, a platform that documents, defends and advocates against state violence and police brutality in Nigeria. She is a Human Rights advocate, community organizer and influencer focused primarily on equity, justice, humanity and community advancement issues. She uses her Twitter handle with over five hundred thousand followers in actualising these. She was nominated for Future Awards Prize For Advocacy and Activism, and has been awarded as Woman of the Year, Advocacy. HerEconomy 2022 and is part of BBC Nigerian Women Leading the Fight for Change.

Olumayowa Okediran is the Managing Director of African Liberty and International Programs at Students For Liberty. He is a member of the council and a West Africa Policy Fellow at the South African Institute of Race Relations. He is a political and Economic Analyst whose views on politics, economics and human freedom have been translated into 16 languages, including French, Spanish, Czech, Portuguese, Serbian, Macedonian, Greek, Khmer and Vietnamese.

Olufemi Ogunjobi is currently the Career Guidance & Mentorship Manager of the Prometheus Fellowship Program at Students For Liberty. He got involved with Students For Liberty in Nigeria as a local coordinator in 2013, and through the years, occupied several leadership positions in building, managing student programs and overseeing the smooth running of SFL operations across the continent of Africa. On the heels of his volunteer experience, he joined the organization’s staff in 2017, where he served as the African Programs Associate, and African Programs Manager, managing all ASFL operations, aspects of data and programs management, communications, leadership recruitment, training and mentorship of hundreds of volunteers in the African Students For Liberty Program in over 28 countries in Africa. He also works closely in managing the African Liberty project with the Managing Editor.

Religious violence is among the major security threats bewildering most African countries. Extremist views continue to attract greater followership across the continent as poverty increases. With countries like Nigeria and Mauritania further strengthening blasphemy laws that directly attack followers of non-mainstream religions, freedom of religion continues to shrink. Our guests will help us understand why religious fundamentalism in Africa is a threat to the freedom of religion.

Dr. Xolani Sakuba is a lecturer in the school of Religion, Philosophy, and Classics, Department of Biblical and Historical Studies, Theological Studies, and ethics, at the University of Kwazulu-Natal. Notable among his publications is “Fundamentalism in African Traditional Religion: A Reflection on some Points for Consideration”. His areas of research and expertise include systematic theology, theology, and Christian theology.

Dr. Kefas Lamak is a Ph.D. Pre-Comp candidate and a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Iowa. He is a recipient of an ASMEA Research Grant for his paper on “Religion or Violence in the Name of Allah: The Rise of an Islamist Extremist Group in Northern Nigeria in the 2000s and the Threat it Poses to Civility, Freedom, and Democracy”. His expertise, research, and teaching interests cut across modern religion and culture, African culture and religious practices, religiously affiliated conflicts, and resolution. Kefas is the author of three recent journal articles: “The Pre-Slavery Praxis and Ethos of the Religion of West African People” in Journal of Religion in Africa; “Religious Appropriation of the Slave Trade” in Journal of Black Religious Thought; and “Double Identities and Identity Struggles in Kongolese Catholicism of the 1700s” in Pharos Journal of Theology.