The Elite Africa Project is a global network of scholars working to shift how Africa and its elites are understood.

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The Elite Africa Project

is a Canadian-based global network of scholars working to challenge predominant understandings of Africa and its elites.

Both in academia and in wider public discourse, African elites have either been ignored or depicted as grasping and self-interested. This framing perpetuates negative depictions of the continent and its peoples and draws on a simplistic understanding of what power is and how it is wielded. Our work aims to counter these perceptions by initiating global conversations about “who leads” in Africa and how they do so.

We seek to disrupt and renew both academic and public discussions of African leadership, refocusing attention on a wider, qualitatively different set of elites from those that have predominated in the past (such as the parasitic “Big Men” of neo-patrimonial politics).

Burna Boy, Nigerian musician, rapper and songwriter; in 2021, his album Twice as Tall won the Best World Music Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, and he enjoyed back to back Grammy award nominations in 2019 and 2020.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian economist, fair trade leader, environmental sustainability advocate, human welfare champion, sustainable finance maven and global development expert. Since March 2021, Okonjo-Iweala has been serving as Director-General of the World Trade Organization.

This project focuses on Africa’s elites, defined as those who operate at the highest level across a range of domains, wield significant power, and possess expert knowledge, skills, and personal strengths that are deployed in strategic, creative, and generative ways. While elites are those who possess the most consequential and powerful agenda-setting and decision-making capacity, Africa’s elites have either been sidelined in many of our analyses or rendered monotonal. When we switch frames to consider the continent as embodying and projecting new, generative forms of power, it changes our view of Africa. It may also change how we understand power itself.

We look at six domains of elite power, from the political to the aesthetic, and ask how we might shift how we think about and study Africa, and how this shift would impact our conceptualization of power and its exercise. Our goal is to contribute to popular conversations about Africa and to highlight the achievements of the astonishing new generation of leaders for a broader public audience.

This website will serve as a hub for collaborative activity by scholars, activists, and practitioners working on Elite Africa and house a searchable database of primary and secondary materials on African elites.

Kofi Annan (1938-2018), Ghanaian-born diplomat, trained in economics, international relations and management; was the first UNSG to be elected from within the ranks of the UN staff itself and served in various key roles before becoming Secretary General.

Namwali Serpell, Zambia award-winning novelist and writer; Recognised early on with the Caine prize, her numerous subsequent awards include the Windham–Campbell Literature Prize, one of the world’s richest literary prizes.

Mohammed "Mo" Ibrahim, Sudanese billionaire businessman. He worked for several telecommunications companies, before founding Celtel, which when sold had over 24 million mobile phone subscribers in 14 African countries.

The Elite Africa Project

is a Canadian-based global network of scholars working to challenge predominant understandings of Africa and its elites.

Both in academia and in wider public discourse, African elites have either been ignored or depicted as grasping and self-interested. This framing perpetuates negative depictions of the continent and its peoples and draws on a simplistic understanding of what power is and how it is wielded. Our work aims to counter these perceptions by initiating global conversations about “who leads” in Africa and how they do so.

We seek to disrupt and renew both academic and public discussions of African leadership, refocusing attention on a wider, qualitatively different set of elites from those that have predominated in the past (such as the parasitic “Big Men” of neo-patrimonial politics).

This project focuses on Africa’s elites — those who operate at the highest level across a range of domains, wield significant power, and possess expert knowledge, skills, and personal strengths that are deployed in strategic, creative, and generative ways. When we switch frames to consider the continent as embodying and projecting new, generative forms of power, it changes our view of Africa. It may also change how we understand power itself.

This website is the hub for collaborative activity by scholars, activists, and practitioners working on Elite Africa and will house a searchable database of primary and secondary materials on African elites.

ELITE AFRICA PROJECT DATABASE

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Podcast Episode 71: A Conversation with Erin Pettigrew on Muslims Spiritual Mediators, Locally Relevant Research, and More

Ufahamu Africa

Date: June 8, 2019
Summary:

This episode talks about events in Sudan, Kehinde Wiley's artist residency in Dakar, a nuclear project irradiating tsetse flies, and more. The conversation touches on how people deal with change over time, including practices involving the spiritual realm. Erin Pettigrew brings up her new project on looking into the history of the leftist political movement in Mauritania.

Listen to the episode here.

Ufahamu Africa: Episode 71

Ufahamu Africa
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This episode talks about events in Sudan, Kehinde Wiley's artist residency in Dakar, a nuclear project irradiating tsetse flies, and more.

Aesthetic
Religious/Spritual

Podcast Episode 69: A Conversation with Boniface Dulani on Malawi's Elections, Chieftaincy, and More

Ufahamu Africa

Date: May 19, 2019
Summary:

This conversation includes an update on the South African elections, and Malawi's elections. The exchange also touches on Facebook and fake news in African elections.

Listen to the episode here.

Ufahamu Africa: Episode 69

Ufahamu Africa
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This conversation includes an update on the South African and Malawi's elections.

Political

Podcast Episode 64: A Conversation with Hanna Armstrong on Politics in Algeria, the Sahel, Illicit Trafficking and Borders

Ufahamu Africa

Date: April 13, 2019
Summary:

This episode talks about political change in Sudan and political maneuvering in Senegal, and Cyclone Idai brings insight into the governance of disasters and urban spaces.

Listen to the episode here.

Ufahamu Africa: Episode 64

Ufahamu Africa
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This episode talks about political change in Sudan and political maneuvering in Senegal, and Cyclone Idai brings insight into the governance of disasters and urban spaces.

Political

Podcast Episode 57: A Conversation with Nicholas Kerr about Nigerian Elections, Citizens' opinions about Election Quality, and more

Ufahamu Africa

Date: February 16, 2019
Summary:

A conversation about Nicholas Kerr's research on electoral management bodies in Africa and in particular popular perceptions of election quality in Nigeria. The podcast also talks about protests in Sudan, political reshuffling in Cameroon and Burkina Faso, and the incomplete decolonization efforts at the Africa Museum in Belgium.

Listen to the episode here.

Ufahamu Africa: Episode 57

Ufahamu Africa
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Nicholas Kerr shares his research on electoral management bodies in Africa and popular perceptions of election quality in Nigeria.

Political

Podcast Episode 56: A Conversation with Dr. Anta Sané and Dr. Ndongo Symba Sylla about the Senegalese Elections

Ufahamu Africa

Date: February 9, 2019
Summary:

With her research background on gender and governance, as well as African and Global Politics and development, Dr. Anta Sané shares her take on the upcoming senegalese elections. Also sharing her thought is Dr. Ndongo Samba Sylla, whose research covers fair trade, labor, markets in developing countries, social movements, democratic theory, and economic and monetary sovereignty.    

Listen to the episode here.

Ufahamu Africa: Episode 56

Ufahamu Africa
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Dr. Anta Sané shares her take on the upcoming senegalese elections.

Political
Economic

Podcast Episode 54: A Conversation with Jaimie Bleck on Elections in Africa, Music in Mali, and more.

Ufahamu Africa

Date: January 26, 2019
Summary:

Associate Professor Jaimie Bleck joins Ufahamu Africa to discuss her latest book, Electoral Politics in Africa Since 1990: Continuity in Change. Written with Nicolas van de Walle, her book explores common trends among African elections. Also, she shares the news of her new project, "The Passion of Joan of Arc," a live-scoring silent film.

Listen to the episode here.

Ufahamu Africa: Episode 54

Ufahamu Africa
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Jaimie Bleck joins Ufahamu Africa to dicuss her latest book and her new project film.

Political
Aesthetic
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