William Kentridge

Artist (Drawing, print, sculpture)

Location: South Africa

‍kentridge.studio

Wizkid

Musician

Nigeria

www.wizkidofficial.com

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Wood, Geoffrey. “The South African Military in Transition”. Australian Journal of Political Science, 31(3), (1996) 387–400. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361149651111

This paper assesses the process of military restructuring in South Africa in the context of that country's negotiated transition. A number of key issues, ranging from the practicalities of the integration process to future defence doctrines, are explored. It is concluded that the restructuring in the military has mirrored the process of elite pacting between key sociopolitical actors. On the one hand, this has ensured the stability of the transition. On the other, radical restructuring has been deferred, and the organisational structures of the former South African Defence Force retained. While a reduction of force levels is planned, the military has rapidly expanded in the past five years.

Source: article abstract

Woods, Dwayne. "State Action and Class Interests in the Ivory Coast." African Studies Review 31, no. 1 (1988): 93-116. doi:10.2307/524585.

The Ivory Coast's economic development and political stability in the past thirty years have sparked divergent opinions. Some see it as a model for other African nations, highlighting the positive impact of incentives for rural producers and a liberal investment code on sustained economic growth, according to the World Bank. The country experienced a seven percent annual growth rate between 1960 and 1975. Critics, however, argue that the economic crisis reveals the limitations of the liberal economic model adopted by the Ivorian political elite. There's no consensus on whether this approach benefited the majority of Ivorians or made the country overly dependent on Western nations for capital and technology. The role of the Ivorian state is central, with its function varying depending on the analytical perspective. Nevertheless, its pivotal role in the last three decades is indisputable, and the debate centres on whose interests the state serves: the Ivorian peasant, as mall planter bourgeoisie, or the bureaucratic elite itself.

Source: adapted from article's abstract culled from Cambridge.org

Wright, Marcia. “African History in the 1960’s: Religion.” African Studies Review 14, no. 3 (1971):439–45. https://doi.org/10.2307/523775.

Of all the “subfields” of African history, religion is in the most preliminary condition. It is also, in all probability, the most difficult to treat in an orderly fashion, owing to the constant spillover in toother areas generally regarded to be more pre-emptive in modern historiography. Our task in isolating religion as a subfield entails in part an operation of retrieval from political, social, and intellectual sectors of the discipline. Problems of definition must also be tackled. Are we primarily concerned with religion in history or the history of religion? Where is the cut-off mark in considering myth, ritual, and other phenomena that are related, but not at all times central, to religion?

(Source: Extract of article culled from https://www.cambridge.org)

Yaëlle Biro

Curator, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Sector: Art

Location: USA

Level of Influence: International

https://univ-paris1.academia.edu/Ya%C3%ABlleBiro

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Yiaga Africa

Non-Governmental Organization

Location: Abuja, Nigeria

yiaga.org

Description:

YIAGA promotes youth involvement in Nigerian politics, including  training young candidates and organizing workshops for House and Senate  committees on youth and gender issues.

Emmanuel Yimfor

Assistant Professor of Finance, Columbia Business School

Email: eyimfor@gmail.com

eay2121@columbia.edu