Signé, Landry. Innovating Development Strategies in Africa: The Role of International, Regional and National Actors. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017. doi:10.1017/9781316779699.

During the second half of the twentieth century, African states shifted away from state-led development strategies, and are now moving towards a strategy of regional economic integration. In this book, Landry Signé explores the key drivers of African policy and economic transformation, proposing a preeminent explanation of policy innovations in Africa through the examination of postcolonial strategies for economic development. Scholars and practitioners in fields as varied as development studies, political science and public policy, economics, sociology and African studies will benefit from Signé's unprecedented comparative analysis, including detailed cases from the often understudied Francophone Africa. First studying why, how and when institutional or policy change occurs in Africa, Signé explores the role of international, regional and national actors in making African economic development strategies from 1960 to date, highlighting the economic transformations of the twenty-first century.

Source: Amazon.com

Simon Njami

Curator (Art)

Location: France

revuenoire.com/contact

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Simphiwe Ndzube

Artist (Painting, sculpture)

Location: South Africa/USA

simphiwendzube.com

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Simson, Rebecca and Yannick Dupraz, "Elite persistence in Sierra Leone: what can names tell us?" Africa Economic History Network, Volume 71, 1 March 2023‍

Can name analysis be used to study elite persistence in African contexts? Taking Sierra Leone as a case study, we use surnames to measure how two historical elites (descendants of settlers that comprise Sierra Leone’s Krio community and members of Chiefly Ruling Houses) have fared over the postcolonial period. We find strong and persistent overrepresentation of these groups across a range of postcolonial elites, although decolonisation is associated with a marked decline in political elite persistence. The results also show strong elite compartmentalisation: Chiefly name-holders are more overrepresented in politics and mining, and their overrepresentation falls the more educationally-selective the profession. The Krio, conversely, are increasingly overrepresented the more educationally-selective the sector, and their role in politics diminished rapidly after independence. This speaks to the enduring legacy of the colony-protectorate divide in Sierra Leone, and to different strategies of elite perpetuation, whether through educational investments or political capital. It demonstrates that name-based methods can bring new perspectives to African elite studies.

Source: Paper abstract

Abderrahmane Sissako

Director

Sector: Cinema

tavistockwood.com/clients/abderrahmane-sissako/

Skinner, David E. 2009. "The Incorporation of Muslim Elites into the Colonial Administrative Systems of Sierra Leone, The Gambia and the Gold Coast", Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 29:1, 91-108, DOI: 10.1080/13602000902726814

This article focuses on relations between British colonial administrations in three West Africa territories during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Sierra Leone, the Gambia and the Gold Coast were centers of trade organized by Muslim merchants and places of Muslim settlement before the British arrived and the subsequent administrations developed policies and programs which incorporated Muslim communities into the colonial system. The British adapted the existing economic, political and religious institutions to the policy of indirect rule, financially supported these institutions and successfully made alliances with Muslim elites. Colonial policies and programs contributed to the strengthening of Islamic communities throughout the colonial era.

Source: Artile's abstract

SMO Contemporary Art (SMO)

International art platform

Location: Lagos, Nigeria

Contact Information: info@smocontemporaryart.com/+234 813 599 6640

Website: smocontemporaryart.com

SMO Contemporary Art (SMO) is an international art platform, showcasing a unique portfolio of modern and contemporary art from Africa and the Diaspora to a global audience. Based in Lagos, Nigeria, SMO curates exhibitions, as well as public and private art events of leading and emerging talents for a diverse audience. SMO is dedicated to artists of all generations who have been instrumental in shaping West Africa's contemporary art canon and who became crucial in establishing a unique narrative of the continent. The SMO program sheds light on forgotten talents who have paved the way for new identities in contemporary art while encouraging a vibrant and continuous discourse around their oeuvres.

The platform curates private and public creative events at international venues, and showcases a dynamic portfolio of contemporary art at local and international fairs. Specialized in art advisory services SMO Contemporary curates and manages important private and corporate art collections with a great commitment to documentation, preservation and communication.

Source: Organization's website.

Sohier, Estelle. “Hybrid Images: From Photography to Church Painting: Iconographic Narratives at the Court of the Ethiopian King of Kings, Menelik II (1880s–1913)”. African Arts 49, n^o 1(2016): 26‑39. https://doi.org/10.1162/AFAR_a_00268.

Photographs of Haile Selassie (r. 1939-1974) can be seen today on the streets of Addis Ababa and in books, museums, and photo agencies around the world; they have gained as well as new life on the internet, partly through Rastafarianism activism. While the reign of this King of Kings has been widely depicted in photographic images, particularly in countless portraits (Hirsch and Perret 1995, Perret 1995), Haile Selassie was not the first Ethiopian ruler to exploit photography.

[Source: Excerpt from the article, p. 26].