Join us for a discussion on Africa’s critical role in the fight against climate change!Although Africa is not a driver of the climate crisis, it bears a huge burden of the consequences. Simultaneously, Africa's wealth of natural resources, expansive forests, and abundant renewable energy potential, position Africa as a vital player in the fight aga…

Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland, is the last absolute monarchy in Africa. King Mswati has ruled the country since 1986 and has been greatly criticized for closing the democratic space through banning political parties, crushing opposition and excessive state violence. As political parties are banned, people can only contest for parliament sea…

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is currently in the process of developing a new Norwegian strategy for Africa. Africa, with its 55 states, is developing fast and the changing geopolitical situation in the world is also an important backdrop. Many countries in the world are now intensifying their diplomatic ties with African countries.For …

The Niger Delta in Nigeria has endured extensive environmental degradation due to decades of oil exploration activities. One of the major companies to have operated in the region is Shell. Communities in the Niger Delta have faced pollution, loss of livelihoods and health crises and Shell's operation in the country have been mired in some of the mo…

Human rights violations against East African migrant workers in the Gulf States have prompted growing concern. Human Rights Watch recently reported a tragic incident where hundreds of Ethiopians lost their lives while attempting to cross the border into Saudi Arabia. The pervasive Kafala system, binding workers to their employers, further exacerbat…

Michelle Bachelet, former UN high commissioner for human rights, said: "young people are always at the forefront of crisis - and fighting for a better future." This is also true in African countries, where young activists have led big movements such as #EndSARS and Fridays for Future.Come join us in celebrating five young human rights defenders wor…

In August Zimbabwe headed to the polls again and on the 26th of August the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission announced that Emmerson Mnangagwa had been re-elected after gaining a majority of votes. The opposition 'Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC)' refused this victory, stating instead that they, with leader Nelson Chamisa, had won. The opposition al…

According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2023 Eritrea's government is continuing to severely repress its population and imposing restrictions on freedom of expression, opinion and faith. At the end of 2021 there were almost 600 000 Eritreans refugees and asylum seekers abroad.We have seen clashes between Eritreans in several European cities…

Despite much change in the past decades, society often looks to the media for information and education. Meanwhile, the 2023 index published by Reporters without Borders reports that responders reported that political actors in their countries were often or systematically involved in massive disinformation or propaganda campaigns. The difference be…

On the 26th of July a coup d'état took place in the Republic of Niger when the country's presidential guard detained president Mohamed Bazoum. The coup has been condemned by both the United States and former colonizer France, and the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, has threatened to intervene militarily.What caused the coup in Niger? What does …

A new report to be launched on 27 April reveals a trend that has received little attention in Norway: the large number of old Norwegian fishing vessels in West African waters.After having been used for decades in Norwegian waters, fishing companies along the west coast of Norway export their old ships to Africa, where they are used to catch fish st…

I oktober fant Høyesterett at Europas største landbaserte vindkraftverk var satt opp ulovlig på vinterbeitene til den sørsamiske reindrifta på Fosen, i strid med Norges internasjonale forpliktelser ovenfor urfolk. Norske Statkraft og Trønder Energi eier 60% av prosjektet.I okkuperte Vest-Sahara bygger marokkanske myndigheter vindmøller i strid med …

The last week the world has witnessed a tight presidential race between Deputy President William Ruto and Kenyatta endorsed Raila Odinga. Kenya's electoral chairman declared Ruto the winner on 15th of August with 50.49% of the vote against Odinga's 48.85%. Odinga's supporters are urging him to challenge the result and the country is waiting to see …

Farmaajo's term as President in Somalia ended in February 2021 and there have been several attempts to hold the delayed presidential election. Currently the election is scheduled to take place in May. The continuous delay of the election, combined with the dispute between the allied opposition group and the federal government have left the country …

Ukraine was home to over 76 000 foreign students when Russia invaded Ukraine. Approximately a quarter of the foreign students in the country were from Africa, with the largest numbers coming from Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt. More than 10 000 African students have managed to flee the conflict since the beginning of the war, but only after facing raci…

In 2020 Norway gave 39.5 billion Norwegian Kroner to aid in the development assistance budget. How the development assistance funds are distributed and further used, have been on the public discourse in 2021. The debate centered around whether aid works, how it is organised, and what needs to be prioritised. The Director for Norad’s department for …

Autor: Fellesrådet for Afrika

In 2017, the majority of international migrants resided in a country in their region of birth. The same is true for Africa. But how does African migration on the continent look like? What opportunities do migrants have in their home countries and what are the perceived opportunities in the host countries? How do migrants take on new identities in t…

Although Africa's contribution to greenhouse emissions globally is small, countries on the continent are among the most vulnerable to climate change, according to the UN panel on climate. They predict that millions of people will be affected by drought, floods, landslides and lack of water and food. What will this mean for the peace, stability, mig…

The results from the general election held on the 8th of May in South Africa is clear. The ruling African National Congress is once again reelected, but they are weakened and the opposition is strengthened. The people are demanding a change. Corruption scandals and an unstable economy are key issues to address. How will ANC with president Cyril Ram…

On April 2nd 2019 The Gambia ratified the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, reaching the threshold of 22 countries needed to put the agreement into force. This agreement is a step towards the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which will be the largest free-trade area in the world. Is this heading towards Kwame Nkrumah's dream of…

Africa's last absolute monarchy ruled by King Mswati III since 1986 celebrates 51 years of independence this year. 38% of the population in Swaziland is living in extreme poverty (World Bank). The country has also continued to repress political dissent and disregard human rights and rule of law. What is going on in Swaziland? According to Human Rig…

“An important read...The still-unfolding tragedy of South Sudan is too littleunderstood and too little known, even among foreign policy experts. Zach Vertin is a rare exception.”- JOHN KERRY68th U.S. Secretary of StateA Rope from the sky - The making and unmaking of the world's newest state is a book about South Sudan and how the new nation was plu…

I år er det 25 år siden den banebrytende Kairo-konferansen, som huskes best som konferansen der kvinners rolle ble satt i direkte sammenheng med befolkningsspørsmålet, og hvor seksuell og reproduktiv helse og rettigheter virkelig ble satt på agendaen. Et sentralt punkt var om abort skal tolkes som en komponent av reproduktiv helse og som en univers…

I 2011 besluttet den norske regjeringen i rekordfart, under ledelse av Jens Stoltenberg, å delta i militæroperasjonene i Libya. Under krigen slapp norske styrker 588 bomber over landet og operasjonen er den mest omfattende Norge har deltatt i siden andre verdenskrig. Mange spørsmål er blitt stilt vedrørende Norges rolle i krigen i ettertid, men hva…

Abiy Ahmed was the prime minister on everyone's lips from April 2018. In one year he has made peace with Eritrea, freed thousands of opposition prisoners, opened up to foreign investors, survived an assassination and a mutiny, appointed women as half of the government and the president and tackled corruption and human rights violations within the r…

KLUPOD is brought to you by the gender and equality group (KLU- Kjønn og Likestilling) at the Norwegian Council for Africa (Fellesrådet for Afrika) in Oslo. We work with activists and artists to create awareness about current topics affecting gender and equality, aiming to contribute to a more nuanced perception of the continent. Each podcast will …

Barnearbeid i koboltgruvene i Kongo. Tekstilarbeidere i Bangladesh som hver dag risikerer et nytt Rana Plaza. Urfolksrepresentanter i Guatemala som voldtas og drepes fordi de ikke vil overlate jorden sin til gruvedrift. Miljøforkjempere i Brasil som blir drept fordi de protesterer mot tvangsflytting, vannforurensing og avskoging. Disse eksemplene v…

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, was set to vote in presidential and federal elections on 16 Februar. But the elections were postponed last minute to 23 February. The political landscape in Nigeria has changed the last decade, and there is an increasing democratic participation. However, violent conflicts, corruption and militant activ…

The decade from 2015 to 2024 has been proclaimed the International Decade for People of African Descent by the UN. The UN advise all states to "Celebrate the launch of the International Decade at the national level, and develop national programmes of action and activities for the full and effective implementation of the Decade". However, in Norway,…

Zambia only just over a decade ago had their debts written off by the IMF and the World Bank. However, the public debt in the country has increased significantly in the recent years, and concerns over a possible crisis have been aired. Some are blaming unsustainable Chinese loans and say that China is pursuing debt-trap diplomacy with the aim of ta…

Disguised corporations, fake foundations, trade misinvoicing, holes in financial regulation, secrecy jurisdictions - what effect does the shadow financial system have on democracy?Raymond Baker, director and founder of US think tank Global Financial Integrity, has spent many years in close vincity to US decision making processes regarding financial…

Mozambique is at one of its most critical moments since the end of the civil war in 1992. The government has borrowed massively both internationally and domestically, and this includes three secret loans amounting to $2bn between 2013 and 2014. This has led to several major donors, like IMF and the World Bank, suspending aid, while the government i…

Each year, Reporters Without Borders ranks countries according to the degree of freedom the media enjoys. The list for 2018 shows that press freedom varies considerably across Africa. While Ghana, Namibia and South Africa score high, countries such as Eritrea, Sudan, Burundi, Somalia and Egypt are at the bottom. What is the situation for the free m…

President Museveni has been the president of Uganda since 1986. In a country where more than 75 percent of the population is below 35 years, many have never known any other president. Lately, many youth have voiced their support of artist and member of Parliament, Bobi Wine, as someone who could bring about real change. Some have compared the situa…

Adegbeye and Sira Myhre in a conversation about literature, activism through literature, feminism, gender, religion and how it is to live and make a life as a young female author in Lagos, Nigeria. Adegbeye is an author, feminist and activist. She is a prominent figure among Nigerian and African feminists of her generation, and her writing has been…

There have been some tumultuous months in Zimbabwe. No one had foreseen that Mugabe would be forced out of power after 37 years, supported by the vast majority of the population. The upcoming election taking place on 30 July could decide the country's course for decades to come. What is the outcome of the elections? And what does this election mean…

Mange norske bedrifter ønsker å ta del i de raskt voksende økonomiene på det afrikanske kontinentet. Fra 2000 er antallet norske selskaper i Afrika sør for Sahara mangedoblet. Tall fra SSB viser at investeringer i afrikanske land er svært lønnsomme for Norge, i tillegg til at mange afrikanske land ønsker flere investorer velkommen. Regjeringen mene…

Female sanitary pads, reproductive health, and menstruation in particular, is a topic deemed taboo in many African countries. Menstruation is often associated with uncleanliness and impurity, and there is little awareness about the importance of adequate sanitary facilities. What role does the language surrounding female sanitation play in stigmati…

Denis Nzioka lives in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. He is openly gay, has written a number of articles on LGBT and other human rights issues, and has more than 8000 followers on Twitter. In 2013 he was a candidate in the Kenyan presidential elections.How is life as an openly gay man in Nairobi? How are the reactions from friends and family? Why is…

The successive oil spills in the Niger Delta in southern Nigeria over the last decades have destroyed the local fishery, the drinking water and the opportunity to cultivate land. But who is responsible? Is it solely the Nigerian government? What about oil companies operating in the area? The Norwegian pension fund (Oljefondet) has shares in Shell t…

Den nyvalgte presidenten i Somalia, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmaajo), henvendte seg til Al-Shabab, Al-Qaida og IS i sin innvielsestale i 2017 med ordene: "Til de av dere som arbeider med militante ekstremister, vit at deres tid er over." Likevel opplevde landet det blodigste terrorangrepet i landets historie bare måneder senere. Har Farmaajo le…

A report published by the International Labour Organization and International Organization for Migration last year estimated that more than 40 million people are living in slavery. Probably the number is higher. And the situation in African countries is the most serious. What does slavery in our time entail and which structures in the international…

It is estimated that African countries, relative to the size of their economies, lose more in corporate tax evasion than countries anywhere else in the world. What is the role of taxation in creating development in Africa? Is stopping illicit financial flows a silver bullet to increase the financing for development? Or are we putting too little emp…

On 17th December, Tunisia marked seven years since the start of the protests that spread across the region and came to be known as the Arab Spring. The country has been praised for its relatively peaceful transition to democracy. However, seven years after the revolution, the country remains a fragile democracy facing economic challenges, widesprea…

For decades, Tanzania has been one of the most important countries for Norwegian development cooperation. Today's president Jon Magufuli is often referred to as a new Nyerere. What then are the implications for how we can see the present in the light of the past?Tanzania has, in line with many socialist one-party states, opened up for market econom…

While ECOWAS was on the short-list for the Nobel Peace Prize for its intervention in the Gambia, the East African Community (EAC) struggles to produce meaningful progress and results in Burundi.The African Union (AU) has peace and security at the core of its mandate. However, much of the handling of conflict is usually delegated to one of the vario…

I 38 år har José Eduardo dos Santos vært president i Angola. Det gjør ham til verdens nest lengstsittende president. Nå har han meldt at han trer av ved høstens valg. Hva skjer da?For 40 år siden endret det regjerende MPLA-partiet grunnleggende angolansk politikk gjennom omfattende massakrer og politisk opprensing internt i eget parti. 27. mai 1977…

Pierre Nkurunziza´s unconstitutional decision to run for a third period as president led to a two-year conflict in Burundi. Why is the international society seemingly paralyzed when it comes to dealing with the crisis in the relatively small country? East African leaders like Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and John Magufuli (Tanzania) have used their pos…

In the Norwegian political public space a number of identity and ethnicity based questions are ignored or unknown. Prominent writers and feminists like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Chibundu Onuzo, to mention a few, write about how hair is a core issue connected to identity and status for Nigerian women, and in general, the African woman. The ideal …