
Sina SCHLIMMER
Research Fellow, Coordinator of the Governing the Urban Transition in Africa research program, Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center
Research Interests:
- Urban governance
- Land policies
- Kenya, Tanzania, East Africa
- State formation
- Policy analysis
Sina Schlimmer is a Research Fellow at the French institute of international relations - Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center, where she coordinates the Governing the Urban Transition research program. She has a genuine interest in the challenges of governing cities and in land issues in East Africa.
After completing her PhD thesis in political science, which focused on large-scale land acquisitions in Tanzania she specialized on urban land markets during a post-doc at Sciences Po Bordeaux. As a consultant at UN-Habitat in Nairobi in Kenya, she developed an expertise in the socio-economic dynamics of rapidly growing cities in Africa. Sina has undertaken several field studies in Benin, Kenya, and Tanzania.
The construction of new cities on the African continent is in vogue. From multifunctional urban hubs to eco-districts, the images that accompany the announcement of these projects promote an African urban future based on modernity and technology.
By 2050, about 60% of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa will live in urban areas. The governance of the rapid growth of capital and intermediary cities in Africa is one of the priorities of the international development agenda.
A “New Africa-France Summit” was held on October, 8 at Arena Sud de France in Montpellier.
Between 2020 and 2050, Africa’s population is expected to double, and the continent will be home to 2.5 billion people. Almost half of this population will be living in urban agglomerations. Metropolitan cities, such as Lagos, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam or Abidjan will host several tens of...
The year 2020 was to be a pivotal year for (re)formulating Europe's Africa strategy. Germany and France were committed to strengthening relations between the two continents and to consolidating them at the sixth summit of the African Union and the European Union, which was postponed because of...
The COVID-19 pandemic has struck Africa less than expected.
Tanzanian voters were called to the polls on Wednesday, October 28, 2020 to elect the country’s main political institution – the President, the National Assembly, and the District Councillors (diwani). Without surprise, the outcome of the sixth general elections since the...
After more than ten years of hectic debates on international ‘land grabs’, academic interest in collapsed land deals or projects with unexpected results is growing.
Africa has occupied a significant place in Emmanuel Macron’s political agenda but he will need more than fine speeches to change the longstanding paternalist image of France on the continent.