Founded in 2007, the Sub-Saharan Africa Center of the French Institute of International Relations - Ifri works to address the cross-disciplinary issues that the African continent is facing. The Center achieves its mission through quality analyses available in various formats.
Aimed at renewing interpretative frameworks and nurturing public debate, the Center’s expertise offers helpful tools for policy-makers in Africa. The Center also provides analyses for some key actors in Africa such as the French Ministry of the Armed Forces (Ministère des Armées), the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères), International Crisis Group, the OECD or the World Bank.
Launched in 2008, l’Afrique en questions covers topics of broad and current interest. In addition, the Policy Papers and Reports published by the Center provide more comprehensive analyses. These publications are combined with public events where politicians, academics, companies and civil society can promote dialogue about Africa and share analytical tools.
Afrique Décryptages, the Sub-Saharan Africa Center’s blog, provides information regarding the Center's activities, publication announcements, conference reports, and links to the Center's research fellows’ public appearances. Afrique Décryptages also works as a forum where the research fellows share their opinions about topical issues and stimulate debates and discussions.
Research Fellow, Director of Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center
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Research Fellow, Coordinator of the Governing the Urban Transition in Africa research programme, Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center
Project Officer at the Sub-Saharan Africa Center and Turkey/Middle East Program
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Associate Research Fellow, Sub-Saharan Africa Center / Center for Energy and Climate
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Associate Research Fellow, Sub-Saharan Africa Center
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Associate Research Fellow, Sub-Saharan Africa Center
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Associate Research Fellow,Sub-Saharan Africa Center
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Although it is one of the smallest states on the African continent, Rwanda has adopted a proactive foreign policy. Kigali has deployed troops within the framework of multilateral peacekeeping missions to increase its prestige and influence. Since last year, changes have arisen: Rwanda has...
Due to historical as well as geographical reasons, India and East Africa have long been close partners. In the recent period however, and even more so since the early 2000s, these ties have tightened as a result of combined efforts by the government of India and its business community. <...>
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.
Since 2020, the exploitation of gold from mining sites in the Wamuzimu chiefdom in the South Kivu province by Chinese companies has aroused great discontent among the population.
The market for decentralized solar systems first developed in rural Africa, and today it is expanding to the continent’s cities, though these areas are already covered by each country’s central network.
The election of the Commission to run the African Union (AU) on February 6 and 7, 2021 was an important step towards implementing its institutional reform. The Commission is the institution’s real government, setting the pan-African organization’s objectives under the leadership of the Heads...
Mineral revenues are the driving force behind Namibia’s economic performance. Namibia is rich in mineral resources which include uranium, diamond, copper, gold, lead, lithium and zinc. However, these mineral riches are not always allocated and utilized in a transparent manner and seem to...
Although it has largely gone unnoticed in France, the agreement signed on December 3, 2020 between the European Union (EU) and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) is a major shift in the long-standing relations between the EU and countries in the Global South. ...
China and Africa have enjoyed a strong relationship since the wave of African independences in the 1960s. Nevertheless, relations between China and Africa have significantly expanded since the late 1990s and have been fueled by a growing discourse centered on a “win-win” partnership between...
The Mbororo are Fulani who, unlike the Fulbe, have not become sedentary and have practiced nomadic herding for a long time. However, over the past several decades, they have been undergoing a sedentarization process in northern Cameroon (Septentrion), to the point that many of them have become...
Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center is launching a new research program dealing with the major socio-economic and geopolitical challenges of urban dynamics on the continent.
With the European Union (EU) - African Union (AU) summit due to take place on February 17-18, 2022, sub-Saharan Africa's sustainable development challenge has never been so pressing. Despite past progress in electrification, the number of people without access to electricity rose again in 2020...
In 2030, half of the African population will be living in urban agglomerations. Rapid urban growth has been defined as major challenges, but also a potential opportunity for the continent’s socio-economic development. Creating inclusive, sustainable and resilient cities is one of the 17 United...
Affordable and reliable electricity access from renewable energy sources is a prerequisite for the development of sustainable and healthy cities in sub-Saharan Africa.
As part of the Central and Southern Africa Observatory, a research partnership between Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center and the Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS) of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, Ifri is hosting a series of three research webinars...
As part of the Central and Southern Africa Observatory, a research partnership between Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center and the Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS) of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, Ifri is hosting a series of three research webinars...
As part of the Central and Southern Africa Observatory, a research partnership between Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center and the Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy (DGRIS) of the French Ministry of the Armed Forces, Ifri is hosting a series of three research webinars...
The African Studies Center of the French Institute of International Relations and the Institute for Strategic Research at the Military School are co-organizing a videoconference about the current political crisis in Ethiopia. The event will be held in English.
South Africa benefits from a successful renewable energy program and a certain status as the only nuclear power plant operator on the African continent. These assets have been increasingly overshadowed by structural and mounting challenges affecting the energy sector and entire economy: load...
The Sub-Saharan Africa program and its Associate Fellows are accustomed to sharing their expertise with the media. Our experts mainly speak French, but they can also intervene in English. Consult our researchers’ geographic and thematic specialties on their profile.
In the Central African Republic (CAR), nine out of 10 people do not have internet, and only one in seven has electricity -- that is, when there are no power cuts.
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The European bloc is involved in two training missions in Mali – the EUTM and the EUCAP – to coach soldiers and police.
Paris and Beijing have agreed to build infrastructure projects in Africa, South East Asia and Eastern Europe. But will this help shine light on China’s opaque foreign investments? Or just give the appearance of doing so?
An interview with Olumide Abimbola, founder and director of the Africa Policy Research Institute (APRI).
The British used to call it "the Great Game" — the military and political jockeying of great powers in the late 19th century in Afghanistan, India and the areas around southern Russia. France, too, has played its "Great Game" in western Africa for 150 years. Now it's losing. Islamist...
President Déby was killed while visiting troops on the frontline, according to an army spokesman.
An interview with Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria.
The Think Thank 7 (T7) is an engagement group that brings together the leading Think Tanks from the G7 countries in order to analyze and make recommendations on key issues of the G7 presidency.
Days before French President Emmanuel Macron visited West and Central African leaders this week to talk security, Islamist fighters sent a defiant message -- a suicide attack on the headquarters of a five-nation force that is supposed to take the lead in fighting terrorism in the region.
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Russia and China are muscling their way into the Central African Republic as Western clout in the mineral-rich, strategically important nation seems to wane, analysts say.
