The Asia–Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) — a Japan–India initiative to promote connectivity between Asia and East Africa and encourage joint projects in Africa — is often misrepresented. All too often, the AAGC is depicted as a political move aimed exclusively at countering China’s Belt and Road...

Africa on the International Scene

Cet axe de recherche analyse les politiques africaines mises en place par les partenaires traditionnels du continent africain (France, Grande-Bretagne, etc.), mais aussi par les pays émergents (Chine, Turquie, Brésil, etc.).
On June 5th 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain broke off diplomatic relations with Qatar and agreed to isolate the Emirate via an air and land blockade.
The July 2016 failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government not only resulted in a dramatic upheaval in Turkey, it also had a significant impact on the structure of its international relations and its networks of influence abroad.
Since 2015 and the refugee crisis, the dialogue between the European Union (EU) and African countries on migration issues has assumed a new intensity.
In September 2015, Addis Ababa introduced the first Light Rail Transit system (LRT) in sub-Saharan Africa. This tram, a symbol of Ethiopian renewal, was nevertheless barely used by the capital’s residents during the first few months. However, at the time of our research trip in April 2017,...
The aim of this paper is to assess how an African country deals on the long run with the decline of international aid and foreign direct investment. This paper is a contribution to the debate about the effectiveness of the international sanctions system.
If some African countries are on their way to achieving dynamic economic growth, many are also still struggling with a lack of economic and social infrastructure, latent governance issues and often complex and risky security environments. In this context, both Japan and European countries,...
By organising TICAD (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) for the first time in Africa in August 2016, Japan intended to accelerate and deepen its relationship with the continent.
There is still a big gap between the discourse and the reality of what Japan wants - and what it can achieve in Africa.
This paper documents new features of Japan's diplomacy that tends to gradually integrate Africa into Japan's strategic interests.
Political and economic reconfigurations under Abiy Ahmed in Ethiopia
Since taking over as head of the Ethiopian government in April 2018, Abiy Ahmed has increased his openness: the lifting of the state of emergency, the release of political prisoners, the announcements of economic openness and privatization of national enterprises. Regarding foreign policy,...
4x4 Directors Forum 2019 African-European Think Tank Dialogue
The 4x4 Directors Forum is an annual meeting gathering the directors of four European and four African Think Tanks to discuss current challenges that both continents are facing. The purpose is to identify common positions and asymmetries, and address possible areas of cooperation in order to...
Angola : from Dos Santos to Lourenço, Unexpected Transition, Lasting Transformation?
As part of the Observatoire of Southern Africa and the African Great Lakes, Ifri organizes this conference on Angola in collaboration with the Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy of the...
Deepening the Franco-Japanese Cooperation in Africa: the Economic and Security Dimensions
It is now clear that some African countries are on their way to achieve a dynamic economic growth that will uphold the overall development of the continent. At the same time, they are still struggling with the lack of economic and social infrastructure, governance issues and a complex and...
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.
What is the role of international NGOs regarding the sanctions process?