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 program, Ifri's Sub-Saharan Africa Center
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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 and Turkey/Middle East Program
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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, Coordinator of the Observatory of Central and Southern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa Center
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North-South tensions are exacerbated at a time of unprecedented turmoil for both Europeans and Africans. European polycrises (geopolitical, energy-related and economic) echo the systematic vulnerability of Africans, which is reinforced by external shocks.
On February 27, 2023, Emmanuel Macron delivered a speech on French-African relations before traveling to Central Africa to meet with the leaders of four countries: Gabon, Angola, Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This briefing looks back at the key moments of his latest presidential...
On May 6, 2023, King Charles III will be crowned at Westminster Abbey in London. This briefing assesses the UK-Africa relations against the backdrop of the new King's discourse on Global Britain.
Nigerians will go to the polls on February 25 to elect a new president and members of the National Assembly. This marks the 7th in an unbroken sequence of presidential elections held since the country’s return to democracy in 1999.
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.
Since 2012, the proliferation of jihadist groups across the Sahel has monopolized the attention of the authorities.forced by the threats they represent and the weakening of their regal power, states are gradually withdrawing from their peripheral rural territories. As a result, populations...
While a state of siege was declared a year ago in two Congolese provinces and Kenyan authorities organized a meeting in Nairobi between the Congolese government and armed groups, the pacification of the Congolese East remains unresolved. This study looks back at the Tshisekedi government's...
In the context of growing regional rivalries between major powers in the Indian Ocean, the stakes of Sino-Malagasy relations are major.
China and Africa share a strong relationship since the wave of African independences in the 1960s. Nevertheless, China-Africa trade has experienced an unprecedented surge since the late 1990s and has been accompanied by the rise of a discourse of "win-win" partnership between China and Africa....
After several decades of reforms, the situation in centralized power sectors has hardly changed. The sub-Saharan power sector remains underdeveloped, and power sectors are experiencing significant financial difficulties that have been further exacerbated first by the effects of the pandemic...
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.
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.
It's a watershed moment for South Africa and the party of Nelson Mandela. The leadership of the African National Congress is expected to force out Jacob Zuma. Will the president go quietly? Can he negotiate a deal in the face of long-looming corruption allegations?
What is the role of international NGOs regarding the sanctions process?
How to explain the decline of the ANC during the last election? Why 2017 is a decisive year for the ANC? How to explain the student protests during the past two years?
Angola is expected to formally announce the end of President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos' controversial 37-year rule Saturday, and name a successor to lead the ailing African oil-producing country.
Trade is the focus of a three-day visit to France that Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang started on Tuesday. Beyond deals with French companies, China and France are expected to sign an agreement on joint infrastructure projects in Asia and Africa.
Aljazeera Center for Studies, March 2015
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