Africa's rapid population growth, and even more rapid urbanisation, creates serious sustainability challenges. Like many cities in other parts of the world, African cities try to become 'green',... Show moreAfrica's rapid population growth, and even more rapid urbanisation, creates serious sustainability challenges. Like many cities in other parts of the world, African cities try to become 'green', and promote change in urban design and lifestyles to encourage more sustainable living. Many of these initiatives are supported by international agencies and illustrated on agency websites. Studying these websites, we try to answer three related questions dealing with the inclusivity of those initiatives: the geographical coverage (which cities?), the thematic coverage (how 'holistic'?) and the social inclusivity (how inclusive in terms of social focus?). Both scholars and practitioners should become more inclusive in their approaches to sustainable cities in Africa. Show less
Education is the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and considered an important gateway to many other SDGs being achieved. Education is, however, frequently interpreted in terms of its... Show moreEducation is the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) and considered an important gateway to many other SDGs being achieved. Education is, however, frequently interpreted in terms of its technical aspects, i.e., furthering skills and knowledge and strengthening human capital for promoting development. By contrast, this paper focuses less on this technical aspect and instead analyses the current educational landscape in Africa as a field in which flows of investment, ideas, and people influence connections between Africans and the rest of the world. As an effect of the structural adjustment programs in the 1980s, public spending on education in many African countries went down, allowing private education initiatives to spring up. These were, for a large part, financed by Western and Arab countries. Over the last fifteen years, investment flows in education from emerging global powers like China, Brazil, Malaysia, and Turkey have contributed to an increasingly diversified educational landscape in Africa. This paper argues that these investments not only allow Africans to improve their educational levels but that these diverse forms of education also have an influence on connections and social orientations in African societies. Educational programs go together with specific worldviews. In addition, people develop their social networks through educational trajectories. Both orientations and connections influence people’s choices and opportunities in their further lives, and thus individual and societal development. Interestingly, often investments in education by external parties are not isolated endeavors, but also used as a means to get linked-in in local societies for such diverse purposes as religion or business interests. Illustrating my argument with examples taken from my research on Gulf charities and on Turkish schools in Africa, I will explore how the new connectivities that come with the changing educational landscape in Africa shape (possible) local development trajectories in the current era of intensified globalization characterized by intensified flows of capital, people, and ideas. Show less
Globally, the goal of education in the developing world has moved from "Education for All," which was one of the Millenium Goals of the United Nations, to focus on "Quality Education" as... Show moreGlobally, the goal of education in the developing world has moved from "Education for All," which was one of the Millenium Goals of the United Nations, to focus on "Quality Education" as Sustainable Development Goal 4, formulated by the same United Nations. As the number of children going to school all over the world increased and the expected results of the reduction of extreme poverty and hunger materialised, governments and NGOs alike soon realised that the term "education" covers a wide range of activities and ways of schooling, not all of which contribute equally and in all circumstances to the continuing development goals of any particular country or region. Sustainable development can be attained only when individuals and groups have and are able to use the tools and can adapt to local circumstances. Education should provide learners with those tools and only education that does provide them and prepares its learners for their futures can be called "quality education." Rethinking how "education" can be put to use strategically for long term gain therefore assumes the utmost importance, and the focus must then turn to the quality of education. Good and sustainable education is understood to be education that prepares its participants for both social and professional life by equipping them with appropriate knowledge and skills. Hence the title of this volume: Education for Life in Africa. Show less
In een recent verschenen notitie van de Adviesraad Internationale Vraagstukken wordt een pleidooi gehouden voor ‘diplomatie van duurzame ontwikkeling’. Het Nederlandse buitenlandse beleid heeft de... Show moreIn een recent verschenen notitie van de Adviesraad Internationale Vraagstukken wordt een pleidooi gehouden voor ‘diplomatie van duurzame ontwikkeling’. Het Nederlandse buitenlandse beleid heeft de laatste jaren sterk ingezet op zogenaamde ‘economische diplomatie’. Daarmee lijkt een stap gezet te zijn in de richting van een vorm van diplomatie waarbij het Nederlandse economische belang meer centraal staat. Maar welke belangen zijn dat dan? Naast bezuinigingen worden tegelijkertijd nieuwe beleidsinstrumenten ontwikkeld waarvan de effectiviteit nog bewezen moet worden. Deze dubbelslag vertegenwoordigt een (her)oriëntatie op de diplomatieke inzet van Nederland, welke vooral gevolgen lijkt te hebben voor het ontwikkelingsbeleid. Dat levert verhitte debatten op, zeker wanneer de financiële consequenties van dit beleid voor bestaande belangengroepen duidelijk worden. Deze discussie is weinig productief zolang een meer integrale en strategische visie op de beoogde diplomatieke inzet niet gedeeld wordt. Wat kan derhalve als gezamenlijk (bilateraal) belang van zowel Nederland als de ontvangende landen worden gezien? Juist voor een klein land als Nederland is een integrale – slimme, pragmatische, maar ook doelgerichte en duurzame - benadering essentieel. Een preciezere framing van het beleid is daarom gewenst: van economische diplomatie, waarbij het er niet toe doet welke handelsstromen op gang worden gebracht (zolang het maar veel is), naar duurzame diplomatie, ofwel ‘diplomatie van duurzame ontwikkeling’, waarbij veel meer wordt nagedacht over de kwaliteit, de doelstelling en de lange termijn invulling van deze relaties. Deze Working Paper is een co-produktie met het Partnerships Resource Centre, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Ook verschenen in de reeks PrC working paper 2017. Show less
ASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 58 (2017).... Show moreASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 58 (2017). African Studies Centre Leiden. Show less
Het Nederlandse buitenlandbeleid zet sterk in op economische diplomatie, waarbij het Nederlandse economische belang centraal staat. Deze benadering is echter te eendimensionaal. Juist voor een... Show moreHet Nederlandse buitenlandbeleid zet sterk in op economische diplomatie, waarbij het Nederlandse economische belang centraal staat. Deze benadering is echter te eendimensionaal. Juist voor een klein land als Nederland is duurzame diplomatie essentieel. Bij deze vorm van diplomatie wordt nadrukkelijker nagedacht over de kwaliteit, de doelstelling, de langetermijninvulling en de wederkerigheid van relaties. We illustreren de consequenties van dit strategische denkkader aan de hand van veranderende relaties met Afrika. Show less
ASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 59 (2017).... Show moreASA Online provides a quarterly overview of journal articles and edited works on Africa in the field of the social sciences and the humanities available in the ASC library. Issue 59 (2017). African Studies Centre Leiden. Show less
At present, emerging economies such as China, are the major importers as well as investors in Africa’s extractive sector. Indeed, they maintain a “stranglehold” on the continent regarding finance... Show moreAt present, emerging economies such as China, are the major importers as well as investors in Africa’s extractive sector. Indeed, they maintain a “stranglehold” on the continent regarding finance for development. Their success in gaining access to the resources of Africa is linked to an effective strategy that combines trade inducements, increased investment flows, aid for infrastructure and construction and technology transfers. With the recent dramatic decline in the price of commodities, and China’s re-balancing with greater emphasis on consumption-driven growth model, growth prospects in commodity-dependent Africa has dampened. Qatar, with its abundant hydrocarbon reserves and US$10 billion foreign exchange reserves, deploys its “soft power” to enable African countries develop their extractive sector fully, industrialize and end China’s financial stranglehold on the continent. Qatar can help develop Africa’s mineral processing industries through public private partnerships and experience. This is because of Qatar’s track record as a sound manager of natural resources. This type of partnership will assist African countries to get more out of their natural resources through valueaddition, and further deepen domestic technological capacity and job creation. Show less
