Assembly Closing: Global Africa received by the Vice-chancellor of Gaston Berger University
The celebration of the first year of activities of Global Africa took place on May 24, 2023 in Saint-Louis, with an Assembly bringing together around ten international institutions and public conferences by François Roubaud and Cheikh Thiam, which marked the first edition of the “Global Africa meetings.” This anniversary, celebrated from May 22nd to 24th at UGB, allowed for a review of the various activities by bringing together all the project’s bodies (steering committee, executive committee, editorial committee, and scientific council) and establishing the roadmap for the years to come. Intense discussions on the different components of the project (the journal, Junior Researchers’ Institutes, scientific publishing training, and international conferences) notably led to the following resolutions. Starting from 2024, the annual issues of the journal will focus on two thematic dossiers, one issue dedicated to a Junior Researchers’ Institute, and one miscellaneous issue. Additionally, the schedule for the next 12 issues was finalized. The Global Africa Assembly invited the project team to work towards the creation of an international Master’s program dedicated to scientific publishing. They also aim to strengthen dialogue with scientific journalism and public decision-makers, inviting them to collaborate more closely with actors in African scientific research. Before the conclusion of these days, a delegation from the Global Africa consortium was received by the new Vice-chancellor of Gaston Berger University, Prof. Magatte Ndiaye, who is also the new Editor-in-Chief of the Global Africa journal. This was an opportunity for him to renew the commitment and support of his institution to Global Africa as a unique project dedicated to strengthening the editorial ecosystem of African scientific research.
African Research Matters. Why Should We Consider African Research?
The third and final installment of our Global Africa series features the first pan-African and multilingual scientific journal launched at Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis, Senegal. Committed researchers from across the continent provide diverse perspectives. How can the continent, which experiences multiple crises, become a laboratory for the future? With: Listen to the podcast By: Caroline Lachowsky
African Research Matters. How Can We Consider and Rely on African Research?
Interview with Pr Mamadou Diouf during the African Research Matters symposium at Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis, Senegal. Second installment of our African Research Matters series, recorded at Gaston Berger University in St-Louis, Senegal, during the launch of Global Africa, the first interdisciplinary and multilingual pan-African scientific journal. Insights from inspiring researchers in the humanities and social sciences, hailing from various continents and the diaspora. Delighted to welcome you, dear listeners, back to the campus of the University Gaston Berger in St-Louis for the second part of our Global Africa series. This series is dedicated to the first pan-African and multilingual scientific journal launched in mid-March 2022, during a conference whose title is already a program in itself: African Research Matters. How can we rethink and heal the world from Africa? Why should we rely on and include African research? Welcome to the second installment, where we listen to three influential and committed voices. With the Senegalese historian Mamadou Diouf, A professor at Columbia University in New York, he reflects on the history of Saint-Louis, at the crossroads of time, the world, and the challenges of our time. The Nigerian Political Sciences Professor Adebayo Olukoshi, A professor at the Wits School of Governance at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, he emphasizes the importance of decolonizing minds both in the Global North and the Global South. And Nadine Machikou, A professor at the University of Yaoundé 2 in Cameroon. By: Caroline Lachowsky
African Research Matters. A Series of Podcasts From the Symposium.
The inaugural episode of our African Research Matters series was recorded during the symposium of the same name in St. Louis, Senegal, to mark the launch of Global Africa, the first-ever interdisciplinary and multilingual pan-African scientific journal. Delighted to welcome you, back to the campus of the Gaston Berger University in St-Louis for the first part of our Global Africa series. This series is dedicated to the first pan-African and multilingual scientific journal launched in March 15th 2022, during a conference whose title is already a program in itself: African Research Matters. How to engage with and rely on African research? To address global challenges and envision our shared futures… It is an immense task considering Africa’s limited contribution to global knowledge production (which does not exceed 2%). This immense task is undertaken by the most eminent researchers in the humanities and social sciences, engaged throughout the continent. They fearlessly explore all sensitive topics concerning the ways to finally restore the expertise, experience, resilience, and innovation capabilities of African research on the international scientific stage. I invite you to share some of these fruitful and inspiring exchanges that enlightened us during the intense five-day event in Saint Louis… Caroline Lachowsky. With Mame Penda Ba (Senegal), an associate professor in Political Science at the University of Saint-Louis in Senegal and the chief editor of the first pan-African scientific journal,Global Africa. And Mahamane Tidjani Alou (Niger), an associate professor of Political Science at the Abdou Moumouni University in Niamey. He provides training on scientific publishing for young Pan-African researchers. Thanks to the IRD (Research Institute for Development) Listen to the podcast By: Caroline Lachowsky
Freedom, Truth, Courage! A Pan-African Journal on Global Issues Here and Now.
All generations experience a sense of the extraordinary, but we, as Africans, who entered the 20th century ahead of the rest of the world through the contrasting doors of freedom and astonishment, now confront the profound intensification of inequalities and the ongoing emergence of the unprecedented, alongside hope and the enduring presence of longstanding issues. We are challenged to envision and shape the futures we aspire to for Africa and the world. The pathways that hold promise are those that prioritize courage, freedom, and truth, as these fundamental values form the cornerstone of new social agreements. All generations experience a sense of the extraordinary, but we, as Africans, who entered the 20th century ahead of the rest of the world through the contrasting doors of freedom and astonishment, now confront the profound intensification of inequalities and the ongoing emergence of the unprecedented, alongside hope and the enduring presence of longstanding issues. We are challenged to envision and shape the futures we aspire to for Africa and the world. The pathways that hold promise are those that prioritize courage, freedom, and truth, as these fundamental values form the cornerstone of new social agreements. Humanity has rarely had such potential to transform the material existence of men and women in the context of the technological and digital revolution, yet we have never been so close to all the limits. The sustained attention required to comprehend these possibilities and challenges, and the temporalities involved in grasping the futures of the continent, understanding and concretely translating the aspirations of the masses and individuals on the continent and in the diaspora, decoding the realities they invent – these are some of the crucial focal points that have driven the establishment of the Global Africa journal. This transdisciplinary and transnational project, situated at the intersections between Africa and its encounters with the world, is the result of many years of critical reflection and knowledge transformation initiatives aimed at rejuvenating Africa and African knowledge. Its genesis is the product of numerous fortuitous encounters, contradictory debates on the role and place of research and knowledge in addressing African and global challenges, on the critical reflexivity that strengthens the epistemological, theoretical, methodological, and ethical foundations of African/Africanist research, and on the conditions for truly free thinking on the continent and in the world. The founders of Global Africa have recognized the importance of addressing the geographic, linguistic, disciplinary, and ideological divisions that have hindered Africa’s ability to break free from harmful relationships with the world and, paradoxically, with itself. They have embraced the principles of collaborative scholarship, embracing incompleteness and interdependence, as fundamental pillars for generating scientific knowledge. In line with this vision, Global Africa is committed to openness: -Openness to contributors from diverse backgrounds, encompassing various disciplines and intellectual perspectives, with a particular focus on supporting young researchers. -Openness to prioritizing themes relevant to the continent, reimagining existing paradigms. -Openness to integrating arts and indigenous knowledge. -Openness to engaging knowledge users, including civil society actors, activists, policymakers, the private sector, and citizens. -Lastly, openness to utilizing African languages as languages of research and work. The journal actively publishes in French, English, Arabic, and Swahili, with future aspirations to include other African languages, aiming to eliminate intellectual exclusion. Global Africa firmly believes that these openness initiatives will be even more legitimate when they are based on knowledge produced and validated through the highest academic standards. In order to strengthen the ecosystem of scientific knowledge publishing in Africa, Global Africa sets a major requirement for published texts: they must contribute to advancing knowledge and understanding of reality, whether within a disciplinary or thematic field. This should be achieved through solid theoretical and conceptual frameworks, as well as robust and proven empirical data. In doing so, we aim to address the marginalization of African research and publications within the international scientific production, despite the fact that the continent is a remarkable space where local, national, communal, and transnational issues intersect, leading to innovations and tensions. Such ambition requires providing a demanding and rigorous platform for the voices of African researchers and all research efforts that contribute to rethinking Africa and the world from an African perspective, to describe and understand their trajectories. Global Africa also aspires to be a vibrant Pan-African community, welcoming anyone who wishes to inhabit a space that may have constraints but preserves their integrity. It is with these aspirations in mind that we seek to navigate the present century, primarily by listening to the voices and vibrations of the intellectual youth from the continent and the diaspora. Mame Penda BA Editor-in-chief The journal download The members of the Global Africa consortium- Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis (UGB, Senegal), the Institute of Research for Development (IRD, France), the Laboratoiry for the Study and Research on Social Dynamics and local development (LASDEL, Benin/Niger) and Rabat Internationale University (UIR, Maroc) – are launching the inaugural issue of Global Africa journal today, March 10, 2022. Eight original contributions published in four languages (English, Arabic, French, and Swahili) and available on the journal’s website and the Global Africa program, present the viewpoints and analyses of authors such as Cecelia Lynch, Felwine Sarr, Fatima Sadiqi, Walter Mignolo, Giulia Bonacci, on thematic areas and research fields with reimagined paradigms. This new journal is already proving to be the crucible of research that will contribute to rethinking the African continent and the world from an African perspective, describing and analyzing their trajectories in the face of global challenges. You can access this first issue here. Enjoy your reading!
International Conference: Global Africa Aims to Promote African Research.
On the sidelines of the publication of its eponymous journal’s first issue, Global Africa held the opening ceremony of its International Conference on Tuesday, March 15, 2022, at the CRAC amphitheater of UGB. The conference revolved around the theme “Thinking African Futures in Response to Global Challenges.” The inaugural session was led by Mr. Godwin MURUNGA, Executive Secretary of CODESRIA, Mr. Régis DANTAUX, representative of the French Embassy in Senegal, Ms. Valérie VERDIER, CEO of the Institute of Research for Development (IRD), and Professor Ousmane THIARE, Vice-chancellor of Gaston Berger University. Spanning four days, the conference brought together esteemed figures from the scientific community and academics from Africa. In his opening remarks, Mr. MURUNGA expressed his delight at the involvement of Gaston Berger University in this transformative process of African scientific research and its dissemination on the international stage. In this regard, he emphasized that Global Africa promotes a new conceptualization of Africa to boost African research by reconnecting the continent with the new challenges of the postmodern world. Under this perspective, this new paradigm marks the beginning of a transformation of Africa that is open to the world and its disruptions. “The decolonization of knowledge is a necessity that will enable the popularization of our researchers and the training of intellectuals capable of changing the perception of Africa,” asserts Mr. Godwin MURUNGA. Addressing the issue of Africa’s position in global scientific research, the Executive Secretary of CODESRIA noted that African researchers undoubtedly have ideas that will influence the destiny of Africa and the world. It is obvious from his analysis that Global Africa aims to refocus the African continent on current debates, specifically the sustainable development of Africa through the dissemination of research. En savoir plus