Conflict & Development in Africa Podcast

In this week’s episode, I am joined by our returning guest, Professor Loren Landau, Research Professor at the University of Witwatersrand and Professor of Migration and Development at Oxford University, to discuss the ongoing Xenophobic attacks against African foreign nationals in South Africa.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by our returning guest, James Barnett, PhD candidate at Oxford University and non-residential fellow at Hudson Institute to discuss the current United States and Nigeria military cooperation.

In this episode, Dr Adana Llanos (a cancer and molecular epidemiologist from Columbia University) and Dr Elissia Franklin (a Research Scientist with Silent Spring Institute) join me in discussing the significant study conducted by Silent Spring Institute where around 10 percent of the hair products samples contained toxins and other dangerous cancerous chemicals.

In this week’s episode, we discussed both historical and contemporary mass killings and political violence against civilians in Africa. Our guests are Professor Jeanine Ntihirageza, Director for the Center for Genocide, Human Rights and Research in Africa and the Diaspora at Northeastern Illinois University; and Professor Scott Straus , Professor of Political Science at the University of California Berkeley.

In this week’s episode, we focus analysis on the recent port infrastructural deal between the United Kingdom and Nigeria. Our guest, Emeritus Professor of Economics and Public Policy and former Vice Chancellor at University of Uyo joins me in dissecting the details of the controversial deal.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Chenai Kitchen, a PhD student and Graduate Research Assistant at British Columbia University, and British Columbia Centre on Substance Abuse, Canada to discuss the recent legalisation of cannabis in Ghana. Chenai provides a rich insight into the scope of the cannabis legislation in Ghana and how Ghana, the first West African country to legalise cannabis compares to a few countries such as South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and Rwanda that have established cannabis legislations.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Dr Olusola Ogunnubi, a Canadian-based policy, diplomacy and global governance expert, to discuss the controversies surrounding the coronation of an Igbo King in South Africa.

This week’s episode focuses on the increasing demolition of houses and land grabbing in Nigeria’s major cities. I am joined by Dr. Ambrose Igboke, Public Affairs Analyst and Chairman, Guild of Public Affairs Nigeria.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Molemo Moiloa, co-founder of Open Restitution Africa, to discuss the controversial and complicated subject of restitution regarding Africa artefacts stolen by former European colonial powers.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Confidence Isaiah-MacHarry, Geopolitics Analyst at SBM Intelligence Nigeria, to discuss how the ongoing US-Israel-Iran War impacts Africa.

In this week’s episode, Jan-Ole Voss, Deputy Head of the Kenyan Office and Project Manager at the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung Foundation in Nairobi, joins me to discuss African fighters fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war. We discuss the “deceptive” and “illegal” recruitment of African fighters and the implications for Russia-Africa relations and other related issues.

In this week’s episode, we focus on the increasing target of ‘Shadow Fleets’ and oil cargoes off the waters of Venezuela by the US and similar situations in African waters. Our guest is Dr. Ian Ralby, President of Auxilum Worldwide and a globally recognised expert in maritime law and security.

In this episode, Professor Danny Bradlow, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Pretoria and a global expert on international financial law, joins me to discuss the just concluded G20 summit hosted by South Africa-the first on the continent on Africa. We discuss a range of issues including the conspicuous absence of the US and President Trump’s threat to bar South Africa from the next G20 summit to be hosted in the US.

In this week’s episode, Dr Zacharias Pieri, Associate Professor of international relations at the University of South Florida and Professor Kevin Fridy, Professor of Government & World Affairs at University of Tampa join me to discuss their recent book: Governance, Grievance and Violent Extremism in West Africa: From the Caliphate to Great Power Competition.

In this week’s episode, we focus on the resurgence of Boko Haram and increased attacks in Nigeria and around the Lake Chad Basin region. I am joined by Dr Vincent Foucher, a Senior Research Fellow at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France who have just returned from a field trip in the Lake Chad area.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Raymond Asfour, CEO and Co-Managing Partner of Expectation State, a development consultancy operating in multiple countries across the world and Dr Lucy Hovil, partner at Expectation State to discuss the factors behind and implications of the U.K. government playing a visa restriction on Namibia, Angola and DRC (and other wider implications).

In this week’s episode, I sit down with Dr Nicodemus Minde, researcher at the Institute of Security Studies, to discuss the unfolding political crisis in Tanzania.

In this week’s episode, Dr Salah Ben Hammou, postdoctoral associate at the Edward P. Djerejian Center for Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, returns on the programme to discuss the recent escalation in the ongoing civil war beteeen the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAR) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Dr. Kunle Olawunmi, a retired Air Commodore of the Nigerian Navy and Head of Department, International Relations, Chrisland University. Our discussion focuses on the speculated coup attempt in Nigeria between September and October 2025.

In this week’s episode, Dr Salah Ben Hammou, postdoctoral research associate at the Edward P. Djerejia Center for the Middle East at Rice University’s Baker Institute of Public Policy, joins me to discuss the recent coup in Madagascar coming off the back of a youth-led protest.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Nana Abu, tax specialist and Senior Manager at KPMG, Nigeria to discuss Nigeria’s controversial tax reforms of 2025.

In this episode, I am joined by Thomas P. Sheehy, principal at Quinella Global Operations and former Staff Director of the Committee on Foreign Affairs in the U.D. House of Representatives, to discuss President Trump’s ‘minerals for peace’ deal in DRC.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Professor Noah Echa Atta, Professor of African Economic History and Development and currently visiting Professor at the National of Lesotho, and Olawale Yemisi, a lecturer and PhD candidate at the University of Ibadan. Our topic focuses on the targeted xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in Ghana.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr Jacob Mundy, associate professor in peace and conflict studies, Colgate University, to discuss the United States arms sales to Morocco and President Trump’s recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara.

In this episode, Kenyan-based international relations and expert, Vincent Okangi, joins me in discussing the constitutional change in Togo that is seen as a step towards consolidating Faure Gnassingbe’s position in power.

In this week’s episode, Nigerian-based public affairs and political commentator and analyst, Jaye Gaskia, joins me in discussing the controversial labelling or Nigeria’s major political parties, APC and PDP, as terrorist organisations by a Canadian court.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Dr Oladotun Awosusi, research fellow at University of Arkansas, to discuss the flurry of immigration policies under Trump 2:0 and their implications for Africa.

In our 100th episode, we discuss the increasing sale of arms to Nigeria by the Trump’s administration, a departure from the Obama administration. We look at the implications of the arms sale on Nigeria’s heavily militarized response to insurgency and insecurity. Our guest is retired Brigadier General Saleh Bala, President at White Ink Consult, a private defence and security research, strategic communication and training consultancy based in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr Daniel Volman, the director of the African Security Research Project in Washington and a specialist on U.S. military policy towards Africa and African issues. We discuss the conflict in the Sahel and talks between the Trump’s administration and the Alliance of Sahel States military regimes.

In this week’s episode, we focus on the prospects of and challenges facing Africa’s teeming youth population. Our guest is Dr Kayode George, a Nigerian-based scholar with vast experience both nationally and internationally in the field of security, peace and conflict studies.

In this week’s episode, we focus on the politics of political party coalition in Nigeria and Nigeria’s forthcoming general election in 2027. I am joined by Dr Babayo Sule, Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at National University of Lesotho. Babayo is the author of numerous books including Political party financing and electoral politics in Nigeria’s fourth republic.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Dr Eric Tevoedjre, instructor at the Catholic University in Lille, France, to discuss the future of regional economic communities (REC) in Africa following the withdrawal of the Alliance of Sahel States (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger) from ECOWAS and Rwanda from ECCAS.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Daniel Bradlow, Professor and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship at the University of Pretoria to discuss Africa’s multilateral financial institutions-why they matter and how to save them.

Dr Ndubuisi Nwokolo, Partner and Chief Executive at Nextier SPD, a security, peace and development organisation based in Nigeria, joins me this week to discuss what is behind the recurrent ‘friendly strikes’ in Nigeria, their implications and how to address them.

Dr Jeslyn Lemke joins me in this episode to discuss the forthcoming elections in Ivory Coast where President Alassane Quattara will be seeking a controversial fourth term. Dr Lemke, a bilingual journalist and journalism professor in the Pacific Northwest in the US also provides insight into the influence of France and other foreign governments in the small Francophone West African country.

In this episode, we discuss police brutality and reforms in Nigeria and across Africa. Our guest this week is Kemi Okenyodo, Founder/Executive Director, Rule of Law & Empowerment Initiative also known as Partners West Africa Nigeria. Kemi has over 20 years experience in security, governance, criminal justice reform and NGO management in New and West Africa.

In this week’s episode, we discuss the drivers and consequences of the frequent flooding across Africa. Our guest is Professor Taibat Lawanson, Professor of Planning and Heritage at University of Liverpool and Professor of Urban Management and Governance at the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

In this week’s episode, we focus on the controversial allegation of White Farmers’ Genocide in South Africa and Trump’s granting of Refugee Status to ‘persecuted’ white farmers in South Africa. I am joined by Professor Christi van der Westhuizen, Professor of Sociology at the University of Western Cape, Cape Town.

In this week’s episode, we focus on the forthcoming elections in Cameroon. Cameroonians are set to go to the polls in October to choose their president. President Paul Biya has been the President since 1982. But at 92 years of age, sooner or later, he would have to make way for a successor. Who will replace Biya? And will this election mark the dawn of a new democracy in the Central African State? To unpack these questions, I am joined by Dr Jude Mutah, Adjunct Professor at San Diego State University and Programne Officer, Africa, National Endowment for Democracy.

In this week’s episode, our topic focuses on the travel ban imposed by the Trump’s administration on several countries including seven African countries and further planned ban of additional 36 African countries. Our guest is Professor Christopher Isike, Professor of African Politics & International Relations in the Department of Political Science, University of Pretoria and Director of the African Centre for the Studies of the US, University of Pretoria.

In this week’s episode, we discuss Nigeria’s kidnapping epidemic. Our guest is Dr. Samuel Oyewole, a post-doc research fellow at the African Centre for the Study of the United States and Ocean Regions Programme of the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Samuel provides a rich insight into the pervasive kidnapping crisis in Nigeria tracing it from the precolonial, colonial to post-colonial times.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by a highly experienced legal scholar, Dr Tapiwa Victor Warikandwa to discuss the rising military coups and rules in Africa. Dr Warikandwa engages with the question whether African military leaders can be seen as saviours or just opportunists.

In this week’s episode, James Barnett, one of our fellows and a returning guest joins me in discussing the landscape of jihadist violence in Nigeria and the emergence of a ‘new’ jihadist group known locally as the ‘Mahmuda’ group.

In this episode, we focus on the military coup in Gabon and the “successful” transition to democracy. I am joined by Dr Steve Tametong, Senior Lecturer at the Advanced Institute of Management, Cameroon and formerly, Deputy Director of Democracy and Governance Division at the Nkafu Policy Institute of the Denis & Lenora Foundation. Steve holds two PhDs in Public Law and in Governance and Regional Integration from Dschang University and Pan African University respectively.

In this episode, we focus on non-traditional superpowers’ negotiated settlement in conflict zones. In this particular case, we focus on the surprising Doha’s negotiated peace agreement between DRC and Rwanda. I am joined by Dr. Jonathan Bellof, Research Associate at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. Jonathan’s research focuses on the regional politics and security of the African Great Lakes comprising the nations of Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and DRC.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Christian-Geraud Neema, a non-resident scholar in the Carnegie Africa Program and Africa editor of the China-Global South Project to discuss the proposed mineral deal between the United States and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

In this week’s episode, our guest, Samir Bhattacharya, Associate Fellow at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, India, discusses Saudi Arabia’s grand vision for Africa under its Vision 2030 framework.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by Dr. Daniel Akech Thiong, Senior Analyst for Sudan at the International Crisis Group, to discuss the recent escalation in violent conflict in South Sudan between warring parties from the President and Vice President camps.

In this week’s episode, I am joined by two Gender experts and advocates, Dinah Musindarwezo and Professor Damilola Agbalajobi to discuss women’s representation in Africa’s political space. Dinah is an accomplished senior leader with extensive experience of leading and supporting women’s rights organisations and feminist movements globally, with a particular focus on Africa. Damilola is a seasoned academics and former Head of Department of Political Science at the Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria.

In this week’s episode, our topic focuses on the issues, particularly the issue of reparation, that were discussed at the African Union’s 38th summit. I am joined by Professor Babatunde Fagbayibo, Professor of International Relations at the University of Pretoria.