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An exploration of Francophone African literary imaginations and expressions through the lens of Afrofuturism Generally attributed to the Western imagination, science fiction is a literary genre that has expressed projected technological progress since the Industrial Revolution. However, certain fantastical elements in African literary expressions lend themselves to science fiction interpretations, both utopian and dystopian. When the concept of science is divorced from its Western, rationalist, materialist, positivist underpinnings, science fiction represents a broad imaginative space that supersedes the limits of this world. Whether it be on the moon, under the sea, or elsewhere within the imaginative universe, Afrofuturist readings of select films, novels, short stories, plays, and poems reveal a similarly emancipatory African future that is firmly rooted in its own cultural mythologies, cosmologies, and philosophies.Isaac Joslin identifies the contours and modalities of a speculative, futurist science fiction rooted in the sociocultural and geopolitical context of continental African imaginaries. Constructing an arc that begins with gender identity and cultural plurality as the bases for an inherently multicultural society, this project traces the essential role of language and narrativity in processing traumas that stem from the violence of colonial and neocolonial interventions in African societies.Joslin then outlines the influential role of discursive media that construct divisions and create illusions about societal success, belonging, and exclusion, while also identifying alternative critical existential mythologies that promote commonality and social solidarity. The trajectory proceeds with a critical analysis of the role of education in affirming collective identity in the era of globalization; the book also assesses the market-driven violence that undermines efforts to instill and promote cultural and social autonomy.Last, this work proposes an egalitarian and ecological ethos of communal engagement with and respect for the diversity of the human and natural worlds.

Mary Niles Maack's 1978 dissertation on the history of libraries in Senegal constitutes a landmark contribution to the historiography of librarianship in Africa and to international librarianship. In this article Maack's dissertation, her 1981 book-length adaptation of it, and her subsequent writings about West African library development are first situated in the political-economic, professional, and scholarly context of the late 1970s, before the dissertation is evaluated in terms of her sources and methodology. Her key theme of continuity and change, her analysis of the French colonial heritage and postcolonial French efforts to preserve influence in West Africa, and the wider relevance of the study are discussed. Maack's book was well received. Her work provided raw material for various other authors as well as for five subsequent journal articles by Maack herself. An attempt is made to answer the question, What might a dissertation on library and information science development in a francophone African country such as Senegal cover today? It is suggested that the precolonial heritage, political-economic factors, information technology, development aid, and renewal of the library profession in Africa would require more attention. However, it would not be easy for a PhD student today to match Maack's scholarship.

The article examines the effect of union mobilisation on democratisation in the Republic of Niger between 1990 and 2010. It focuses on the Union des syndicats des travailleurs du Niger (USTN), a legacy umbrella union for public sector workers. The effect of union mobilisation on democratisation is not clear-cut. In both 1990 and 1999 union mobilisation was a necessary condition for democratisation. However, union mobilisation inadvertently contributed to the delegitimisation of democratically elected leaders. Between 2000 and 2010 the USTN lost its former strength and the Nigerien government was in a better position to accommodate union demands. As a result, the trade union movement lost its ability to shape the political arena.

Recognising the impact of religion on state action, this article identifies two variables that interact to affect the type and level of violence employed by Western states against Third World targets. First, variation in the degree to which the prominent Christian denominations and organisations within these states view evangelisation as either an individual-level or national-level process - Christian individualism vs Christian nationalism - has determined church support for using violence as a tactic. Second, the level of influence that churches and missionary organisations have over their home states affects the ability of Christian actors to directly impact state actions. Western violence against Third World peoples is expected to be lowest when churches and Christian organisations view evangelisation in primarily individualistic terms and have significant influence over the state. The article examines the relationships between concepts of evangelisation, Christian influence over state policies, and levels of violence against the Third World by examining British, French and German colonialism during the late colonial period of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Whereas the impact of Brexit on Anglophone Africa was a major issue in the controversial British discussions on the pros and cons of Brexit, possible repercussions on French-speaking Africa have been rarely mentioned up to now. Yet, the range of possible Brexit effect is impressive, including the revival of progressive social networks in Francophone Africa. The latter are already demanding more political and economic sovereignty, for example with respect to the increasingly anachronistic F CFA currency. Yet, in view of the lack of countervailing power of Britain within the EU in the case of Brexit, the murky network of Françafrique could be re-vitalized and consolidated as well. Finally, the Brexit and its spread-effects could also impact negatively on acquired human rights, both in Europe and in Africa. The withdrawal in general will have widely disregard implications for hitherto shared ethics. In fact, the Brexit constitutes a retrograde step in promoting a political and socio-cultural climate which could become similar to that of Apartheid South Africa. This includes the pursuit of ultranationalist goals and compromising on established human rights, for example with respect to growing inequality and the crusade against infidels and outsiders. More generally, the Brexit will also impact negatively on acquired ethics concerning popular articipation, both in Europe and in Africa. RÉSUMÉ: Alors que l’impact du Brexit sur l’Afrique anglophone était un sujet majeur dans les discussions controversées britanniques sur les avantages et les inconvénients du Brexit, les répercussions possibles sur l’Afrique francophone ont rarement été mentionnées. Pourtant, la gamme d'effet possible du Brexit est impressionnante, y inclus la renaissance des réseaux sociaux progressistes en Afrique francophone. Ces derniers demandent déjà plus de souveraineté politique et économique, par exemple vis-à-vis de la monnaie de plus en plus anachronique du F CFA. Cependant, compte tenu du manque de puissance compensatrice de la Grande-Bretagne au sein de l'UE dans le cas du Brexit, le réseau trouble de la Françafrique pourrait également être revitalisé et consolidé. Enfin, le Brexit et ses effets de propagation pourraient également avoir une incidence négative sur les droits de l'homme acquis, tant en Europe qu'en Afrique. Le retrait du Royaume-Uni en général aura des implications sur l‘ éthique jusque-là partagée. En fait, le Brexit constitue un pas en arrière dans la promotion d'un climat politique et socioculturel humanitaire. Ce dernier pourrait ressembler dans le future à celui de l'Afrique du Sud de l'apartheid. Cela inclut la poursuite d'objectifs ultranationalistes et la compromission des droits de l'homme établis, par exemple en ce qui concerne l'inégalité croissante et la croisade contre les infidèles et les étrangers. Plus généralement, le Brexit aura également un impact négatif sur l'éthique acquise concernant la participation populaire, tant en Europe qu'en Afrique. --- see also: Kohnert, Dirk (2019) : BREXIT AND THE REVIVAL OF FRANCEAFRIQUE . ROAPE-blog: http://roape.net/?s=Kohnert ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Während der Einfluss des Brexit auf den Afrikanischen Commonwealth in der Diskussionen über die Vor- und Nachteile des Brexit ein wichtiges Thema war, wurden mögliche Auswirkungen auf das frankophone Afrika bisher in der wissenschaftlichen Literatur selten erwähnt. Die Bandbreite der möglichen Brexit-Effekte ist jedoch auch hier beeindruckend, bis hin zur Wiederbelebung progressiver sozial-politischer Netzwerke im frankophonen Afrika. Letztere fordern bereits mehr politische und wirtschaftliche Souveränität, beispielsweise in Bezug auf die zunehmend anachronistische F CFA-Währung. Angesichts des fehlenden Gegengewichtes Großbritanniens in der EU im Falle des Austritts, könnte das korrupte Netzwerk des ‚Françafrique‘ außerdem wiederbelebt und konsolidiert werden. Schließlich könnte der Brexit auch die mühsam erkämpften Menschenrechte sowohl in Europa als auch in Afrika negativ beeinflussen. Denn beim Brexit wurden bislang Auswirkungen auf die gemeinsam geteilte Ethik weitgehend außer Acht gelassen. Tatsächlich stellt der Brexit einen Rückschritt bei der Förderung eines humanen politischen und soziokulturellen Klimas dar. Letzteres droht sich eher in Richtung eines Apartheid Südafrika zu entwickeln, eingeschlossen der Verfolgung ultranationalistischer Ziele und der Schwächung etablierten Menschenrechte, beispielsweise hinsichtlich wachsender Ungleichheit und des Kreuzzugs gegen ‚Ungläubige‘ und Außenstehende. Generell wird der Brexit außerdem negative Auswirkungen auf die partizipative Ethik haben, sowohl in Europa als auch in Afrika.

Much hope has been vested in pricing as a means of helping to regulate and rationalize water management, notably in the irrigation sector. The pricing of water has often been applied universally, using general and ideological policies, and not considering regional environmental and economic differences. Almost fifteen years after the emphasis laid at the Dublin and Rio conferences on treating water as an economic good, a comprehensive review of how such policies have helped manage water resources an irrigation use is necessary.The case-studies presented here offer a re-assessment of current policies by evaluating their objectives and constraints and often demonstrating their failure by not considering the regional context. They will therefore contribute to avoiding costly and misplaced reforms and help design water policies that are based on a deeper understanding of the factors which eventually dictate their effectiveness.

The science and faith debate is dominated by Western voices. In order to enrich this debate, the authors study the discourses of different groups of Christian academics and master's students in francophone Africa. This article describes the process of reconstructing and analyzing the discourse of a group of master's students from Abidjan (Ivory Coast) with the help of group model building and focus groups. Three characteristic features that emerge from this discourse include the foundational position of faith, the central role of truth, and the ambiguous connotations of the term “science” in this context. The reconstructed discourse is then brought into conversation with the North Atlantic debate, with a special focus on the concept of scientism.

En août 2017 à Dakar, le président d'Urgences Panafricanistes, Kemi Seba, brûle un billet de 5 000 francs CFA. Quelques mois plus tard, l'Éco est adopté en remplacement du franc CFA, dans un premier temps par les pays de l'Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest-Africaine (UEMOA), ouvrant alors le débat houleux de son adoption par ceux de la Communauté Économique des États d'Afrique de l'Ouest (CEDEAO). La vie politique des pays dits francophones de la sous-région vibre depuis au rythme de la mobilisation du Front anti-CFA : une monnaie dénoncée comme le bras financier de la servitude économique des États de la zone franc. Cet ouvrage analyse les ressorts de ce mouvement, son impact sur l'action publique communautaire et esquisse une évaluation des effets de la mobilisation historique du Front anti-CFA.

Community health is key for improving Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH-N). However, how community health supports integrated RMNCAH-N service delivery in francophone West Africa is under-researched. We examined how six francophone West African countries (Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Niger, and Senegal) support community health through the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF). We conducted a content analysis on Investment Cases and Project Appraisal Documents from selected countries, and set out the scope of the analysis and the key search terms. We applied an iterative hybrid inductive-deductive approach to identify themes for data coding and extraction. The extracted data were compared within and across countries and further grouped into meaningful categories. In country documents, there is a commitment to community health, with significant attention paid to various cadres of community health workers (CHWs) who undertake a range of preventive, promotive and curative roles across RMNCAH-N spectrum. While CHWs renumeration is mentioned, it varies considerably. Most community health indicators focus on CHWs' deliverables, with few related to governance and civil registration. Challenges in implementing community health include poor leadership and governance and resource shortages resulting in low CHWs performance and service utilization. While some countries invest significantly in training CHWs, structural reforms and broader community engagement are lacking. There is an opportunity to better prioritize and streamline community health interventions, including integrating them into health system planning and budgeting, to fully harness their potential to improve RMNCAH-N.

Francophone sub-Saharan Africa today consists of 17 countries in which French is the main language of politics and government. While the French colonial empire no longer exists as a formal structure, the legacy of its former empire continues to influence French African policy. Through its cultural imperialism the common imprint of France upon this immense region is expressed in the French language, as well as its accompanying traditions of law, administration, and education. Through an ingenious system of bilateral cooperation accords, France has installed privileged relations with its former African colonies in culture, education, natural resources, aid, trade, finance, security, defense, and a common currency. Through continuous military interventions, France has perpetuated its strategic armed dominance. France is the only member of the UN Security Council to have an explicitly \"African policy.\" But the economic importance of Africa to France's foreign policy must be understood as less about its macroeconomic importance to France as a whole than about its profitability to a small predatory lobby of influential French actors who conduct scandalous \"African affairs.\"