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Africa Week

Africa Week is an annual celebration of research, education and outreach activities on Africa. It brings together academics, researchers and students from across King's – and offers the opportunity to hear from African scholars, leaders and thinkers.

Hosted by the African Leadership Centre and Africa research group, Africa Week is also a showcase of King's collaboration with African universities and partners.

Africa Week 2023 | 6-10 March

Theme: Changing Africa in a shifting global landscape

Africa Week 2023 asks, to what extent is Africa’s navigation of its complex contradictions offering opportunities to generate influence in global spheres? What is the situation with various constituencies on the continent currently in spaces of transition? How is projecting Africa’s voice in a global context also in great flux?

Throughout the week, our scholars and partners will consider these dynamics across themes, including economic uncertainty, energy crises, violent conflicts and environmental challenges.

Read the full concept note

5th King's Engaged in Africa conference

This year's Africa Week will centre around the 5th King's Engaged in Africa conference. Across several keynote lectures and roundtable discussions, scholars from King's and our partner institutions will engage in conversations and dialogues about Africa's dynamic role in a shifting global landscape.

Integral to King's Internationalisation strategy, the conference offers a platform to highlight King's global exchanges through research and impact, engagement with international partners and networks, and our research links to intercultural learning.

Stories

Africa Week 2022 (3-9 March)

Theme: Centring the arts and cultural production: Implications for health, physical and social sciences, and the humanities.

Africa Week 2022 interrogated how the arts and cultural production re(shape) the narratives and knowledge creation across disciplines including health, social sciences and the humanities.

This is a critical space through which African voice and agency has been platformed on a global scale. Through fashion, music, literature, art, photography and film many Africans have staked a claim on the global stage and have used these tools to engage in pertinent discourses.

This theme connects with global ambition for centring creativity in socioeconomic transition and change with the UN declaration of 2021 as the International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development.

Read the full concept note

Watch the replay from Africa Week 2022

A conversation between renowned Fashion Designer, Ituen Basi, and Professor 'Funmi Olonisakin, African Leadership Centre and Vice Principal and Vice President International at King's College London. The two discuss how Fashion and the Arts, more widely, serve as connectors across themes including history, culture, education, geographies and value with a focus on Africa in the world.

See the full Africa Week 2022 playlist

Watch the replay from Africa Week 2020

Professor David Olusoga (University of Manchester) and Professor 'Funmi Olonisakin (King's) discuss the legacies that have brought us to this moment, drawing on the importance of global black histories in understanding contemporary struggles. Set against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the COVID-19 pandemic, this year has seen the emergence of a renewed struggle for justice.

See the full Africa Week 2020 playlist

 

Archives Collections Manager at King's, Kate O'Brien, takes us through a selection of historical pamphlets, booklets and maps which tell us about the relationship between Britain and Africa during the 20th century. Find out more