Research staff


Senior researchers
Prof. Dr. G.J. (Jan) Abbink
Jan Abbink is an anthropologist-historian and carries out research on the history and cultures of the Horn of Africa (Northeast Africa), particularly Ethiopia.
Geographic expertise: Ethiopia, Somalia, Northeast Africa, Horn of Africa, Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), Eritrea

Dr. A. (Akinyinka) Akinyoade
Akinyinka Akinyoade's research activities are on population health and development, with special attention on fertility dynamics in West Africa.
Geographic expertise: West Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania

Dr. A. (Azeb) Amha
Dr. Azeb Amha is a linguist interested in Afroasiatic languages.
Geographic expertise: Ethiopia

Dr. L.H. (Lidewyde) Berckmoes
Lidewyde Berckmoes is an anthropologist and carries out research on regional conflict in Africa. She is the chair of the Research Master African Studies.
Geographic expertise: Rwanda, Burundi, Great Lakes

Prof. Dr. M.E. (Mirjam) de Bruijn
Mirjam de Bruijn is an anthropologist whose work has a clearly interdisciplinary character. She has done fieldwork in Cameroon, Chad and Mali and an important theme throughout is how people manage risk (drought, war, etc.) in both rural and urban areas.
Geographic expertise: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Mali, Sahel, West Africa

Prof. Dr. M. (Marleen) Dekker
Marleen Dekker is Professor of Inclusive Development in Africa and Director of the African Studies Centre Leiden.
Geographic expertise: Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia

Prof. Dr. R.A. (Rijk) van Dijk
Rijk van Dijk is an anthropologist. He is an expert on Pentecostalism, globalisation and transnationalism, migration, youth and healing.
Geographic expertise: Botswana, Ghana, Malawi

M.D. (Madi) Ditmars
Madi Ditmars is the coordinator of the minors' education and student affairs.
Geographic expertise: South Africa

Prof. Dr. J.B. (Jan-Bart) Gewald
Jan-Bart Gewald is a historian specialised in the social history of Africa. He is Professor of African History at Leiden University.
Geographic expertise: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Lesotho

Dr. A. (Abdourahmane ) Idrissa
Abdourahmane Idrissa is a political scientist and currently works on the politics of Islam and secularism in Africa, and a modern history of Niger.
Geographic expertise: Niger, Sahel, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Nigeria

Prof. Dr. M.M.A. (Mayke) Kaag
Mayke Kaag is a social anthropologist interested in processes of change and continuity in West and West-Central Africa.
Geographic expertise: Senegal, Chad, West Africa

Dr. A.H.M. (André) Leliveld
André Leliveld is a development economist and does research on informal insurance and social-support systems and community-based (health) insurance schemes in Africa.
Geographic expertise: East Africa

Dr. C.T. (Karin) Nijenhuis
Karin Nijenhuis guides students of all levels through interactive teaching, coaching and employability skills training. She is the chair of the Master African Studies.

Dr. A. (Annachiara) Raia
Annachiara Raia is an Africanist specialised in Swahili Muslim intellectual traditions with a background in the languages, history and cultures of the Islamic countries.
Geographic expertise: Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania

Prof. Dr. C.U. (Chibuike) Uche
Chibuike Uche is the chairholder of the Stephen Ellis Chair for the Governance of Finance and Integrity in Africa.
Geographic expertise: Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, West Africa

Dr. K. (Klaas) van Walraven
Klaas van Walraven is a historian and political scientist currently working on the history of colonialism and decolonisation in French Equatorial Africa.
Geographic expertise: Niger, West Africa, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville)


Junior / Postdoctoral and Project researchers
O. (Ola) Abagun
Olaoluwa (Ola) Abagun is a Knowledge Manager at the INCLUDE Secretariat.
Geographic expertise: Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda

Dr. A. (Anika) Altaf
Anika Altaf is Executive Director of the INCLUDE Knowledge Platform
Geographic expertise: Benin, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya

Dr. M.R. (Michel) Doortmont
Michel Doortmont is a historian with a research interest in the history and culture of Anglophone West Africa, the Atlantic slave trade, and the Black Atlantic.
Geographic expertise: Ghana, Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, South Africa

Dr. A.H. (Agnieszka) Kazimierczuk
Agnieszka Kazimierczuk is working in the framework of the NWO-funded project Dutch Multinational Businesses, Dutch Government and the Promotion of Productive Employment in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Geographic expertise: Kenya

Dr. J.B. (John) Kegel
John Kegel specialises in African military and economic history from roughly 1850 to the present.
Geographic expertise: Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa)

W. (Walker) Swindell Geographic expertise: South Africa


Publications manager

Dr. H. (Harry) Wels
Harry Wels is the Publications Manager of the African Studies Centre Leiden.


Retired research fellows
Prof. Dr. W.E.A. (Wouter) van Beek
Wouter van Beek is an anthropologist whose main thematic interests are religion, cultural ecology and tourism.
Geographic expertise: Cameroon, Mali, Namibia, South Africa, Southern Africa

Prof. Dr. A.J. (Ton) Dietz
Ton Dietz is former director of the African Studies Centre Leiden (2010-2017) and Professor emeritus of the Study of African Development at Leiden University.
Geographic expertise: Ghana, Kenya, South Africa

Dr. D.W.J. (Dick) Foeken
Dick Foeken is a human geographer and his main research interests are urban poverty, urban water supply and urban agriculture in Africa.
Geographic expertise: Kenya

Dr. W.M.J. (Ineke) van Kessel
Ineke van Kessel is a historian who focuses mainly on contemporary issues in South Africa.
Geographic expertise: Ghana, Southern Africa, South Africa

Dr. B.H. (Bill) Kinsey
Bill Kinsey is a retired research fellow and focuses on land reform in Zimbabwe.
Geographic expertise: Zimbabwe

Prof. Dr. R. (Robert) Ross
Robert Ross is Professor Emeritus in African Studies at the Leiden University Institute for History
Geographic expertise: South Africa