We are thrilled to announce that the Stephen Ellis Lecture 2023 will be given by Dr Mercy Iroaganachi, University Librarian of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Her lecture deals with the place of archives in modern African Studies and puts a searchlight on the patronage of the National Archives of Nigeria, Ibadan.

The new students of the Master and Research Master African Studies, as well as the LDE minors African Dynamics and Frugal Innovation for Sustainable Global Development have started! Early September, more than sixty students were introduced to their courses.

John Kegel has been awarded a Kiem seed grant from Leiden University for the project 'The re-enchantment of infrastructure in Africa: Comparing Colonial and Contemporary Coastal Corridors'. The Kiem grant is an initiative from the university to stimulate new interdisciplinary, interfaculty research partnerships and encounters.

As part of its teaching innovation agenda, the ASCL took the lead in a EUniWell project that explored how students from different geographical and cultural backgrounds perceive well-being in their respective societies. 

This volume about human trafficking in Nigeria (1960-2020) highlights the overlap between child trafficking and child fostering, presents Nigeria's legal framework and institutional intervention mechanisms, showcases (inter)national organisations' willingness to minimise it, and reveals contexts in which people become victims of trafficking.

European policymakers ask themselves why African governments no longer seem to want to deal with European partners, but instead turn to Russian, Chinese, Brazilian and other collaborators. But seen from Africa, Europe's actions do not create goodwill and trust, Mayke Kaag writes in a new blog.