The Africa Knows! conference, the final activity of the Africa 2020 year, will kick off during the opening days from 2-4 December, and will last until 28 February. Africa Knows! is about knowledge production in and about Africa. The knowledge landscape in African countries has changed radically in recent years. A growing demand for higher and scientific education has resulted in numerous (private) initiatives. Calls to decolonise knowledge and education are getting louder. At the same time, education has experienced a dramatic blow as schools have been forced to close their doors during the past year. The conference will take place online.

1960 was the ‘Year of Africa’: seventeen colonies in Africa became politically independent. On the occasion of 'Africa 2020', the ASCL created Infosheets about these countries, indicating demographic developments, income, health and education statistics, migration numbers, agricultural production, urbanisation and regional inequality. Take a look at all Infosheets!

Philosophers beyond borders, published by the ASCL and made by Saskia Pfaeltzer and Maria van Enckevort, celebrates an array of philosophers hailing from Africa and the African diaspora, South America, South Asia, the Caribbean, and beyond. The diverse collection spans the ages, including philosophers such as Anton Wilhelm Amo, W.E.B. Du Bois and Frantz Fanon, as well as those alive and still teaching: Gayatri Spivak, bell hooks and Achille Mbembe. Succinct biographies are accompanied by characterful black and white portraits of each individual philosopher. Adriaan van Dis about the book: 'An inspiring introduction that makes your world bigger and frees you from the stuffy western – and sometimes overly white – thinking'.

Despite the dawn of a new era with the rise to power of Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed, Jan Abbink sees grounds for deep concern about Ethiopia. The most recent indication is the eruption of armed conflict between the Tigray region armed forces and the federal army on 4 November 2020, provoked by an assault of the Tigray army. PM Abiy Ahmed always deeply resented taking any military action, but it seemed they now crossed a red line. Abiy still has to contend with the forces of the past, Abbink analyses in his latest blog.