On the occasion of Jon Abbink's emeritus status, the volume Ethnography, History, and the Politics of Knowledge in Africa has been created in his honour. It is a Festschrift to celebrate Abbink's wide-ranging career covering culture and politics in Ethiopia and Africa in general. 

In Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle the exhibition Back to Benin is currently on show, marking the restitution of one of the Benin Bronzes from their collection. The exhibition catalogue is among the items highlighted in this month’s Library Highlight, on writings and art related to the debate on African cultural heritage restitution.

The African Studies Centre Leiden and the podcast De Africast are joining forces! De Africast is a podcast about the history, geopolitics and business climate in Africa. A range of topics are explored in conversations with experts.

Mirjam de Bruijn commented in various media outlets on the attacks by jihadists and Tuareg separatists on the military regime in Mali, and how this has an effect on the stability in the wider Sahel. Read the articles and listen to the podcast interview.

The jury of the Africa Thesis Award is delighted to announce that the 2025 prize has been awarded to Yonwaba Matshobotiyana of the University of the Free State, South Africa, with a thesis on Black women's poetry in South Africa. The jury was blown away by this strong scholarly contribution to Black feminist thought and the field of decolonial literature studies. 

Describing almost 1400 Africa maps in three months: it’s no small task that student assistants Artemis Mantheakis and Beatriz Veiga have been working on within the joint ASCL-UBL Africa Maps Project. The aim is to describe a 20th-century map collection of the library of the African Studies Centre, that is housed in the Leiden University Libraries (UBL).