News & Events

A new paper in Frontiers by Jeleel Abiola Balyaminu examines how artisanal cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo exploits workers, harms communities, weakens democratic institutions, and damages the environment. 

South Africa witnesses nationwide anti-immigration protests, demanding the deportation of undocumented foreign nationals. The protests tap into anxieties around unemployment and crime. Beneath these grievances lies a dangerous political habit of turning migrants into scapegoats, writes Tinashe Chimbidzikai.

'Meat and Mining' is a conference on the animals whose flesh was used to power the industrial mining revolution that took place in southern Africa following the discovery of copper, diamonds, and gold from the 1850s onwards. The conference will be held in Leiden 1-4 September 2027. Deadline papers: 1 October 2026.

In June 2025, whilst leading a field school at an abandoned post-industrial diamond-mining site in South Africa, Jan-Bart Gewald chanced upon a scarab beetle in stone. Two metres in length, it was covered by petroglyphs of human and humanoid forms.

Eric Cezne and Tanja Hendriks have won a Leiden University seed ('Kiem') grant for a project on green fertilizer industries in Namibia. The project develops an innovative, interdisciplinary pilot study on the emergence of green fertilizer industries in Namibia.

The week of 8 June marked the official launch of VOICE: Learning Globally, Acting Locally. The education programme brings together facilitators from eleven institutions across four partner countries, and forty participants from more than ten countries have signed up.

On 14 June 1948, the Malagasy writer, journalist and filmmaker Michèle Rakotoson was born in Antananarivo. She has published more than ten novels and plays, including Danabé and more recently Ambatomanga, Le silence et la douleur. Her work explores themes like colonization, memory, identity, and environmental justice.

The summer break is approaching rapidly, and what better way to spend it than by having a good read in the sunshine. The African Library has compiled a selection of newly acquired fiction to keep you entertained. The library will stay open during the summer, so have a look and come pick up one of these great titles!