Obituary Fantu Cheru (1949-2026)

We are very sad to report that our former colleague, friend and mentor Prof. Fantu Cheru passed on on Sunday 31 May 2026. Fantu worked as a senior researcher at the ASCL from 2014 to 2019. Former colleagues Mohamed Salih (ISS) and Jon Abbink (ASCL) wrote an obituary.

Fantu was one of Africa's most talented experts in a wide range of areas: global political economy; international development and development management; comparative and regional politics; globalisation, trade, and regional integration; agriculture and rural development; African urbanisation and the urban-rural interface; conflict and peace studies; and democracy and social transformation. His global service experiences included his membership of the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Panel on Mobilising International Support for the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD). As a distinguished member of the Panel, he advised Secretary-General Kofi Annan on ways to engage the international community to mobilise the resources needed to support the programmes of NEPAD.

UN Special Rapporteur
Fantu was convenor of the Global Economy Track of the Helsinki Process on Globalisation and Democracy: a joint initiative of the governments of Finland and Tanzania launched in 2003 as a follow-up to the ILO Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalisation. Fantu was also the UN Special Rapporteur on Foreign Debt and Structural Adjustment Programmes and a member of the Commission on Human Rights. He undertook numerous missions to Africa and Latin America on behalf of the Human Rights Commission; submitted annual periodic reviews on the integration of human rights norms into the formulation of macroeconomic and trade policies; and promoted innovative proposals on debt relief and social investment, with a particular focus on HIV/AIDS and post-conflict reconstruction. He also served as an advisor and consultant to numerous governments and donor institutions, including the UN Economic Commission for Africa, UNDP, UN-Habitat, SIDA, DANIDA, and NORAD – in all these roles producing reports that had impact.  

Research Director
Fantu held the position of Research Director at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden, and Professor of African and Development Studies at the American University, School of International Service, Washington. In addition to his work as a senior researcher at the African Studies Centre Leiden, Fantu was a Distinguished Research Associate at the North-South Institute (Ottawa, Canada), Adjunct Professor at the Department of Political Science and International Studies, Bahir Dar University, and the Department of Political Science and International Studies, Gondar University, Ethiopia, where he contributed to shaping the PhD Programmes in these universities.

Commitment to humane solutions
Fantu, born in 1949, received his education in the USA and was an excellent student. During his career, both as an advisor and in his academic publications, he showed an unwavering commitment to humane solutions and progress in African societies. One of his last publications on this was the 2025 version of the UN report Effects of Structural Adjustment Policies on the Full Enjoyment of Human Rights.
In his papers and book chapters, Fantu always presented incisive and original views. In personal conversation he was sharp but fair, showing great knowledge and commitment to enhancing Africa’s role and standing global affairs. His 2026 paper Developing countries and the right to development: a retrospective and prospective African view was characteristic. He did not defer to authorities or compromise on the truth. One of his papers was entitled Saving the Horn of Africa from its elites: What prospects for the future of peace in the region, a study that has undiminished relevance. Fantu was also the co-editor of several books, one of them the Oxford Handbook on the Ethiopian Economy (2019), a major and pioneering study. He highlighted this book in an interview he gave on Ethiopian TV (in English) in 2020. His most cited book (edited with Cyril Obi) was The Rise of China and India in Africa: Challenges, Opportunities and Critical Interventions (2010).

Fantu made a lasting impact in scholarly and policy circles, and will be sorely missed as a great person and as an inspiring scholar. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his wife Annika, children, extended family, and loved ones.

Mohamed Salih and Jon Abbink

4 June 2026