The Africa Yearbook covers major domestic political developments, the foreign policy and socio-economic trends in sub-Sahara Africa – all related to developments in one calendar year. The Yearbook contains articles on all sub-Saharan states, each of the four sub-regions (West, Central, Eastern, Southern Africa) focusing on major cross-border developments and sub-regional organizations as well as one article on continental developments and one on African-European relations. While the articles have thorough academic quality, the Yearbook is mainly oriented to the requirements of a large range of target groups: students, politicians, diplomats, administrators, journalists, teachers, practitioners in the field of development aid as well as business people.
Victor Adetula, Ph.D. (1996) in Political Economy and Development Studies, University of Jos, is Head of Research, Nordic Africa Institute (Sweden), and Professor of International Relations & Development Studies at the University of Jos (Nigeria). He was previously Claude Ake Visiting Professor at the University of Uppsala (2013), Head Division of Africa and African Integration at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Nigeria (2012), Nelson Mandela Chair of African Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (2011), and Director of the Centre for Development Studies, University of Jos (1998-2001).
Benedikt Kamski, Ph.D. (2017) in Political Science, University of Freiburg, is a post-doctoral researcher at the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute and political analyst based in Addis Ababa. His research focus is on Ethiopia’s development model, hydro-agricultural development, and politico-economic dynamics across the Horn of Africa. He is a founding member of the Omo-Turkana Research Network.
Andreas Mehler, Ph.D. (1993) in Political Science, University of Hamburg, is Director of the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute and Professor of Political Science at the University of Freiburg. He has published extensively on democratisation processes and violent conflicts in West and Central Africa. He is the initiator and currently President of the executive council of the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA).
Henning Melber, Ph.D. (1980) in Political Science, University of Bremen, is Director emeritus of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and Senior Research Fellow of The Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden; Extraordinary Professor at the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, and the Centre for Africa Studies, University of the Free State. He has published extensively on Southern Africa and in particular Namibia. He is currently the President of the European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI).
'We, in this present Journal of Oriental and African Studies, have been reviewing the Yearbook since its very beginnings, [...]. In all these years, the Yearbook has matured and has lived up to the expectations of its inceptors – but most importantly, it has managed to become the living reflection of Africa itself, it has managed to become a unique tool of analysis and information for all the developments in the Dark Continent.
[...] Every Yearbook is at the same time typical of all the other yearbooks and distinct. This has to do with the political and economic developments of the continent’s countries themselves – for example, 2018 was a significant year in African history, as “for the first time for more than a decade, not a single violent or unconstitutional overthrow of the government was recorded”. At the same time, the 2018 Yearbook records all the usual (but also some new) challenges and problems: reactions against the Chinese economic intrusion, internal conflicts, terrorism, desertification and climate change, bending of democratic rules, extreme poverty, lack of infrastructure, corruption, epidemics, but also some faint signs of hope (regional interconnection, infrastructural cooperation, development).
[...] The Yearbook fulfils its mission, as usual, in the best possible way. But at the same time, the Yearbook is something much more than a “simple” yearbook: it is Africa’s ongoing adventure recorder, its novel and its travelogue.
Sotiris S. Livas, in Journal of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 30 (2021), pp 519-520
Preface List of Abbreviations Factual Overview (as of 31 December 2018) List of Authors
Sub-Saharan Africa Victor Adetula, Benedikt Kamski, Andreas Mehler and Henning Melber
African-European Relations Christine Hackenesch and Niels Keijzer
West Africa Victor Adetula
Benin Alexander Stroh
Burkina Faso Daniel Eizenga
Cabo Verde Gerhard Seibert
Côte d’Ivoire Jesper Bjarnesen
The Gambia Alice Bellagamba
Ghana Jennifer Boylan
Guinea Anita Schroven
Guinea-Bissau Christoph Kohl
Liberia Franzisca Zanker
Mali Bruce Whitehouse
Mauritania Helena Olsson and Claes Olsson
Niger Klaas van Walraven
Nigeria Heinrich Bergstresser
Senegal Mamadou Bodian
Sierra Leone Krijn Peters
Togo Dirk Kohnert
Central Africa Andreas Mehler
Cameroon Fanny Pigeaud
Central African Republic Andreas Mehler
Chad Ketil Fred Hansen
Congo Brett L. Carter
Democratic Republic of the Congo Janosch Kullenberg
Equatorial Guinea Joseph N. Mangarella
Gabon Douglas Yates
São Tomé and Príncipe Gerhard Seibert
Eastern Africa Benedikt Kamski
Burundi Tomas van Acker
Comoros Simon Massey
Djibouti Nicole Hirt
Eritrea Nicole Hirt
Ethiopia Jon Abbink
Kenya Nanjala Nyabola
Rwanda Margot Leegwater
Seychelles Anthoni van Nieuwkerk
Somalia Jon Abbink
South Sudan Daniel Large
Sudan Jean-Nicolas Bach and Clément Deshayes
Tanzania Kurt Hirschler and Rolf Hofmeier
Uganda Anna Reuss
Southern Africa Henning Melber
Angola Jon Schubert
Botswana David Sebudubudu
Eswatini Marisha Ramdeen
Lesotho Roger Southall
Madagascar Richard R. Marcus
Malawi George Dzimbiri and Lewis Dzimbiri
Mauritius Sheila Bunwaree
Mozambique Joseph Hanlon
Namibia Henning Melber
South Africa Sanusha Naidu
Zambia Edalina Rodrigues Sanches
Zimbabwe Amin Y. Kamete
Students, politicians, diplomats, administrators, journalists, teachers, practitioners in the field of development aid as well as business people.