Launched in September 2010, our research repository has evolved from a small collection into a leading open access knowledge resource for African policy issues. Painstakingly curated, with thousands of research documents from partner institutes in and beyond Africa, the library contains information on everything from economics, health, energy and security to migration, development and more.
Here are 10 of the most downloaded research papers to date:
1. Zimbabwe’s Current Socio-Economic and Political Situation: Challenges and Prospects (OSSREA, 2003)
This report from a national workshop discusses inequality and polarisation among Zimbabwe’s social classes. It examines how poverty is being propagated by unaddressed social classes, and the internal and external sources of Zimbabwean problems.
2. An analysis of Nigerian foreign policy: the evolution of political paranoia (SAIIA, 1983)
This paper asserts that Nigerian foreign policy is largely predetermined by the linkage between the domestic constituency (the need to maintain national unity and stability) and the “predestined” right to exert a leadership role in Africa.
3. Socio-economic Problems Facing Africa: Insights from six APRM Country Review Reports (SAIIA, 2009)
This paper aims to identify common socio-economic development problems revealed in six African countries that received APRM Country Review Reports, and to look at the solutions they offer. The six countries are Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, South Africa, Algeria and Benin.
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4. The Impact of China-Africa Trade Relations: The Case of Kenya (AERC, 2010)
The increase in China’s economic and political involvement in Africa is arguably the most momentous development on the continent today. One of the more contentious issues surrounding Sino-African relations involves trade. This is an in-depth analysis of the features and patterns of the past, current and future evolution of the trading relations between Kenya and China.
5. Globalisation and Development in Zambia: Challenges and Prospects (OSSREA, 2001)
The paper explores the ways in which the Zambian state has been transformed under the impact of globalisation and the effect of the transformation on the provision of social services. The central argument of the paper is that Zambia’s position in the world market has been a marginal one since the mid-1970s, and to the extent that globalisation has positive effects on national welfare, the country has not been positioned to reap this.
6. The Impact of China-Africa Investment Relations: Case study of Ethiopia (AERC, 2010)
In the last five years, Ethio-Chinese relations have grown quite strongly in terms of trade and investment, and this paper investigates the impact of this trend. It looks at the important areas of road construction, supply of manufactured goods from China, telecommunications and installation of big electric power stations by Chinese companies, as well as engagement in Chinese firms in the Ethiopian manufacturing sector.
7. The Harare Declaration: The ANC’s chapter for negotiations (SAIIA, 1990)
This briefing report contains a breakdown of the Harare Declaration, a document in which the African National Congress articulated its proposal for a political settlement and negotiations in order to resolve the intractable apartheid conflict. It was internationally accepted by the Ad-Hoc Committee on Southern Africa of the Organisation of African Unity (OAO), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Frontline States and (with some modification) the General Assembly of the United Nations. With growing domestic acceptance too, this was indeed a milestone event in the recent history of South and southern Africa.
8. It’s not just Xenophobia: Factors that lead to violent attacks on foreigners in South Africa and the role of the government (ACCORD, 2011)
This is an analysis of the history and multiple factors that have furthered xenophobic attitudes and trends in South Africa. It includes suggestions and recommendations on how to contribute to the eradication of xenophobia in the country.
9. The challenges of regional integration in Africa in the context of globalisation and the prospects for a United States of Africa (ISS, 2007)
This paper explores regional economic integration within the AU’s notion of building a United States of Africa. It also critically assesses the notion that political integration is a desirable strategy for overcoming Africa’s deep-seated developmental challenges. The paper also considers prospects for Africa’s economic progress, focusing on trade reform under the current political arrangement and in the context of globalisation.
10. The Root Causes of Somali Piracy (KAIPTC, 2011)
This paper aims to identify the root causes of the piracy crisis in Somalia, how the crisis itself has transformed over time, efforts to respond to it, and the extent of success. The greatest component that enables all other activities to accelerate the piracy issue in Somalia is the fact that Somalia can be classified as a failed state. The paper concludes that there is the need to restore a central government in Somalia in order to attain political stability; and that the international community should bolster its protocols to safely deliver humanitarian aid.
