Africa
How to Fix Nigeria’s Economy
Less than a year after the excitement surrounding the historic 2015 election which peacefully transferred power from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Africa’s largest economy and the continent’s biggest oil producer is on the brink of an economic crisis.
In an event held in partnership with the Royal African Society, join us to discuss whether Nigeria can turn back the clock on deindustrialisation and its over-dependence on oil – and to explore the deeper structural problems that its currency crisis reveals.
First Wednesday: Africa’s Islamic State?
Last month, when the world’s attention was focused on the attacks in France, reports emerged that as many as 2,000 people had been killed in the northeast Nigerian town of Baga. This attack comes as part of an increased surge in violence linked to Boko Haram.
As Nigeria gears up for a presidential election on 14 February, we will be exploring what is being done to combat Boko Haram and why these efforts seem to be failing.
The Rwandan Genocide: Lessons and Legacy
On 6 April 1994, a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down over Kigali airport. The events that followed saw bitter ethnic divisions engulf the country: neighbour turned on neighbour and in the space of 100 days an estimated 800,000 Rwandans, mostly Tutsis, were killed. Twenty years on we will look at how communities in Rwanda have been reconciled and whether the international community has learnt its lessons and if it can ensure that such a failure to react will never occur again.
South Africa after Nelson Mandela
As the ceremonies to mark the passing of Nelson Mandela come to a close and South Africa prepares for a national election, we will be bringing together a panel to look at the political future of the country.
With wide-spread corruption, unemployment rising and slow economic growth under the ANC, who will the people of South Africa turn to in 2014? The ANC is still the dominant political force but without change will this still be the case following another term? We will be looking at the political make-up of the country, where the divisions lie and how these might develop.
First Wednesday: South Sudan – What does the future hold for the world’s youngest country?
Fighting continues as delegations from South Sudan’s warring factions meet for talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The country, which gained its independence in July 2011, has seen at least 1,000 killed and 180,000 displaced since mid-December.
We will be joined by a panel of experts, journalists and aid workers to give you an up-to-date picture of what is happening on the ground and an insight into the divisions and tensions that have caused the conflict.
Will 2013 see the end of Mugabe’s 33-year rule?
As the country goes to the polls we will be joined by a panel of experts to discuss what this election will mean for the future of Zimbabwe. Will 2013 see the end of Mugabe’s 33-year rule and who will replace him?
Analysing Kenya’s election results
Despite being wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, on Saturday Uhuru Kenyatta won election as Kenya’s new President. Join us as we discuss what Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory means for Kenya?
Congo Dreams: Hopes and prospects for the future
This event is in association with the Royal African Society and will be held at Conway Hall.
This event is in association with the Royal African Society and will be held at Conway Hall.
The recent fighting involving the M23 rebel group that has put eastern DR Congo back on the front pages has reached a fragile ceasefire. We will be looking at the implications of recent developments and the prospects for the current peace process.
What does the Marikana massacre mean for South Africa?
The Marikana miners’ strike in South Africa which resulted in the shooting dead of 34 workers by police is becoming a pivotal moment in South Africa’s post-apartheid history. We will be joined by a panel of experts to discuss the root causes in society and politics in South Africa that lead to the Marikana massacre.
In the Picture: Urban refugees with Andrew McConnell
By Sally Ashley-Cound Aiming to dispel the familiar and stereotypical image of refugees living in camps World Press Photo Award winning photographer Andrew McConnell previewed a new body of work about the 50% of refugees now living in cities at the Frontline Club’s, In the Picture: Urban refugees with Andrew McConnell, on September 24. Taken over […]
FULLY BOOKED First Wednesday: KONY 2012 – A force for good?
The recent KONY 2012 campaign video has been met with strong criticism, but nobody can question its effectiveness in reaching a mass audience.
Despite its inaccuracies this campaign has created wider awareness about Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) than any news report or campaign that has come before it, so what can be learned? Join us for April’s First Wednesday as we debate whether the KONY 2012 campaign is a force for good or a worrying development in campaigning.
The Tenth Parallel: Africa’s fault line between Christianity and Islam
From Senegal in the West to Somalia in the East runs a fault line, ‘the knife edge where Islam and Christianity meet’. This area of land separates the continent’s 400 million Muslims from its 500 million Christians.
Join us to discuss Africa’s fault line with New York Times bestseller
Nine years on is the UN still failing Darfur?
Since the start of the 2003 conflict in Darfur, questions have been raised about the role played by the United Nations and the viability of its mandate.
Join us at the Frontline Club to discuss the actions of the UN and whether they are still failing Darfur.
Focus on Sudan: What does independence mean for North and South?
Salva Kir is to lead South Sudan into independence on the 9 July after a landslide referendum earlier this year where 99% of the South voted to secede from the North. But with relations still tense over disputed border regions of Abyei and the surrounding area, what does the future hold for North and South alike?
FULLY BOOKED Zimbabwe 2011: An Opportunity for Change?
Zimbabwe’s leaders have been locked in a shaky power sharing coalition since opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as Prime Minister in January 2009. President Mugabe is now pressing for fresh elections in 2011, despite MDC leader Tsvangirai saying that they could not take place without reforms and constitutional review. Join us at the Frontline Club with a panel of experts to discuss what the coming year holds for Zimbabwe – could there be a fair election, or will violence and intimidation again escalate?
Nigeria: violence, corruption and oil
With the Archbishop of Jos, Benjamin Kwashi;Dr Khataza Gondwe, Christian Solidarity Worldwide Sub Saharan Africa team leader; Michael Peel, former West Africa Correspondent now Legal Correspondent for the Financial Times and author of A Swamp Full of Dollars; Dr Abdul Raufu Mustapha, University Lecturer in African Politics and Kirk-Greene Fellow at St Antony’s College, University of Oxford; more tbc.
Moderated by Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor for Channel 4 News.
South Africa twenty years after Mandela walked to freedom
Twenty years after the release of Nelson Mandela the Frontline Club will be looking at how South Africa today compares with the hopes and dreams of that day in 1990 when he walked free after 27 years in prison.
Sudan: Winning the Peace?
Five years after the Sudanese government and Sudan’s People’s Liberation Army signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end decades of war, the country is preparing to hold its first multi-party elections in April. Join us to discuss the impact of the CPA and to examine the prospects for free and fair elections. With: The Most Rev. Daniel Deng, Archbishop of Sudan; Paul Molong Akaro, deputy head of mission for the government of Southern Sudan Liaison office to the UK; Osman Hummaida, human rights activist and executive director of the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies
Richard Cockett, Africa editor of The Economist.
FULLY BOOKED-Media Talk: Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army – The Last Chapter?
December 14 2008 saw a botched attempt to crush Uganda’s rebel Lords Resitance Army (LRA) by the militaries of Uganda, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo. The raid was designed to capture or kill the group’s elusive leader, Joseph Kony and destroy the LRA’s military capacity. Since then an estimated 900 people have been […]
Insight with Colin Freeman and Mary Harper: Somalia – From Bad to Worse?
With a new government in the process of being formed in Somalia, are we going to see a new era of peace and stability after eighteen long years of violence and warlordism? Or does the new Prime Minister Sharmarke – himself a moderate Islamist – now have an impossible task ahead of him in trying […]
Media Talk: Kenya one year on – have the wounds healed?
Download this episode View in iTunes Kenya’s abrupt descent into mayhem after President Mwai Kibaki’s disputed re-election tarnished one of Africa’s most promising economies and badly damaged its tourism industry. And a year on since the UN brokered peace agreements were signed it seems apparent to all that Kenya’s underlying issues are still unresolved. There […]
Media Talk: Is Somalia the new Front in the War on Terror?
Since 1991, Somalia has been a dangerous, violent and lawless place, home to numerous conflicts and civil war, as well as increasingly a third theatre of operations for the US in its global war on terror. From localised inter-tribal and clan warfare, to regional tensions and international disputes, Somalia remains a highly complex battleground. Will the recent Djibouti peace agreements between the Transitional Federal Government and the opposition Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia result in anything concrete? And is Somalia really the next front in the War on Terror?
Insight: Somaliland – Getting it Right in Africa
In May 1991 Somaliland declared independence from the rest of Somalia and over the past 17 years the government there has restored law and order to make it one of the must democratic and functioning societies in the Horn of Africa. In stark contrast to its neighbour Somalia, Somaliland has become an oasis of peace, stability and progress and a haven for thousands of Somalis fleeing from their war-torn country.
Media Talk: Understanding Somalia
Somalia is a country beset by violence, instability and famine. Ranked 161 out of 163 countries on the Human Development Index and without an effective government since 1991, clan politics dominate this so-called "failed state". The humanitarian crisis has reached record levels in recent months, exacerbated by the global food crisis and the constant danger that aid agencies face in distributing food.
What is the future of this war-ravaged and poverty-stricken country and what are its chances for an effective government? And what can be done to ensure that a humanitarian crisis on a massive scale is avoided and that Somalia remains open to aid workers and international assistance?
Congo Season: Media Talk – Lifting the Curse
Are Congo’s natural resources to be found at the root of the nations problems or do they offer a key to its future development?
Congo Season: Media Talk – Demystifying the Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has witnessed one of the world’s worst ongoing humanitarian crises, where as many as 5.4 million people may have died since 1998. We discuss why this country is beset by so many problems and if there are any forseeable solutions for it.
NEW – Media Talk: Zimbabwe – Where Next?
With the continued uncertainty surrounding the elections results in Zimbabwe we talk to returning journalists Patrick Smith, Laura Lynch as well as Tererai Karimakweda of SW Radio Africa and Catherine Phelp reporting from Zimbabwe. The event will be moderated by George Alagiah of the BBC. We discuss the problems in covering Zimbabwe so far and ask what the future may hold.
Insight with Matthew Green – In Search for Africa’s Most Wanted War Criminal – FULLY BOOKED
West Africa Correspondent for the Financial Times and former East Africa reporter for Reuters, Matthew Green talks about General Joseph Kony and unveils hidden and forgotten layers of the bloody conflict that plagues Northern Uganda.
This event is now FULLY BOOKED.
NEW – Media Talk – Kenya in Turmoil
Following Kenya’s disputed elections and the post-election unrest our panel discusses whether democracy can win in this divided country.
Screening: Talk Mogadishu: Media Under Fire
Mogadishu: Media Under Fire is the story of HornAfrik, the first independent TV and radio station in war-torn Mogadishu founded by three Somali Canadian refugee families who refused to believe that their country was a hopeless case.