Vorträge und Lesungen
Africa's positioning in a geopolitically fragmented world
- Wann
- Mi, 3. Dezember 2025, 20:15 Uhr
- Wo oder WAS
-
Freiburg
Horst-Weitzmann-Hörsaal (KG I, Hörsaal 1098)
Freiburger Afrikagespräche im Colloquium politicum.
Nneka Okechukwu & Tim Zajontz: Africa's positioning in a geopolitically fragmented world
Veranstaltung in englischer Sprache.
Über den Vortrag: 2025 marks the 140th anniversary of the Berlin Conference, which was pivotal in the 'Scramble for Africa'. According to some commentators, the continent is currently experiencing a 'new scramble' among external actors which compete for geopolitical and geoeconomic influence across Africa. Africa's intensifying ties with states like China, India and Türkiye have, in recent years, prompted geostrategic reactions in Western capitals. The European Union has made Africa a priority region within its Global Gateway initiative to counter Chinese influence and secure access to critical minerals and green energy. Meanwhile, the second Trump administration has slashed its aid budget and now focuses on investments across Africa that narrowly serve US national interests. However, scholars and analysts have also stressed that the diversification of the continent's external relations has boosted African agency in global governance and allowed for an active (re)positioning of African social, political and economic actors.
In this edition of the Freiburger Afrikagespräche, Dr. Nneka Okechukwu and Dr. Tim Zajontz will explore implications of this evolving geostrategic context for African external relations and the continent's role in global governance. Despite the agency and active geopolitical positioning of African actors, our guests discern new and longstanding structural constraints and reflect on concrete (geo)economic, political and normative repercussions of geopolitical contestation across Africa.
Über die Referenten: Dr. Nneka Okechukwu is an independent researcher and consultant on international and constitutional law, with a focus on the rule of law, access to justice, and Africa-EU relations. She was recently a Senior Human Rights Research Consortium Fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies.
Dr. Tim Zajontz is Interim Professor in International Relations at the University of Freiburg, Research Fellow in the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and Research Associate in the Second Cold War Observatory.
Moderation:
Prof. Dr. Andreas Mehler, Director of the Africa Centre for Transregional Research (ACT) and the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute; Professor for Developmental Theory and Development Policy at the University of Freiburg.
Veranstaltung des Colloquium politicum der Universität Freiburg, in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institut und dem Africa Centre for Transregioal Research (ACT).
Mehr Informationen unter https://www.studiumgenerale.uni-freiburg.de/cp/ev Quelle: Veranstalter
Nneka Okechukwu & Tim Zajontz: Africa's positioning in a geopolitically fragmented world
Veranstaltung in englischer Sprache.
Über den Vortrag: 2025 marks the 140th anniversary of the Berlin Conference, which was pivotal in the 'Scramble for Africa'. According to some commentators, the continent is currently experiencing a 'new scramble' among external actors which compete for geopolitical and geoeconomic influence across Africa. Africa's intensifying ties with states like China, India and Türkiye have, in recent years, prompted geostrategic reactions in Western capitals. The European Union has made Africa a priority region within its Global Gateway initiative to counter Chinese influence and secure access to critical minerals and green energy. Meanwhile, the second Trump administration has slashed its aid budget and now focuses on investments across Africa that narrowly serve US national interests. However, scholars and analysts have also stressed that the diversification of the continent's external relations has boosted African agency in global governance and allowed for an active (re)positioning of African social, political and economic actors.
In this edition of the Freiburger Afrikagespräche, Dr. Nneka Okechukwu and Dr. Tim Zajontz will explore implications of this evolving geostrategic context for African external relations and the continent's role in global governance. Despite the agency and active geopolitical positioning of African actors, our guests discern new and longstanding structural constraints and reflect on concrete (geo)economic, political and normative repercussions of geopolitical contestation across Africa.
Über die Referenten: Dr. Nneka Okechukwu is an independent researcher and consultant on international and constitutional law, with a focus on the rule of law, access to justice, and Africa-EU relations. She was recently a Senior Human Rights Research Consortium Fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies.
Dr. Tim Zajontz is Interim Professor in International Relations at the University of Freiburg, Research Fellow in the Centre for International and Comparative Politics at Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and Research Associate in the Second Cold War Observatory.
Moderation:
Prof. Dr. Andreas Mehler, Director of the Africa Centre for Transregional Research (ACT) and the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute; Professor for Developmental Theory and Development Policy at the University of Freiburg.
Veranstaltung des Colloquium politicum der Universität Freiburg, in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institut und dem Africa Centre for Transregioal Research (ACT).
Mehr Informationen unter https://www.studiumgenerale.uni-freiburg.de/cp/ev Quelle: Veranstalter
Veröffentlicht am Di, 14. Oktober 2025 um 09:34 Uhr
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