A regular blog from RAS Director, Nicholas Westcott.
Nicholas Westcott
Monday, 3 December 2018
This week the House of Commons will debate the Prime Minister’s proposed Withdrawal Deal from the EU and the joint Political Declaration about the future. There will be much sound and fury, and with luck some common sense and political truths, but I will be amazed if Africa gets a mention. Nevertheless, the UK’s withdrawal and future relations with the EU will have profound implications for Africa and for Britain’s relations with Africa.
I have regularly over the past... more
Sunday, 11 November 2018
On 11 November this year, we celebrate the Centenary of the end of the First World War. It is essential in these commemorations that we remember the impact the war had on Africa and Africans, and the impact they had on the war. This story reveals much about the state of Africa and the nature of Imperialism at the time.
This was a war which Africans had no hand, act nor part in starting, but in which their continent became a playground - albeit a lethal one - for quarrels between distant... more
Monday, 8 October 2018
This is a good week for Africa in the UK.
Today, Monday, is the fifth annual FT Africa Summit. Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the Royal African Society’s Annual Lecture, to be given this year by former President of Liberia, Nobel Laureate and winner of the 2017 Mo Ibrahim Award, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. And then on Wednesday and Thursday, the British Government-hosted conference on combating International Wildlife Trafficking will be held in London with a wide representation from the... more
Monday, 27 August 2018
On 28 August, Theresa May will pay her first visit to Africa as British Prime Minister, the first substantive visit to Africa by any British PM since 2011. This is good news, and a golden opportunity to reset Britain’s relations with the continent. But what should her message be?
For one thing, there is some ground to make up. The recent lack of high level government visits, the rapid turnover of Ministers responsible for Africa, and a focus often apparently limited to development and... more
Monday, 16 July 2018
On 16-17 July, the EU is hosting in Brussels a Partnership Forum for Somalia. This comes at a crucial time. Things in the Horn are in a state of flux such as we have not seen for years. There is a chance that one of the most volatile and fragile regions of the continent could begin to stabilise. But only if local actors are willing, and the international community is united and supportive. Neither can be taken for granted.
African Arguments has just started publishing a series of articles on... more