The Political Market Place in South Sudan: Pathways to Economic Recovery, Jul. 6 2017 @ Rift Valley Institute

Date: Thursday, July 6, 2017
Venue: Rift Valley Institute,Seminar Room, Laikipia Road – Kileleshwa
Time: 2:30pm – 5:00pm・

For more information and to RSVP, follow this link

Development and its Discontents: Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, Nov. 17 2016 @ Rift Valley Institute

Date: November 17, 2016
Venue: Seminar Room, Rift Valley Institute
Location: Laikipia road, Kileleshwa
Time: 10am – 12pm
Entry: Prior registration, RSVP here

About
Over the past decade, African countries have experienced significant economic growth rates. Despite this, most face a myriad of developmental challenges, and public dissatisfaction with how governments are addressing corruption and delivering public services. There is a common perception that government is run for the benefit of the few, rather than all its citizens.

On Thursday 17 November 2016, the Rift Valley Forum will launch a new report by the Pew Research Centre that investigates public attitudes to social and economic development in Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. Based on the annual Global Attitudes survey by the Centre, the study surveys opinions about the economy, government, corruption, perceived barriers to getting good jobs, access to clean water, health care and education, and civic participation.

Katie Simmons, the Associate Director of Research at the Pew Research Centre, will present the findings of this report.

Book Launch: Aid and Authoritarianism in Africa, May 9 2016 @ Rift Valley Institute Office

Date: May 9, 2016
Venue: Rift Valley Institute Office, Seminar Room
Time: 2-4 pm
Entry: Prior registration

About
In 2013, almost half of Africa’s top aid recipients were ruled by authoritarian regimes. Many international donors such as USAID, DFID, the World Bank and the European Commission have had their policies entangled with the agendas of the ruling elites. Development policies are thus shaped with a view to maintain the status quo, compromising the rights and democracy of local citizens. This book raises the question: to what extent are foreign aid programmes actually perpetuating authoritarian rule?

On 9 May 2016, the Rift Valley Forum will host the launch of Aid and Authoritarianism in Africa, edited by Tobias Hagmann and Filip Reyntjens.

The book highlights the political and moral complexities that emerge from the relationship between foreign aid and autocratic governments in Africa. It brings to light changing donor interests and rhetoric, as well as the impact of foreign aid on military assistance, rural development, electoral processes and domestic politics in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Cameroon, Mozambique and Angola.

Find more information about this event and registration details, here

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi on Culture, Ethnicity and Politics in Uganda, Sept. 18 2015 @ Rift Valley Institute Office

Date: Friday September 18, 2015
Time: 3pm – 5pm
Venue: Seminar Room , Rift Valley Institute Office
Location: Laikipia Road, Kileleshwa
Entry: Prior Registration

On Friday September 18 at 3pm, the Nairobi Forum will host Ugandan writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, whose novel Kintu won the 2013 Kwani? Manuscript Prize. The novel follows the adventures of Kintu Kidda and generations of his heirs, telling the story of a family and a nation contending with the burdens of the colonial past while seeking to reconcile tradition with the modern world. Jennifer will join Tom Odhiambo, Lecturer in Literature at the University of Nairobi, for a conversation about history, culture and ethnicity in Ugandan politics.
The event will be held at the Rift Valley Institute’s offices in Kileleshwa. Copies of Kintu will be available for purchase. Entrance is by prior registration only.

Register here

Nairobi Forum: LAPSSET – A Transformative Project or a Pipe Dream? – Oct. 4 2013 @ BIEA

LAPSSET: A Transformative Project or a Pipe Dream?

Date: October 4, 2013
Venue: Seminar Room, The British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA), Kileleshwa
Time: 2-5 pm
Entrance is by prior registration only. Register here.

Context
The Lamu Port-South Sudan Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) is an extremely ambitious project. There are multiple elements rolled up in this project: the development of a new port at Lamu; an oil pipeline from that port to South Sudan; road and railway links; and a possible line to southern Ethiopia. There are also plans for a new international airport and new ‘resort cities’ along the line of the rail. The completion of any one of these elements would have a significant impact; in combination they might transform the region.

Each one of the multiple elements of the scheme carries a significant price tag, and LAPSSET has been derided by some observers as more of a pipe dream than a pipeline. Others have drawn attention to other kinds of cost, arguing that the project will have negative consequences for environments and communities, from Lamu itself to the many pastoralist groups who live along the planned line of the project. Political volatility in the region, especially in Somalia, is also a challenge. Yet the project evidently also has the potential to promote regional trade and boost national economies, overcoming the limitations of a transport network whose basic architecture is still that laid down in the early years of colonial rule.

The Nairobi Forum of the Rift Valley Institute (RVI) is organising a public meeting on the LAPSSET that will discuss the opportunities and challenges that this major project will have on individual member states and the wider region. Speakers and participants will be drawn from the government, academia, donors, researchers and the affected communities.

Discussants
Chair: Prof. Justin Willis, University of Durham

Panellists: Mr Silvester Kasuku – CEO LAPSSET, Mr Jonathan Lodompui -Director Vision 2030, Ms Shakila Abdalla MP Lamu East, Mr Abdikadir Omar MP Balambala, Garissa, Dr Ekuru Aukot – Lawyer & Chief Spokesperson, G47

Useful link
Lapsset Tracker: http://lapssettracker.blogspot.com/