LeadUP: Alumni Thought Leadership Conversations, titled ‘Beyond 2023: How current trends in African politics are reshaping a continent’.

9 November 2023

Last month on Wednesday 11 October, Professor Derick De Jongh, participated in a panel discussion as part of the LeadUP: Alumni Thought Leadership Conversations, titled ‘Beyond 2023: How current trends in African politics are reshaping a continent’. The discussion was guided by trends – progressive and regressive – that are currently shaping the continent and its politics.

Prof Nicola De Jager, Associate Professor of Political Science at Stellenbosch University; Prof Derick De Jongh, Director of UP’s Albert Luthuli Leadership Institute; Prof Christopher Isike, Professor of African Politics and International Relations in UP's Department of Political Sciences; and Mr Moeletsi Mbeki, National Chairman of the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) sat to discuss with journalist and strategic communications practitioner Ms Sebenzile Nkambule.

Here are some key issues addressed in the conversation:
- Elections in Nigeria and Zimbabwe in 2023, and what the outcomes and expectations portend;
- Trends in other African countries’ elections that might be seen in South Africa’s 2024 election, especially other African countries governed by coalitions;
- What is at stake in Sudan’s conflict, and what this might mean for peacekeeping efforts in the region;
- Whether South Africa’s ‘friendship’ with Russia is a threat to the country’s relations with the West; and
- What Uganda’s recent anti-gay bill and Namibia’s recent progressive court ruling on same-sex marriage say about trends in human rights laws in Africa.

To watch the full discussion, Click on the link below: