Publications
These are the latest books, articles and other publications from the Nordic Africa Institute and our team of researchers. To find all our publications please click on the DiVA-link below.
Open access

Rival priorities in the Sahel
Written by Morten Bøås, research professor at Nupi
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (April 2018)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu

Innovative water finance in Africa – a guide for water managers
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (April 2018)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu

Violence in African Elections
Edited by Mimmi Söderberg Kovacs, head of research at the Folke Bernadotte Academy (formerly senior researcher at NAI) and Jesper Bjarnesen, Senior Researcher at NAI
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute and Zed Books (April 2018)
- Order a copy of the book
Buy it in paperback or as an e-book at Zed Book's website

Security without sabre-rattling
Written by Mikael Eriksson, Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (February 2018)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu - Security without sabre-rattling
Interview with the author

Debt, aid and poverty in Mozambique
Written by Cecilia Navarra and Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues, Senior Researchers at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (January 2018)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu - Murky finances at the root of the Mozambican debt crisis
Interview with the authors

Africa Yearbook, vol 13, 2016
- About the book on the publisher's website
Brill Publishing, Leiden - The volume 13 online edition
Access is automatically provided if you browse through computers in networks that have subscriptions to Brill's Online Reference Works. - Adding knowledge every year
Interviews with co-editor Henning Melber and Edalina Rodrigues Sanches, author of the chapter on Zambia.

Africa's Urban Future
Edited, co-authored and compiled by Patience Mususa and Cristina Udelsmann Rodrigues, Senior Researchers at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (November 2017)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu

The Nuer pastoralists
Written by Wondwosen Michago Seide, Guest Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (September 2017)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu - Quest for new farmland clashes with pastoralism
Interview with the author, Wondwosen Michago Seide

Africa bridging the digital divides
Written by Samia Satti Mohammed Nour, Guest Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (September 2017)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu - Bridging the digital divides in Africa
Interview with the author, Samia Satti Mohamed Nour

Nigeria and the Lake Chad Region beyond Boko Haram
Written by Henrik Angerbrandt, Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (June 2017)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu - Farmer-pastoralist conflicts cause more deaths than Boko Haram
Interview with the author, Henrik Angerbrandt

Private security in Africa: From the global assemblage to the everyday
Edited by Paul Higate and Mats Utas
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute and Zed Books (June 2017)
- Order a copy of the book
Buy it in paperback or as an e-book at Zed Book's website - Download an open-access copy of the book
A pdf-version of the book is available for Open Access thorugh our online digital repository Diva

Warlord Democrats in Africa: Ex-Military Leaders and Electoral Politics
Edited by Anders Themnér, Senior Research Associate at at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute and Zed Books (April 2017)
- Order a copy of the book
Buy it in paperback or as an e-book at Zed Book's website - Download an open-access copy of the book
A pdf-version of the book is available for Open Access thorugh our online digital repository Diva

Who put the ’Post’ in the Post-Arab Spring?
Written by Mikael Eriksson, Senior Researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (March 2017)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu - Who put the ‘Post’ in the Post-Arab Spring?
Interview with the author, Mikael Eriksson

Ethiopia in the UN Security Council 2017-2018
Written by Victor Adetula, Head of Research at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (February 2017)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu - Ethiopia in the UNSC 2017-18: openings and catches
Interview with the author, Victor Adetula

Regional Economic Communities and Peacebuilding in Africa: The Experiences of ECOWAS and IGAD
NAI Policy Dialogue No 12
Written by Victor A.O Adetula, Redie Bereketeab and Olugbemi Jaiyebo
Published by Nordic Africa Institute (December 2016)
Since the end of the Cold War, Africa has recorded increased involvement of its Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in the peacebuilding process. Although primarily set up to promote economic integration, RECs such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have increasingly taken up a prominent role in conflict resolution and peace support operations. Their performance in ensuring peace and security on the continent is examined in this policy dialogue.
- Order the book from one of our distributors
- Borrow the book from our library
- Download the book in pdf-format (Open Access)
- Read the e-book version

New City visions and the politics of redevelopment in Dar es Salaam
NAI Working Paper 2016:1
Written by Ilda Lindell, Jennifer Norström and Andrew Byerley
Published by Nordic Africa Institute (December 2016)
In 2010, the Tanzanian government put forward an ambitious New City plan for the Kigamboni area in Dar es Salaam, a plan that involved the resettlement of a large number of residents. This working paper argues that the project took shape without taking the realities and desires of the residents into consideration.
Ilda Lindell is Associate Professor at the Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University, and works on the politics of informality in urban Africa. Jennifer Norström is a Sociologist, Urban Planner and film maker. Andrew Byerley, PhD, is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University. Both Lindell and Byerley have previously worked as researchers at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala.
- Neoliberal fantasies vs urban realities
Interview with one of the authors, Jennifer Norström - Download the book in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu

Cocoa in Post-Conflict Liberia
Written by Gun Eriksson Skoog, Senior policy specialist at Sida and former researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (November 2016)
- Download the book in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu - New rules in the Liberian cocoa market enhance smallholder power
Interview with the author, Gun Eriksson-Skoog - Order the book from one of our distributors
- Borrow the book from our library

The Rise of Africa’s Middle Class: Myths, Realities and Critical Engagements
Edited by Henning Melber, Senior Research Associate at at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute and Zed Books (November 2016)
- Order a copy of the book
Buy it in paperback or as an e-book at Zed Book's website - Borrow the book from our library
- Download an open-access copy of the book
A pdf-version of the book is available for Open Access thorugh our online digital repository Diva

Growing Mistrust – A Threat to Democracy in Ghana
Written by Victor Adetula, Head of Research at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (November 2016)
- Download the booklet in pdf-format
Available for Open Access in our online digital archive Diva - Read the e-publication
Available in our e-library at Issuu - Ghanaians’ faith in democracy remains strong – but there are worrying signs
Interview with the author, Victor Adetula

What does it mean to be human in the aftermath of historical trauma?
Claude Ake Memorial Paper No 9
Written by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Professor at the University of the Free State in South Africa and 2015 Claude Ake Visiting Chair
Published by Nordic Africa Institute and Uppsala University (October 2016)
South Africa, Namibia, Burundi, Rwanda – there are lots of countries where victims and perpetrators of gross human rights violations live side by side. And, of course, not only in Africa. In this essay, South African psychologist Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela analyses strategies that can help individuals and communities deal with these traumas. She also looks at ways to restore dignity to victims and enable perpetrators to be accountable for their crimes.
- More information about the book
- Order the book from one of our distributors
- Borrow the book from our library
- Download the book in pdf-format (Open Access)
- Read the e-book version

The Nordic Africa Days 2016
The Nordic Africa Days Uppsala 23-24 September 2016 – Gender & Change: Challenges for Africa
Published by Nordic Africa Institute (September 2016)
The Nordic Africa Days 2016 takes place in Uppsala, Sweden, 23-24 September 2016. The theme for this year's conference is Gender and Change: Challenges for Africa. In this e-book you find information about the conference panels, approved abstracts, and lots more.
- Download the book in pdf-format (Open Access)
- Read the e-book version

Sweden’s Bid for a UN Security Council Seat and What Africa Stands to Gain
- Read the booklet at Issuu

From Top-Down to Flexible Cooperation: Rethinking Regional Support to Africa
- Read the booklet at Issuu

A Decade of Namibia: Politics, Economy and Society – The Era Pohamba, 2004-2015
- Order the book from the publisher
- Borrow the book from our library

Aid and Authoritarianism in Africa
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute in cooperation with Zed Books (March 2016)
- Order the book from the publisher
- Download the book as fulltext pdf for Open Access
- Borrow the book from the NAI Library

The Politics of Female Circumcision in Egypt
Written by Maria Frederika Malmström, researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by I.B. Tauris (April 2016)
In Egypt, 91 percent of women aged 15-49 have undergone female circumcision or genital mutilation/cutting, according to UNICEF. Female circumcision has become a political minefield with 'Western' interventions affecting Egyptian affairs. In this book, researcher Maria Frederika Malmström employs an ethnographic approach to this controversial issue.
- More information about the book
- Order the book from the publisher
- Borrow the book from our library

The Future of African Peace Operations
Edited by Linnéa Gelot, Cedric de Coning and John Karlsrud
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute in cooperation with Zed Books (March 2016)
Facing threats ranging from Islamist insurgences to the Ebola pandemic, African regional actors are playing an increasingly vital role in safeguarding peace and stability across the continent. But while the African Union has demonstrated its ability to deploy forces on short notice and in difficult circumstances, the challenges posed by increasingly complex conflict zones have revealed a widening divide between the theory and practice of peacekeeping. The book gives a long overdue assessment of the ways which peacekeeping on the continent has evolved over the past decade.
- Order the book from the publisher
- Download the book as fulltext pdf for Open Access
- Borrow the book from our library

Eritrea’s refugee crisis and the role of the international community
Policy Note No 2:2016
Written by Redie Bereketeab, researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (March 2016)
- Read the e-booklet at Issuu

Radicalisation and terrorist recruitment among kenya's youth
Policy Note No 1:2016
Written by Sirkku Hellsten, researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (February 2016)
- Read the e-booklet at Issuu

Shades of Africa
Written and edited by Henrik Alfredsson, Mattias Sköld and Johan Sävström
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (January 2016)
A presentation of the current research at the Nordic Africa Institute, a showcase of our trade: high-quality research on Africa, with strong links to policy and practice. Research on a changing continent, made easily accessible in 60 pages.

Faith As Politics
Edited by Henning Melber, researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (2015)
Beyers Naudé was in his later life one of the leading Afrikaner anti-apartheid activists. Convinced by the strength of his faith he took a courageous political stand in a time in South African history when it was much needed. Faith As Politics is an anthology with contributions from researchers, diplomats, activists and clergies who all have one thing in common – they were all engaged in the struggle against apartheid at the same time as Naudé. And almost all of them worked with him in one way or another. This is a unique depiction of a man whose faith, struggle and courage deserve to be recognized.
- Read the e-book version at Issuu
- Download the pdf version at the academic archive Diva
- Order the printed version from one of our distributors

South Africa: Settler Colonialism and the Failures of Liberal Democracy
Published by NAI in cooperation with Zed Books (December 2015)
In this book, political science researcher Thiven Reddy shows how conventional approaches to understanding democratisation have failed to capture the complexities of South Africa’s post-apartheid transition. As a product of imperial expansion, the South African state and citizen identities have been uniquely shaped by a particular mode of domination, namely settler colonialism.
- Order the book from the publisher
- Download the book as fulltext pdf for Open Access
- Borrow the book from the NAI Library

Burkina Faso's one-week coup and its implications for free and fair elections
Policy Note No 10:2015
Written by Jesper Bjarnesen and Christiano Lanzano
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (October 2015)
- Read the e-booklet at Issuu

In pursuit of paradise
Written by Eva Evers Rosander, former researcher at NAI
Published by NAI (November 2015)
Muridism is a Sufi order that originated in Senegal at the end of the 19th century and is now expanding rapidly. In this book Rosander gives an account of the Murid women of Senegal and Tenerife.
- Order the book from one of our distributors
- Borrow the book from our library
- Download the book as pdf from the academic archive Diva

Agricultural Water Institutions in East Africa
Current African Issues no 63
Edited by Atakilte Beyene
Published by the Nordic Africa Institute (2015)
Climate change is causing growing variability and uncertainty in rainfall in Africa. Since the continent’s food production systems are dominantly rain-fed, these changes are putting food security at even higher risk. In order to reduce this dependency, institutional reforms in the agricultural water sectors have become a priority in research and policy. In this report, Atakilte Beyene, senior researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, together with twelve researchers based in Africa, studies current agricultural water reforms in Kenya, Tanzania,
Uganda, and other East African countries.
- Download the pdf version from the online academic archive Diva
- Order the printed version from one of our distributors

Africa in the Indian Ocean - Islands in Ebb and Flow
Tor Sellström
The four sovereign Indian Ocean states of Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles, the two French overseas departments of Mayotte and Reunion, as well as the British colony of BIOT (Chagos), all form part of Africa. As insular nations and territories in an increasingly globalized, militarized and largely unregulated ocean, they face particular challenges. Commonly overlooked in the fields of African and international studies, this text traces the islands’ history and explores their diverse contemporary social, political and economic trajectories. From human settlement and slavery to conflict resolution and piracy, the relations with continental Africa and the African Union feature prominently. Richly sourced, this comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to Africa’s Indian Ocean islands covers a significant lacuna. More about the book and how to buy (opens in new window).

Strategic Options for the Future of African Peace Operations 2015-2025
Linnéa Gelot & John Karlsrud & Cedric de Coning
Increasingly complex security environments are placing high demands on African peace operations, and complicating efforts at long-term peace- and state building. From the experiences of the African Union (AU) and the sub-regions over the last decade, an African model of peace operations has emerged that is at odds with the mission scenarios and multi-dimensional assumptions that underpinned the original framework of the African Standby Force (ASF). Download the publication.

Kenya : The Struggle for a New Constitutional Order
Godwin Murunga, Duncan Okello, and Anders Sjögren (Eds.)
Africa Now series
The aftermath of recent Kenyan elections has been marred by violence and an apparent crisis in democratic governance, with the negotiated settlement resulting from the 2007 election bringing into sharp focus longstanding problems of state and society. The broader reform process has involved electoral, judicial and security sector reforms, among others, which in turn revolve around constitutional reforms.
Written by an eminent gathering of specialists, this highly original volume interrogates the roots and impacts of the 2010 constitution; explains why struggles for reforms were blocked in the past but were successful this time around, and explores the scope for their implementation in the face of continued resistance by powerful groups. In doing so, the book demonstrates that the Kenyan experience carries significance well past its borders, speaking to debates surrounding social justice and national cohesion across the African continent and beyond. Read more and order.

Africa’s World Trade : Informal Economies and Globalization from Below
Margaret C. Lee
Africa Now series
Are Africa's world markets really contributing to development across the continent for individuals, nations and regions? This is the key question posed by Margaret Lee in this provocative book, in which she argues that all too often the voices of African traders are obscured amid a blizzard of statistical analysis.
However, it is these very voices - from those operating on the ground as formal or informal traders - that must be listened to in order to form a true understanding of the impact trade regimes have on these individuals and their communities.
Featuring a wealth of oral histories from across sub-Saharan Africa and beyond, including Africans in China, Africa's World Trade offers a unique insight into how the complexity of international trade agreements can shape the everyday lives of ordinary Africans. Read more and order.