Robtel Neajai Pailey

Assistant Professor Robtel Neajai Pailey (LSE) "Whose Future?" Panel Discussion YouTube video by Global Visions

Days before America-Israel attacked #Iran unprovoked, I argued during a Public Forum in #Helsinki that the int’l rules-based order backs brute force. I gave examples incl. #Israel’s #genocide in #Gaza & #US aggression towards #Iran. Boy, were my words were prescient: www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6_U...

Excited to discuss ‘Alternative Development in a Post-Aid World’ as #keynote #speaker tomorrow during the Finnish Society of Development Research’s #DevelopmentDays 2026 Annual Int’l Conference in #Helsinki, #Finland: www.robtelneajaipailey.com/events/2026/...

Africa poised to outgrow Asia for first time amid youth boom Africa’s growth could outpace Asia’s for the first time in 2026, figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggest, as the continent’s population continues to rise fast.

#Poverty #reduction measures across #Africa are contributing to forecasts of its #economic #growth outpacing #Asia in #2026. bit.ly/3Mc2gFq

This ROAPE journal special issue on ‘Frantz Fanon at 100: Class Struggle and the Future of African Liberation’ looks fantastic: www.scienceopen.com/journal-issu...

Fela's Grammy is a win for Africa, world peace — Femi Kuti Femi Kuti, son of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, has praised the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award given to his late father, describing it as "a win for Africa and global peace."

#Nigerian #Afrobeat pioneer and #activist #FelaKuti became the first #African #artist to receive a #Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He was honoured posthumously this month, nearly three decades after his death. bit.ly/4rDjWJr

Looking forward to participating in this #panel - co-sponsored by Global Visions and the Finnish Society for Development Research (FSDR) - as part of the FSDR’s #DevelopmentDays Conference 2026 two weeks from now in #Helsinki, #Finland. bit.ly/3Mint0I

Robtel Neajai Pailey Special Guest: ‘Liberian Citizenship as a Political Economy of Belonging’, LSE Impact Wednesdays Fireside Chat and Impact Series, The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (February ...

I’m looking forward to speaking at the #LSE’s 4 February Impact Meet-up featuring my award-winning Cambridge University Press #monograph: www.robtelneajaipailey.com/events/2026/...

The Africa Report launches ‘NextGen’ prize to find Africa’s leading young economists Spearheaded by Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, in partnership with the African Development Bank, the Africa NextGen Economist Prize aims to unearth a new generation of intellectuals capable of sh...

If you are a #young #African #economist shaping #research and #knowledge #production, developing #innovation, and providing concrete solutions to present and future crises in our beloved #continent, apply by 15 February for the Africa NextGen Economist Prize worth €10,000: bit.ly/4s40k1N

Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa ‘cancelled’ $1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease

Thanks to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention for rejecting a US Dept. of Health and Human Services $1.6 million project which intended to delay #HepatitisB #vaccinations for 7K #GuineaBissau #newborns in order to study vaccine dose timing: bit.ly/3LutZ46

Young Africans Are Being Lured Into Russia’s War Machine The Kremlin may be using Africans as suicide bombers in Ukraine, reports suggest.

#Russia is luring young #Africans to fight its #imperial #war in #Ukraine with false promises of #civilian #jobs. Instead, recruits are used as #cannon #fodder during #military operations. My fellow Africans, please resist the urge to die in someone else’s #conflict! bit.ly/4bKGSl3

Why are some African countries banning US citizens from entry? Mali and Burkina Faso are the latest to issue 'tit-for-tat' bans on visas for US citizens with immediate effect.

This is #diplomatic #reciprocity at its best: #Mali and #BurkinaFaso recently banned #American #visitors in response to US #visa #bans on their citizens: www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/...

I’m grateful to Fatima Kromah and (Auntie) Miatta Fahnbulleh for gifting me this lovely T-shirt quoting my July 2024 Independence Day National Oration in #Liberia. I hope #dignity defines all of us in #2026: www.robtelneajaipailey.com/events/2024/...

Visible for diversity, invisible in research: the burdens Black female academics face in universities Black women often carry out work their colleagues don’t, such as promoting equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives.

#Black #women #academics are both hypervisible and invisible in hostile higher ed institutions across the #UK – and further afield – because of #structural #racism and #sexism. This definitely resonates with my experience: bit.ly/45aXqP0

Apply Join the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme, a funded fellowship based at the LSE International Inequalities Institute.

Are you a mid-career #policymaker, #activist, #researcher or #practitioner committed to addressing #inequality? Apply by 16 January 2026 for the fully-funded 2026-27 AFSEE fellowship directed by my colleague Armine Ishkanian at the LSE's III: afsee.atlanticfellows.lse.ac.uk/en-gb/apply

This is a chilling New York Times investigative piece about how #political #elites in #Kenya are profiting from a lucrative #labour #migration scheme that leaves #Kenyan #women #domesticworkers at the mercy of #SaudiArabia’s #kafala system: bit.ly/3XUU7aU

Architect Diébédo Francis Kéré: ‘My life is serendipity’ The Pritzker-winner on building ‘from the earth’, why modern architecture is going too fast — and how it all began with wobbly school benches

Diébédo Francis Kéré, the best-known #African #architect of his generation, talks to the Financial Times about his world-renowned #craft: bit.ly/4aLr9li

As we approach Int’l Anti-Corruption Day on Dec 9, I'm reflecting on how much I’ve enjoyed equipping #children with the verbal tools to challenge the confusing ethical codes of adults in their lives through my anti-#corruption kids’ books Gbagba & Jaadeh!: www.robtelneajaipailey.com/author

Sudan war | Today's latest from Al Jazeera

#Sudan still remains the world’s worst #humanitarian #crisis: www.aljazeera.com/tag/sudan-war/

A provocative bestseller wins the National Book Award for nonfiction Omar El Akkad’s “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” criticizes Western indifference to civilian suffering in Gaza.

Omar El Akkad’s “One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This” recently won the National Book Award for non-fiction. It is a scathing critique of our complicity in #Israel’s #genocide in #Gaza. So much for the fragile faux #ceasefire that now hangs by a thread: bit.ly/4rtyOe6

Africa Needs a Continental Body With Teeth The African Union has become a back-scratching club of heads of state.

Has the African Union lost its way? ABSOLUTELY! bit.ly/4hORf8x

‘Digital colonialism’: how AI companies are following the playbook of empire But resisting is possible – and the long history of First Nations resistance against colonial violence demonstrates how people can resist digital colonialism.

By “using algorithms, data and digital technologies to exert power over others, and take data without consent”, do #AI #companies follow the playbook of #empire? Read this Conversation analysis on #digital #colonialism to find out: bit.ly/4p9dUPV

Founded as a refuge from US racism, Liberia must not help enforce it now With its offer to take in a US deportee who does not want to go there, Monrovia betrays Liberia’s unique history.

My latest #commentary for Al Jazeera English is a nuanced critique of #Liberia’s offer to host #Salvadoran national #KilmarAbregoGarcía – who was #unlawfully #deported by the #Trump administration. I argue that Liberia’s policies must not be shaped by the whims of #racist white men: bit.ly/43lKftU

Paramilitary massacres unfolding in Sudan’s Darfur, videos show RSF paramilitary fighters are carrying out mass ethnic killings in the recently captured city of El Fashir, according to videos, aerial images and interviews.

Where was global condemnation last week when #Sudan’s #paramilitary Rapid Support Forces embarked on a #killing #spree after capturing the #NorthDarfur state of #ElFashir? Videos, satellite imagery and testimonies from the ground paint a chilling picture of #death and #destruction: bit.ly/3JjGGO3

#Nigerian #Nobel #laureate, #literary icon and political activist #WoleSoyinka says the #UnitedStates revoked his #visa for being a vocal critic of its first-felon-in-chief. What a travesty! bit.ly/4qGWFqk

Pan-African Dreams, Post-Colonial Realities Two new books, on Kwame Nkrumah’s promise and Idi Amin’s tyranny, capture the soaring hopes and bitter aftermath of Africa’s age of independence.

“His view of Nkrumah resembles Nkrumah’s view of Garvey: a visionary whose vision is easy to admire if you ignore what he actually did”, argues this sobering New Yorker review of Howard French's new #biography of #Ghana’s first post-independence #president #KwameNkrumah: bit.ly/46XpHZy

#Democratic #socialist #ZohranMamdani, who built his campaign around #progressive #politics, will become #NewYork’s youngest #mayor in more than a century and the first #Muslim of #SouthAsian origin. Could this foreshadow #UnitedStates mid-terms next year? bit.ly/4qJMMIc

Legal invisibility was the best thing to happen to me I became an undocumented migrant at age six and it changed my life.

As the #global #assault on #migrants intensifies, this deeply #personal #commentary I wrote in 2017 for Al Jazeera English about growing up #undocumented in the #UnitedStates is as relevant now as it was back then. www.aljazeera.com/opinions/201...

From resistance to intifada to recognition: the origins of an independent Palestinian state – podcast Palestinian-American historian Maha Nassar traces the history of Palestinian efforts to build an independent state. Listen on The Conversation Weekly podcast.

Is #recognition of a #Palestinian state by 150+ countries a hollow, symbolic gesture amidst #Israeli #aggression, #genocide in #Gaza and #occupation of the #WestBank? Listen to this podcast about what real #sovereignty for Palestinian people would mean. bit.ly/4nGYzEN

Surge in Africa's China imports prompts calls to tackle trade deficit African imports of Chinese goods have surged in 2025 but experts say trade with the superpower is largely one-way.

#Africa’s #trade relationship with #China is alarmingly lopsided, with high #imports resulting in a US$61.93 billion #deficit for the continent in 2024. We must #industrialise and #export #manufactured #goods to balance the scales! bit.ly/3KiNpb0

In an Exclusive Excerpt from Her Memoir, Arundhati Roy Writes of Her Early Upbringing Roy’s early life was colored by a series of precarious arrangements, she writes in her new memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, out in September.

Here’s an exclusive excerpt of the #memoir Mother Mary Comes to Me by indomitable #Indian #author and #activist #ArundhatiRoy (bit.ly/4m4oPsn)! I can’t wait to read the full memoir, published last month by #Scribner.