Lectures
The MIASA Public Lecture Series features MIASA fellows in residence. It is primarily directed to researchers and students but is also open to the wider public.
The Anton Wilhelm Amo Lecture is organized annually by MIASA at the University of Ghana in collaboration with the Institute of African Studies and the Department of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Ghana. It is named after the 18th century philosopher from present-day Ghana who taught at the universities of Halle and Jena. The lecture series promotes MIASA’s overarching commitment of making African thinking increasingly relevant in global academia, and it addresses questions of how the humanities and social sciences can contribute to the decolonisation of knowledge production and epistemic justice.
Events
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Public Lecture: Elite Power-sharing, Political Instability and the Allocation of Ministerial Posts in Africa; Speaker: Daniel Wigmore-Shepherd
Abstract How do political events and factors influence the composition of senior government elites? This presentation uses a newly created African Cabinet Political Elite Dataset (ACPED) to demonstrate how political factors such as regime strength or economic growth, along with key events such as elections or mass protest, exert influence on how leaders or regimes ... Read more
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Public Lecture: The relationship between the majority and minority divide of the Ghanaian parliament and democratic governance in Ghana; Speaker: Dr. Seidu Alidu
Accra Abstract This paper analyses candidate selection and nomination rules in Ghana’s two major political parties’ parliamentary primaries. It seeks to determine the extent to which the intra-party rules vary as an indicator of their selection of women and visible minority (people with disability) parliamentary candidates. The paper employed candidate selection methods framework designed by ... Read more
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Public Lecture: “We disagree on politics, but we eat together” – The Parliament as a Social Space in Ghana, Togo, and Sierra Leone; Speaker: Dr. Anja Osei
Legon-Accra Abstract Actor-centric approaches to democratization place an emphasis on the development of a consensus on the “rules of the game”. Building on theories of institutional socialization, this paper is arguing that parliaments can be important arenas for the pacification of political struggles and the development of cooperation between political opponents: MPs learn to cooperate ... Read more
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Public Lecture: An Off-grid Solar Frontier: The Scalar Geographies of the Photovoltaic Turn in Ghana; Speaker: Paul Munro
via Zoom Speaker: Dr. Paul Munro, University of New South Wales Abstract The sale of off-grid solar products has undergone an extraordinary boom in the Global South over the past decade. In 2019 alone, an estimated 35 million off-grid solar products – in the form of solar lanterns and small solar home systems – were sold, ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Sociotechnical Typologies for National Energy Transitions; Speaker: Norbert Edomah
via Zoom Speaker: Dr. Norbert Edomah, Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos AbstractThe energy landscape is changing dramatically. It is populated by many different and discrete energy transitions happening simultaneously across different sectors, with dynamically different drivers, and across varying locations. A new three-part categorization is proposed to help better understand the myriad sociotechnical changes being witnessed, which cut ... Read more
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Public Lecture: The Evolving Role of Finance in Renewable Electricity Systems in Senegal; Speaker: Dr. Lucy Baker
Virtual via Zoom Speaker: Dr. Lucy Baker, University of Sussex AbstractAccording to the IEA, in 2018 75 per cent of Senegal’s electricity was generated from diesel generators. Until recently, the country suffered from regular and prolonged electricity blackouts and load-shedding, accompanied by rising electricity tariffs. However, electricity security and access have started to improve since 2012 ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Barriers to Sustainable Electrical Energy Transition in Ghana; Speaker: Paul Osei-Tutu
Virtual via Zoom Speaker: Dr. Paul Osei-Tutu, KNUST AbstractRenewable electrical energy is an important policy objective in Ghana, as communicated in Ghana’s Renewable Energy Act (2011) and Renewable Energy Master Plan (2019). These policy documents communicate targets such as 10% new renewable energy in Ghana electricity supply mix by 2030 and off grid renewable energy to ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Gendering Energy, Representation and the Political Ecology of an Electric Energy Transition in Ghana; Speaker: Naaborle Sackeyfio
Virtual via Zoom Speaker: Dr. Naaborle Sackeyfio, Miami University of Ohio AbstractThe acceleration of Africa’s economic trajectory in the 21st century will likely depend on how effectively it marshals a sustainable energy transition. As perspectives shift to energy governance in the global south, African countries are assuming center stage. Accordingly, this project interrogates Ghana’s potential for ... Read more
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Public Lecture: The Political Economy of Renewable Energy in Ghana: The Role of Donors and Domestic Priorities; Speaker: Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen
Virtual via Zoom Speaker: Dr. Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen, DIIS AbstractIn 2006, Ghana set a target of 10% new renewable energy in its energy mix by 2020, but it has achieved much less (0.8%). What can explain this difference between policy and implementation? This lecture focuses on some of the main elements in the political economy of ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Policy Analysis of Household Transitions to Clean Cooking Fuel Use in Ghana; Speaker: Dr. Aba Obrumah Crentsil
Virtual via Zoom, 26th November 2020 AbstractIn West Africa, household energy transition is synonymous with conversion from woodfuel to LPG. With an ever-increasing awareness for the use of clean fuels, the Government of Ghana initiated the Ghana LPG Promotion Programme in 1990 with the primary aim of eliminating the flaring of LPG at Tema Oil ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Wits Business School: Endogenous Innovation and Sustainable Energy Transitions in West Africa: A Conceptual Framework; Speaker: Diran Soumonni
Virtual via Zoom. 3rd December 2020 Bio: DR DIRAN SOUMONNI is a Senior Lecturer in Innovation Policy and Management, and Programme Director of the Master of Management in Innovation Studies at the Wits Business School. He obtained his PhD in Public Policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where he focused ... Read more
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Public Lecture: Energy transition and challenges of bakeries’ cooking choices in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Speaker: Dr. Salimata Berté
Virtual via Zoom, 10th December 2020 AbstractThis study analyzes the challenges of cooking energies choices in bakeries in Abidjan. The bakery sector is presented as one of the main contributors to the erosion of the country's forest capital because of its propensity to use firewood in cooking. But so far, the social determinants of the ... Read more
