Welcome to Research Africa Reviews
Welcome to Research Africa Reviews
Supported by the Duke Africa Initiative, this triannual journal and mailing list (research_africa@duke.edu) aims to foster a scholarly network focused on Africa and its issues. As a non-profit platform, it facilitates the exchange of information on African-related publications, events, and research opportunities while bridging knowledge production among African institutions. It seeks to connect scholars globally, promote academic collaboration, and enhance the dissemination of scholarship.
Current Issue
Volume 9, issue 2 - August, 2025
ISSN 2575-6990
Highlights: Enslaved Muslim scholars; Arabic manuscripts and diaspora; ʿulamāʾ and digital peacebuilding; Somalia and Laacaanood conflict; Zanzibar Sultanate and revolution; Africanized Arabs / Arabized Africans; peacebuilding in Africa; colonial capitalism in Lagos; Sahara narratives and memory; South African rugby and resistance; African Studies methodology; digital capitalism and inequality.
Three Arabic Documents of an Enslaved Muslim Scholar,
Shaykh Sana See, from the 1860s Panama
Written by: Carl W. Ernst (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) and Mbaye Lo (Duke University)
ʿUlamāʾ and Peacemaking in the Digital Age in Somalia:
The Case of Laacaanood.
Written by: Abdifatah Shafat, PhD, Visiting Assistant Professor, Jigjiga University.
Africanized Arabs, Arabized Africans:
Narratives and Bibliographic Reflections on Zanzibar’s Revolution
Written by: Ahmed Ali Salem, Professor, Zayed University, United Arab Emirates Visiting Professor and Senior Research Associate, Rhodes University, South Africa.
BOOK REVIEWS
Hassan, Hamdy (Editor), Peace in Africa: Studies and Perspectives for Enhancing Stability and Development. Muslim societies and peacebuilding in Africa, (Arabic papers, Preface by Samir Boudinar). Rabat: Alhokama Center for Peace Research, 2025, pp.530. Research Projects Series, African Studies Program. ISBN: 978-614-488-378-5.
Written by: Hamdy A. Hassan, Professor of Political Science, Zayed University.
Hopkins, A. G. Capitalism in the Colonies: African Merchants in Lagos, 1851-1931. Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2024, pp. 552. ISBN-13: 978-0691258843.
Reviewed by: Chisara Agoha, University of Calgary, Canada.
Saïd Khatibi, Nihayat al-Sahra’, The End of the Sahara. Beirut & London: 2022 (English Edition, 2026). 336 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1916725225.
Reviewed by: Amany Alsiefy, PhD, Adjunct Lecturer, Centre for Transdisciplinary Gender Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Esau, Omar, Scrumming against all Odds: Voices of SARU Rugby Legends. Cape Town: Burnet Media, pp. 1-263, 2025. ISBN: 9781990956775.
Reviewed by: Muhammed Haron, Director of International Relations at the International Peace College of South Africa.
Esau, Omar, Scrumming Against All Odds: Voices of SARU Rugby Legends. Cape Town: Burnet Media, pp. 1-263, 2025. ISBN: 9781990956775.
Reviewed by: Yusef Waghid, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Education, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Schramm, Katharina and Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni (editors) Knowing–Unknowing: African Studies at the Crossroads. Leiden & Boston: Brill, 2024. pp. 310. ISBN: 978-90-04-70143-4 (Hardback); 978-90-04-70144-1 (e-Book).
Reviewed by: Birungi Robert, Makerere Institute of Social Research, Makerere University
Satgar, Vishwas, Digital Capitalism and Its Limits: Technotopia, Power and Risk. Publisher: Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2025, pp. 297. ISBN-13: 978-1776149438.
Reviewed by: John Mwangi Githigaro, PhD, the United States International University (USIU-A), Nairobi, Kenya (2018), Independent scholar.
REVIEW TEAM
Editor-In-Chief
Muhammed Haron, Former Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Botswana and currently a Professor and Director of International Relations at the International Peace College of South Africa. (haronm@hotmail.com).
Associate Editors
Wendy Wilson-Fall, Professor and Chair, Africana Studies Program Oeschle Center for International Education, Lafayette College (wilsonfw@lafayette.edu) & (haronm@hotmail.com).
Bamba Drame, PhD, Dar El Hadith El Hassaniya Institute, Rabat Morocco, (ndrame.online@gmail.com).
Alinah Segobye, Professor, Northwest University, South Africa & Botswana, (alinah.segobye@gmail.com).
Aman Nadhiri, Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Arts and Humanities, Johnson C. Smith University, USA, (anadhiri@jcsu.edu).
Hamdy Hassan, Professor of political science, Cairo University, Egypt & Zayd University, UAE (hamdy.hassan@zu.ac.ae).
Mbaye Lo, Professor of the Practice, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies & International Comparative Studies, Duke University (mbayelo@duke.edu).
RESEARCH AFRICA
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