The Africa Faith and Justice Network invites you to a discussion, “Hustler vs Dynasty: The Elections in Kenya and Nigeria and their implications for Africa ” on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 from 11:00 am-12:30 pm ET (US and Canada). The recent election in Kenya stunned Africa when Vice-President William Ruto won against his own sitting President and the country’s largest opposition party. Looking ahead to February 2023, Nigeria’s elections have garnered international attention with a third party candidate Peter Obi garnering support from the youth and the African diaspora against the two major parties. What do these elections mean for the future of Africa? Join AFJN as we invite prominent African experts from the continent to discuss these trends and their implications for the future of the continent.
Hustler vs Dynasty:
The Elections in Kenya and Nigeria and
their Implications for Africa
Tuesday, September 13, 2022
11:00 am – 12:30 pm ET (US and Canada)
4:00 pm – 5:30 pm (Abuja)
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm (Johannesburg)
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm (Nairobi)
Watch the Video Below
FEATURING
H.E. Dr. Lansana Gberie
Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Switzerland and the Permanent Representative to the UN and other International Organisations in Geneva
Ambassador Gberie is a historian, researcher and journalist. He currently serves as Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Switzerland and the Permanent Representative to the UN and other International Organisations in Geneva. He is an expert on peace and security in Africa; peacebuilding; transitional justice; the politics and history of West Africa. He has written several books and dozens of peer-reviewed articles on these issues. He was recently appointed as the Chair of the WTO TRIPS Council
Austin Tam-George, Ph.D
Executive Director of the Institute of Communication and Corporate Studies
Lagos, Nigeria
Austin Tam-George is a communication and public policy consultant with a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He also attended the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, where he studied communication and leadership.
Tam-George’s extensive multi-sectoral experience straddles the fields of education, government, oil and gas and nonprofit. Dr. Tam-George has taught in different universities including the University of Cape Town, South Africa, where he was Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Research Fellow. He is the Executive Director of the Institute of Communication and Corporate Studies in Lagos, Nigeria.
Professor Mills Soko
Professor of International Business and Strategy
University of Witwatersrand Business School, South Africa
Professor Soko is the author of South Africa and the World, is Professor of International Business and Strategy at Wits Business School, and former Director of University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. He is an ardent writer on local and global issues. He holds an MA in International Studies from the University of Stellenbosch, as well as an MA and Doctorate in International Political Economy from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Steven Nabieu Rogers, Moderator
Executive Director
Africa Faith and Justice Network
Dr. Rogers has a background in public policy and urban planning with a special interest in globalization and governance in Africa. He has served in the public and private sectors as an academic, researcher, and thought leader. He also has several years of experience in higher education in Sierra Leone, the United States, and South Africa. Prior to joining AFJN, he was an Old Mutual Emerging Markets Fellow and Lecturer at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town, where he taught courses on Emerging Markets, International Trade, and Globalization.
BACKGROUND
Kenya’s Vice-President William Ruto, campaigning as a ‘hustler’ fighting the ‘dynasty’, defeated main opposition leader Raila Odinga during the August 2022 Presidential elections. Odinga was endorsed by the current President Uhuru Kenyatta. Both men, who hail from Kenya’s extremely rich legacy families, joined forces to defeat Ruto – a plan that ultimately backfired. This was a huge upset for Kenya’s two largest political dynasties.
Likewise, in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, presidential candidates are hard at work campaigning for the February 2023 elections. But the depth of the country’s economic and security crises is forcing voters to rethink their choice much to the benefit of Mr. Peter Obi, a third party candidate. The relatively young geeky former governor of Anambra State has generated substantial buzz particularly among youth and diaspora who are partly financing his campaign against the two main party septuagenarian candidates with very deep pockets.
These political trends in Kenya and Nigeria, two of Africa’s political powerhouses, are showing that Africa’s youth are increasingly fed up with the political systems they see marred by endemic corruption, where politicians make promises they fail to deliver.
But are these politicians really ‘hustlers’ or just new iterations of the existing ‘dynasty’? Will President-Elect Ruto deliver on his promises when in office? Does Obi even have a chance? Are these elections the bellwethers of future elections in Africa for other young people across the continent? Join AFJN and our panel of experts as we unpack these developments on the continent.
Members of the press, please email Lydia Andrews at Lydia@afjn.org.