University of Basel

Centre for
African Studies

Basel has become a centre for Africa-related research. This development is rooted in a long research tradition at various institutions in the region and has been fostered by the University of Basel's strong commitment to research on, in, with and for Africa. Our Centre acts as an interface for exchange between disciplines, faculties and institutions outside the University.

Six key areas of activities (KAAs) have been defined on the basis of the competence and fields of research at the University of Basel and its partner institutions. In addition, each affiliated subject area, department and institution has its own research profile.

Key areas of activities

Research in the five key areas will help to close important gaps in our understanding of the processes of rapid change in Africa, provide opportunities to tackle conceptual and methodological challenges in interdisciplinary and disciplinary research, and contribute to social development on the continent.

Departments and partner organisations

The Research Network Africa is based on the competences and activities of different research groups, subject areas and departments at the University of Basel and at various partner organisations. They all contribute to research on, in, with and for Africa, as well as to teaching and training at ZASB.

Adebayo-OjoTemitope ChristinaDeveloping an air quality health index for Cape Town, 2001-2016
AliFaisal NoohEpidemiological and clinical investigations of chronic oncommunicable diseases in Eritrean refugees living in Ethiopia and Switzerland
AltroggeJudithContext and Agency in Assisted Return Migration to the Gambia. Migration regimes and the political effect of return
AmadouMamane TassiouYouth and public sphere in Niger: dynamics of the ‘fadas’ of Zinder
AmstutzAlainSupporting Lesotho on the way towards the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets: Operational and clinical research addressing HIV/AIDS care in resource-limited settings
ArowosegbeOlalekan OluwaseyiConstructing surface level particulate matter concentration statistical models and investigating the association between particulate matter air pollution and adverse health outcomes in South Africa
BachmannSamuelThe Future of African Heritage in Switzerland
BadouxMiriamCorruption, Conflict and Cities in East and West Africa
BetschartThomasHow Transport Infrastructure shapes Territory in Contemporary Africa
BishopStephanieZambian Water Diaries: Technology in Practice
BrunnerNinaThe impact of scaling up rectal artesunate on severe malaria case management practices in three Sub-Saharan Africa countries
Buhl-ColmseeAndrea ChristinaImages of Palliative Care in Tanzania – A Hospital-Ethnography in a Cancer Clinic in Dar es Salaam
DaouaRajaEmerging Trends, Developments and Opportunities of Islamic Finance: The Moroccan Case
DugsiyeSharmarke JamaPastoral Conflict Management and the Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Managing Pastoral Conflicts, Somali Region, Ethiopia
Eburi LosohaMaria Esther LeticiaImprovement of immunization uptake among pregnant women in Equatorial Guinea: Mixed methods approach
GirouxJenniferViolence Next to Peace: Toggling between social spaces in the Niger Delta
GrafAndreaOut of Sight? Bilharzia in Madagascar as a Global History of ‘Neglected Tropical Diseases’, 1950 to the present
HerzogKai FlorianViolent Encounters: Practices and Perceptions of Violence in Southern Namibia and the Northern Cape, c. 1880-1910
HufschmidtMax 
FadeyiTolulope EstherEngendering the Colony: Maternal Health, Indigenous Knowledge and European Medicine in Southwest Nigeria, 1925-1960
JenniFranziskaArt/articulations: Art and the formation of Social Space in African Cities
KanyimbaTebuho Winnie 
KarimAliyaA Systems-Wide Analysis of the RAcE Programme: A Multi-Case Health System Study of an Integrated Community Case Management Program in Five African Countries
KifyasiAndrea AziziDiplomatic History of China Medical Assistance to Africa, a Case study of Tanzania, 1960s to 2015
KocherEva The formation of the Sub-Saharan insurance industry in the second half of the 20th century
KonateKatienegnimin SeydouBestiaire et biotope végétal dans la littérature de jeunesse de Côte d’Ivoire
LeuenbergerAndreaAssociations between natural resource extraction projects and social determinants of health in Africa
LüheUlrike Knowledge production and transitional justice in Mozambique
LyongaFridaHomosexuality and the African: Change and Persistence of Homophobic Attitudes among African Migrants in Switzerland
MapesiHerryNon-communicable diseases in people living with HIV in Rural Africa: tackle the double burden
MatowoNancyEntomological and molecular characterization, insecticide resistance testing and screening for arboviruses, filarial worm and malaria parasites in culicine species in Ulanga and Kilombero districts, south-eastern Tanzania
Maurer RuedaMatthiasImmigration and political identity: Ethnographic studies of retribalization among political activists in Switzerland
McBrideSindi-LeighPolitical settlements and public spheres: comparative analysis of economic sophistication in South Africa and Nigeria
MlachaFrancis DaudiThe history of insurances in East Africa
MüllerBarbaraThe Student Movement and the Matabeleland Conflict in Zimbabwe 
MussieKirubelEthical issues in the care of older people in Ethiopia
N'DriBédjou PriscaMalaria in Elibou region, south of Côte d’Ivoire: transmission and insecticide resistance
NgwenyaBrian Order, Politics and Memory: African Police and State-Making in Zimbabwe, c1960-90
NielsenLotteMaking the City: The Politics and Potentiality of Urban Uncertainty in Johannesburg, South Africa
NimakoBelindaLinkages between Natural Resource Extraction Projects and the Health System for Sustainable Development
PringJamieThe role of African mediators in promoting inclusivity in international peace mediation
RensingJuliaNamibia-Germany: A Post-Colonial Heterotopia? Narratives and Negotiations of Colonial Legacies in Namibia and Germany
RudnickaMartaTastescapes in Ghana. Eating, tasting and culinary praxis in northern Ghana
RutishauserMelinaParticipation in Social Health Protection: Women’s Engagement in Tanzania
Sampayo VidalMelanieViolences et Résistances dans le théâtre postcolonial au Mali
ScottoGiuliaOil Infrastructure and decolonization: ENI’s “African Scheme”
SewordorErnestBritish Imperial Imagination, Colonial Infrastructure, and the Cape-to-Cairo Road, c.1890-1960
ShayoKuwawenaruwa August JoachimEffects of the regional complementary pharmaceutical supply system on improving access to medicines in Dodoma and Morogoro regions, Tanzania
ShrikhandeShreyaEffects of climate change on cardiovascular diseases in South Africa
TannerMathiasInterfaith Peacebuilding. Examining the Impact of Interfaith Peacebuilding Initiatives in a Violent Political Conflict with an Ethno-Religious Dimension in Jos, Nigeria
TepebasUfukThe role of Turkey’s development assistance policy in its foreign trade with East Africa
VoegeliAnnaLife Stories, Livelihoods and Political Change in the Tzaneen Area, South Africa, 1940-1980
VögelePius JonasAfrofuturism Echoes Back – Hip Hop’s Sonic Fictions from Black Atlantis
WetterichCitaViolence against male Refugees – Patterns, Factors and Consequences for Individuals and Communities
Wüthrich GrossenbacherUrsula Impact of religion/spirituality (R/S) on the outcome of HIV care in different health settings in rural and urban Zimbabwe with a special focus on adolescent patients
AdmasieSamuel Andreas2018Dynamics of Assertive Unionism in Ethiopia
AebyMichael 2016Zimbabwe's Gruelling Transition: Interim power-sharing and conflict management in Southern Africa
AlterBalz Andrea 2021Back from greener pastures
AmmannCarole2017The Work of State Imageries: Women and the Imageries of the State in Guinea
AngoraKpongbo Etienne2020Population genetic structure and hybridization of schistosomes in schoolchildren in Côte d’Ivoire
BarrattChristopher2017Using Next Generation Sequencing data to estimate the Biodiversity value of the Coastal Forests of East Africa
BekeleDemissie Ferdissa2014Ethnic Decentralization and Negotiating Statehood in Urban Ethiopia: A Case Study of Adama and Hawassa Cities
BobieOwusuaa Adwoa2020Rebranding African, Reclothing Africa: The influence of Emerging Designers in the Production of Aesthetic Cosmopolitanism in Nigerian Fashion Industry
BoehiMelanie2018A South African social garden: people, plants and multispecies histories in the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
BücheleJulia2017Expat Spouses in Kampala, Uganda: An Ethnography of Migration from the Global North
Bueno Bittencourt SilvaGabriela2017Lacuna Mozambique : adding an important piece to the African jigsaw puzzle
BwongBeryl Akoth2017At the crossroads of two biodiversity hotspots : the biogeographic patterns of Shimba Hills, Kenya
ChristenAnna2020Walking Together. Perils of Participation in Anthropology and Philosophy of Action. A Case Study in Post-Apartheid South Africa
DietlerDominik2020Impact of mining projects on environmental determinants of health and associated health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: insights for guiding impact assessment practice
DingJin2020China in Africa: Perspectives on development and emergence
DreierMarcel 2015Health Care, Welfare, and Development in Rural Africa: Catholic health services in Ifakara/Tanzania in the 20th century
DumbaughMari2017Influencing Factors on the Utilization of Maternal Health Services and Uptake of Family Planning in the Context of Conditional Cash Transrers, South Kivu, DRC
EngelerMichelle 2013Youth and the State in Guinea: Meandering Lives
ErismannSéverine2017Children’s intestinal parasite and nutritional patterns in face of integrated school garden, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene interventions in central Burkina Faso
FürstThomas2015Assessing morbidity and burden due to neglected tropical diseases at different geographical scales
GeroldJana 2013Full of Life: old age and care in urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
GeuderJacob2020Visualizing Urban Struggles: Video Activism as Utopian Practice
Giustizieri-HaberstrohChristine 2014Writing the City. Narratives of Johannesburg’s Urban Space in Contemporary South African Literature
GonsalvesLianne2020Understanding the role of pharmacies as contraceptive outlets for young people (ages 18-24) in Coastal Kenya
GrolimundAndrea2018Ageing, Agency and Health in Dar es Salaam
GuyerNanina 2015Picturing Secrecy - A History of the Visualization of "Secret Societies" in Historical Photographs from West Africa
HammelTanja2018Shaping Science and Society at the Cape – A Relational History of Mary Elizabeth Barber 
HeerBarbara2015Spaces of Encounter and Unequal Neighbourhoods. A Comparative Ethnography of Agency, Space and Difference in Maputo and Johannesburg
Heitz TokpaKatharina Elisabeth2013Trust and Distrust in Rebel-Held Côte d’Ivoire
HellaJerry2020Understanding the epidemiology and transmission of tuberculosis among adults in rural and urban Tanzania
HellmüllerSara Anna2014Bridging the Gap – Examining Local Dimensions of International Peacebuilding in the DR Congo
HürlimannEveline 2014Effects of parasitic infections on clinical outcomes, self-rated quality of life and physical fitness in Côte d’Ivoire
IndermaurAdrian2016Comparative ecology and phylogeography in east African cichild fishes
JeanRichard-dit-BresselVerena2013Crowding at Lake Chad: An Integrated Approach to Demographic and Health Surveillance of Mobile Pastoralists and Their Animals 
KapindeStephen Asol2020Political Sermons in Kenyas Quest for Democratic Governance between 1986 and 2010: A case Study of the selected sermons from the three Anglican Clergy
KaufmannAndrea 2013Spaces of Imagination Associational Life and the State in Post-War, Urban Liberia
KeitelKristina2017e-POCT: Improving health outcomes of febrile childresn in Tanzania through innovative point-of-care technologies at the primary care level
KesselringRita 2013Bodies of Truth. Law, Memory, and Emancipation in Post-Apartheid South Africa
KrenzJuliane2019Land degradation and Carbon erosion in Southern Africa
LarsenMaren2020Worlding Home: Peacekeepers, Camp Space, and Urbanity in Goma, DRC
LaubeAnne2018The Organisation of Violence in the Actions of the Lord’s Resistance Army
LiedtkeHans Christoph2014The Evolution of Terrestrial Breeding in African Amphibians
LudwigSusann2018La chance: En Ethnography. University Graduates making Sense of Uncertainty in Bamako, Mali
Luthra SinhaBobby2016A Comparative Interpretation of Peoples’ Movements: Actors, Evolving Consciousness and Democratic Imagination in India and South Africa
MassueDennis2019Long-Lasting Insecticide Treated Bed Net (LLINs) for malaria control in Tanzania: Barriers to physical and chemical protection
MbiloCéline2021Rabies Epidemiology in DR Congo and Chad 
MerronJames2017Travelling technologies of the environment: Knowledges of water management and the transformation of land in South Africa
MhaluGrace2019Identifying community determinants of health seeking behaviour and the contribution of socio-cultural and gender aspects to improve tuberculosis case detection in Tanzania
MhlangaShakuntala2020An epidemiological cohort study of children and adolescents investigating neurobehavioural effects from pesticide exposure and e-media use in South Africa
MichelJanet2021Towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC) policy roll-out experience in South Africa : how and why policy-practice gaps come about in a UHC context
MlotshwaLangelihle2019Exploring incident HIV in Pregnant Women and Sexual Risk Behaviours and Practices in Soweto, South Africa
MoreillonOlivier2017Reading the Post-Apartheid City. Urbanite and Capetonian Literary Topographies in Selected Texts Beyond 2000
NambuusiBetty Bukenya2019Assessing the effects of interventions on child and maternal health-related outcomes in Uganda
OderindePeter Ayoola2020The role of Internet in migrants’ Christianity: A case study of Nigerian Pentecostal churches in Switzerland
Osei-BonsuVictoria Amma Agyeiwaah2018Representations of the African Other in Selected Works of Joseph Conrad
OwusuHenry  Frimpong2016Insecticide Resistance Monitoring – a review of current methodology
PhilippsJoschka2016Crystallizing Contention. A cumulative dissertation on youth, politics, and urban violence in Conakry, Kampala, and beyond
Posluschny-TreunerMyra2017Land grabbing or an essential move towards development? A case study of Ethiopia
RenggliSabine2017Promoting Universal Health Coverage in Tanzania: An Evaluation of the Initiative to Strengthen Affordability and Quality of Health Care (ISAQH)
RighettiAurélie A. 2014Aetiology of anaemia and public health implications in the Taabo health demographic surveillance system, south-central Côte d’Ivoire 
RubliSandra 2014Transitional Justice and State-Formation in Burundi
SambaigaRichard Faustine 2013Sexual inter-subjectivity and the quest for social well-being : an ethnographic inquiry of adolescent sexuality in urban Southern Tanzania
SanogoAïdas2019Corruption, conflict and cities in West and East Africa
SarrKhadeeja "Haddy"2021Narratives of Identity, Multi-Sited Biographies, and Transnational Life-Modes of Highly Qualified Migrants. Senegambia Migrants in Switzerland and Swiss Migrants in Senegambia
SchicketanzNicolas 2015A History of Teacher Training Colleges in South Africa and the Effects of Teacher Training on Identity Formation
SchmidPascal 2013Medicine, Faith and Politics in Agogo. A history of health care delivery in rural Ghana, ca 1925 to 1980
SchultzSabine2017The Game of Personal Politics or How to Rule a Kingdom. The State of Affairs in Rey Bouba/North-East Cameroon.
SchwarzJoëlle2021Youth sexuality education and utilisation of reproductive health services in the African Great Lakes region
SchwärzlerPatricia 2014“ De nos jours, chacun fait ce qu’il veut ” ? Dynamiques des relations sociales  et pratiques sexuelles  dans le contexte du VIH/sida  à Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 
SsempiraJulius2018Bayesian spatial-temporal modeling of malaria risk in Uganda during 2009-2016, and the effect of control interventions and health system strengthening
StaudacherSandra2019Cosmopolitan Aging in Urban Zanzibar: Elderhood, Health and Transnational Care Spaces Related to Oman
SutherlandClaudette Simone2016An elimination investment case (EIC) for human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) Trypanosoma brucei (T.b.) gambiense (“sleeping sickness”)
TarrNatalie2020Interpreting the Administration: Burkina Faso's Courts in Translation
ThiamSokhna2017Spatial analysis of diarrhoea and environmental risk factors in an urban context in Senegal, West Africa
TibaijukaAlbert2016Multinational Mines and Communities of Place: Revisiting the Stakeholder Dialogue Discourse from Geita, Tanzania
UnseldFrederik2020Making Art Work: Articulating Art and Urban Marginality in Kisumu, Kenya
WingateVladimir2017Terrestrial ecosystem change monitoring: Satellite remote sensing the Namibian savannah biomes in the context of the global carbon cycle and local livelihoods
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