AFRICA AND LSE
Shaping a new agenda for impact
INTRODUCTION
The London School of Economics and Political Science first opened its doors in 1895 with 200 students taking classes in rented classrooms. In the 130 years since, we’ve grown considerably.
Our worldwide community now includes more than 240,000 alumni who shape and contribute to every aspect of society. Twenty-one Nobel prize winners and more than 50 world leaders – 10 of whom have led African nations – have worked or studied with us. Our research and teaching are consistently ranked among the best globally, and our lively and inviting campus in the heart of London is home to students and faculty from around the world.
Today, the students we educate and the groundbreaking research we produce helps more communities and people than our founders could have ever imagined. But our core mission remains the same: “to know the causes of things, for the betterment of society.”
LSE has benefited greatly from the intellect, insight, passion, and creativity of Africans who have chosen to work and study with us – many of whom have gone on to shape the continent and the world as leaders and innovators in government, business, education, research, and more. We are a global university to the core, and the opportunity to know, learn from, and work alongside our colleagues from African nations enriches the experience of everyone connected with the School.
The challenges faced by and the opportunities available to African communities are central to work and teaching happening across LSE, especially through the work of the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa (FLIA) and the Programme for African Leadership (PfAL), not to mention through our partnerships with universities and other institutions across Africa.
While there is much to be proud of, we are eager to build on these strong foundations and deepen our ties with Africa. We want to attract more of the brightest African students to study with us, widen our collaborative partnerships with African institutions, and strengthen our commitment to Africa in our research. Together, we are shaping a brighter future for all.
Professor Larry Kramer
LSE President and Vice Chancellor
INTRODUCTION
The London School of Economics and Political Science first opened its doors in 1895 with 200 students taking classes in rented classrooms. In the 130 years since, we’ve grown considerably.
Our worldwide community now includes more than 240,000 alumni who shape and contribute to every aspect of society. Twenty-one Nobel prize winners and more than 50 world leaders – 10 of whom have led African nations – have worked or studied with us. Our research and teaching are consistently ranked among the best globally, and our lively and inviting campus in the heart of London is home to students and faculty from around the world.
Today, the students we educate and the groundbreaking research we produce helps more communities and people than our founders could have ever imagined. But our core mission remains the same: “to know the causes of things, for the betterment of society.”
LSE has benefited greatly from the intellect, insight, passion, and creativity of Africans who have chosen to work and study with us – many of whom have gone on to shape the continent and the world as leaders and innovators in government, business, education, research, and more. We are a global university to the core, and the opportunity to know, learn from, and work alongside our colleagues from African nations enriches the experience of everyone connected with the School.
The challenges faced by and the opportunities available to African communities are central to work and teaching happening across LSE, especially through the work of the Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa (FLIA) and the Programme for African Leadership (PfAL), not to mention through our partnerships with universities and other institutions across Africa.
While there is much to be proud of, we are eager to build on these strong foundations and deepen our ties with Africa. We want to attract more of the brightest African students to study with us, widen our collaborative partnerships with African institutions, and strengthen our commitment to Africa in our research. Together, we are shaping a brighter future for all.
Professor Larry Kramer
LSE President and Vice Chancellor
LSE ALUMNI SHAPING AFRICA
Over the course of the past century, many prominent African leaders, thinkers and innovators have shaped the life and history of our School before shaping the history of their continent. Their ideas and perspectives are part of the LSE story – as will be those of many more African
students in the decades to come.
World leaders
Sylvanus Olympio
B Commerce 1925
First President of Togo 1961-1963
Kwame Nkrumah
PhD 1946 (did not complete)
First President of Ghana 1960-1966
Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo
LLB 1948
First President of Mauritius 1992
Jomo Kenyatta
ADA 1936
First President of Kenya 1964-1978
Mwai Kibaki
BSc Economics 1959
President of Kenya 2002-2013
John Atta Mills
LLM 1968
President of Ghana 2009-2012
Yemi Osinbajo
LLM 1981
Vice President of Nigeria 2015-2023
Navinchandra Ramgoolam
LLB 1990
Prime Minister of Mauritius 1995-
2000, 2005-2014, 2024-present
Business and media leaders
Firoz Lalji
BSc Economics 1969
Board Chair and co-founder of Zones, Inc.
Shaping the World Campaign Co-Chair
Bolaji Balogun
BSc Economics 1989
CEO of Chapel Hill Denham Group
President, LSE Alumni Assoc. of Nigeria
Nima Elgabir
BSc Philosophy 2001
CNN’s Chief International Investigative Correspondent
Award-winning Sudanese journalist
Ritesh Doshi
BSc Management 2001
CEO of Spring Valley Coffee
Rolake Akinkugbe-Filani
BSc Government 2001
MSc International Relations 2003
CEO of EnergyInc Advisors
BusinessWeek Anchor, Arise News
Public servants and civil society leaders
Annie Jiagge
LLB 1950
Judge, Ghana High Court 1961-69
First Commonwealth female judge
Kader Asmal
LLB 1962, LLM 1964
South African politician and anti-apartheid organiser
Betty Mould-Iddrisu
LLM 1978
Attorney General and Minister for
Justice of Ghana 2009 – 2011
Minister for Education 2011-2012
Pierre Sané
MSc Public Policy & Admin. 1986
Secretary General of Amnesty
International 1992-2001
UNESCO Assistant Director-General
2001-2010
Dapo Akande
LLM 1994
Member of UN International Law
Commission 2023-2027
Chidi Odinkalu
PhD Law 2008
Chairman of Nigeria’s National
Human Right Commission 2011-2015
Ibijoke Faborode
Exec MSc Social Business and
Entrepreneurship 2021
Nigerian women’s rights activist
CEO of ElectHER
Honorary doctorates
Navi Pillay
South African jurist
Former UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Nigerian economist
Director-General of the World
Trade Organization
LSE Alumni Networks in Africa
More than 3,500 LSE alumni are shaping the world as leaders and innovators in communities across Africa, tackling complex challenges and leading governments, businesses and organisations throughout the continent. LSE’s alumni networks are volunteer-run communities that bring together LSE graduates connected by geography, profession, and passion to help one another pursue their ambitions and to collaborate on solutions to local, national and global challenges.
National alumni associations connect alumni locally to network, offer advice and guidance, and discuss the issues relevant to their communities. Professional and inclusion networks bring together alumni around the world with shared interests and perspectives to support one another and LSE
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National Alumni Associations |
Professional and Inclusion Networks |
|---|---|
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Egypt |
Banking & Finance |
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Ghana |
Black Alumni |
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Kenya |
Economics |
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Mauritius |
Health |
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Nigeria |
Law |
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South Africa |
LGBTQ+ |
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Uganda |
Policy |
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Zimbabwe |
Real Estate |
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Sustainability |
|
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Women Alumni |
Events for LSE Alumni
National alumni groups across the continent host regular events throughout the year, including annual Global Networking Nights, Global Days of Volunteering, and Welcome to the City events for recent graduates.
Global Networking Night 2025 in Port Louis, Mauritius
Global Networking Night 2025 in Port Louis, Mauritius
Global Networking Night 2022 in Accra, Ghana
Global Networking Night 2022 in Accra, Ghana
Global Networking Night 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya
Global Networking Night 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya
Global Networking Night 2024 in Lagos, Nigeria
Global Networking Night 2024 in Lagos, Nigeria
Welcome to the City 2022 in Cairo, Egypt
Welcome to the City 2022 in Cairo, Egypt
Global Networking Night 2024 in Abuja, Nigeria
Global Networking Night 2024 in Abuja, Nigeria
My biggest wish is for LSE to drive conversation, to drive change, to drive impact in every sector, every industry in the world... We’re looking to engage with you, and we can’t wait to have you around to share ideas and to help us become bigger and better.
Aishat Ibrahim
MSc Development Studies 2016
LSE Alumni Regional Liaison Committee member, Africa
AFRICA AT THE HEART OF LSE
LSE’s Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa (FLIA), established in 2016, is a permanent institute that empowers an innovative, interdisciplinary and international community to investigate the biggest challenges facing Africa and the world.
Drawing together more than 100 academics from across the School, it strengthens LSE’s commitment to placing Africa at the heart of global debates. In 2026, FLIA is celebrating 10 years as one of the world’s most vital hubs of rigorous research, teaching and policy engagement on Africa.
Professor in Practice and FLIA Strategic Director Professor David Luke and other LSE representatives met with Nigerian Vice President H.E. Kashim Shettima in 2024.
Professor in Practice and FLIA Strategic Director Professor David Luke and other LSE representatives met with Nigerian Vice President H.E. Kashim Shettima in 2024.
FLIA’s world-leading research is produced in collaboration with partners across the continent and has direct policy implications for governments, intergovernmental organisations and NGOs. Based on empirical evidence and thorough analysis, its targeted policy campaigns strive to make real impact through clear recommendations. Major research and engagement programmes hosted at FLIA include:
Africa Trade Policy Programme
The Programme aims to make trade policy work better for Africa. It brings together international expertise to help African countries to better leverage trade as a vehicle for inclusive development by evaluating and shaping trade policies across the continent. The Programme team has extensive experience in working with countries, development partners and international organisations across trade policy research, design, innovation and implementation.
Highlights from the 2024 Sudanese Women Leadership in Global Uncertainty gathering in Cairo, Egypt
Sudanese Women's Leadership in Global Uncertainty
This project was launched in response to the humanitarian crisis triggered by the 2023 conflict in Sudan. Led by FLIA’s Dr Souad Mohamed, the current phase of the project examines the lived realities, leadership challenges and aspirations of Sudanese women navigating displacement and uncertainty in order to equip displaced women with the tools to rebuild their lives and contribute to the social and economic resilience of their communities. These insights shaped the pilot programme delivered for displaced Sudanese women in Cairo, Egypt.
Centre for Public Authority and International Development (CPAID)
The recently-concluded CPAID conducted interdisciplinary research to broaden our understanding of the realities of governance, especially as it is understood and experienced in the everyday lives of ordinary people. CPAID research projects included:
- Documenting the origins of modern local government in Uganda in the Resistance Councils established during the country’s Bush War.
- Exploring how political authority is developed and maintained in high-conflict areas of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- Analysing how advances in data collection and evidence systems are shaping the policymaking process in Kenya.
- Examining whether humanitarian protection efforts in South Sudan may serve to further entrench unequal power structures.
Alongside other publications, a series of CPAID-commissioned comics use real-life stories to show how different, and often competing, public authorities affect people’s everyday lives.
Alongside other publications, a series of CPAID-commissioned comics use real-life stories to show how different, and often competing, public authorities affect people’s everyday lives.
The quality of scholarship on Africa at LSE stands out, demonstrated by both the breadth of research output and its tangible impact.
Professor David Luke
BSc Industrial Relations 1977, MSc Industrial Relations and Personnel Management 1978
Professor in Practice and FLIA Strategic Director
FLIA is named for Firoz Lalji, whose transformational generosity in support of Africa-focused teaching and research at LSE enabled the creation of the Programme for African Leadership (PfAL) in 2010 and the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa – which later developed into FLIA – in 2016.
Born and raised in Uganda, Firoz came to the UK to study economics at LSE, earning a bachelor’s degree from the School in 1969. He returned to Uganda after completing his studies but was forced to leave again shortly thereafter when dictator Idi Amin expelled Ugandans of Asian descent from the country in 1972. He would later go on to build and run multiple successful businesses in North America, including Kits Cameras, Zones, Inc. and the Fana Group.
Together with his wife Najma and their family, Firoz’s generosity has played a leading role in shaping the present and future trajectory of the School and creating life-changing opportunities for African students and researchers at LSE. In addition to helping create PfAL and FLIA, they established the Firoz and Najma Foundation Scholarship for master’s students from Uganda and Belize.
Their most recent gift, an extraordinary commitment of £25 million, has laid the foundation of the Firoz Lalji Global Hub, a state-of-the-art space for teaching, learning and community engagement that will be LSE’s first net zero carbon building and serve as the new permanent home of FLIA.
EMPOWERING THE NEXT GENERATION OF AFRICAN LEADERS
LSE brings together students from all around the world who are passionate about making a positive impact through the social sciences and empowers them with the skills and understanding needed to become leaders and innovators in their communities.
The Programme for African Leadership (PfAL), hosted by FLIA, is a unique programme that brings together future African leaders and innovators in an extra-curricular programme focused on leadership development and networking. It empowers a new generation of African leaders to promote best practices of global economic and social development in any community, organisation or country, with specific focus on the African continent. PfAL welcomed its first cohort to LSE’s campus in 2012 and has helped launch the careers of more than 1,000 African changemakers who now form a continent-wide network of impact.
Throughout their time at the School, LSE graduate students participating in PfAL work collaboratively on projects aimed at solving complex problems, debate and discuss issues facing the African continent and Africans today, attend talks led by an array of business leaders and political figures, and receive in-depth leadership training. PfAL hosts regular events at LSE throughout the academic year, including a twice-annual Ubuntu cafe and a programme of student-led debates on key topics and issues facing African communities.
Speakers at the 2024 LSE Africa Summit
Speakers at the 2024 LSE Africa Summit
The LSE Africa Summit is an annual student-led conference that promotes debate around the continent’s contemporary challenges and opportunities. Since 2014, the Summit has gathered renowned scholars, leading politicians, changemakers, activists and forward-thinking entrepreneurs to provide a unique platform for sharing ideas and nurturing relationships that translate into meaningful action. The Summit is among the biggest events of its kind in Europe.
The 2026 LSE Africa Summit, titled ‘Artificial Intelligence in Africa,’ will explore the ways that AI might impact governance, economics, the environment and humanitarian work on the continent. Discussions will focus on critical issues such as trade dynamics, climate challenges, and economic dependencies, highlighting how AI will transform the continent. The Summit will address diverse perspectives, emphasising the role of collaboration and inclusive policies in shaping sustainable solutions for the future.
100 AFRICAN SCHOLARS AT LSE
Students from nations across the African continent make a lasting impact on the School and the lives of their classmates, but they remain underrepresented at LSE.
The School is committed to providing opportunities for talented African student passionate about shaping the world for the better, regardless of their financial circumstances.
In 2021, with lead support from LSE alumnus Jules Green, we announced a goal to secure 100 African scholarships supported through philanthropy every year. The continued support of our alumni and friends will help us make this vision a reality.
Master’s students Dabri, Jerry and Fauziyya share their views on why scholarship opportunities are so important for African students at LSE.
Scholarship opportunities for African students are so important because Africans have so much to offer. It’s been my lifelong dream to come to LSE and I’ve nurtured it for a very long time, but up until [I received my scholarship], I had no idea how I was going to realise that dream.
Fauziyya Tukur
MSc Media, Communication and Development 2025
African Endowment Fund Scholar
RESEARCH FUELLING
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Economic growth and development are among the most powerful engines available to any nation to improve the standard of living of its citizens.
LSE’s International Growth Centre (IGC), a project based at the School and conducted in partnership with the University of Oxford, works with policymakers in developing countries to promote inclusive and sustainable growth through pathbreaking research conducted on the ground by country-based teams located around the world, including in eight African nations.
The following are a selection of IGC projects being carried out across East Africa.
Ethiopia
An IGC study conducted in Ethiopia’s Sidama region sheds light on the economic implications of Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) on smallholder coffee farmers. Ethiopia relies heavily on coffee for its economy, with the sector contributing a significant portion of the country’s export earnings and supporting a large portion of the population.
IGC researchers found that, while smallhold coffee farmers in the region with VSS certifications such as Fairtrade and Organic see noticeable benefits in the price of their coffee and the income of their farm, it also found a need for greater institutional support to help farmers overcome the short-term costs associated with certification in order to reap the long-term benefits of selling VSS-certified coffee.
Uganda
Since 2017, IGC has collaborated with Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development to convene the annual Economic Growth Forum. The Forum brings together senior government officials, development partners, academia and the private sector to explore how Uganda can enhance its competitiveness and sustain long-term growth amidst a rapidly evolving global economic landscape, with insights feeding into the national budget strategy.
Key themes of the Forum include fiscal and export resilience, industrial transformation, green growth opportunities, improving public investment efficiency, mobilising domestic savings, and unlocking productivity through innovation and regional integration.
Rwanda
IGC’s team based in Rwanda sought to understand why so many large buyers and multinational firms in the country choose to import goods rather than sourcing them from domestic suppliers. Researchers conducted a survey in collaboration with the Rwanda Development Board of 189 firms in Kigali, including both buyers and suppliers, to understand the barriers faced by each.
Common concerns included the price of domestic supplies, unclear expectations regarding quality, and a simple lack of information about relevant local options – more than 95 per cent of firms surveyed indicated interest in participating in an IGC-led matching programme for domestic buyers and suppliers.
Tanzania
Tax revenue is crucial for governments to provide essential services and invest in the infrastructure, security and incentives that enable and fuel economic growth. But many states, including Tanzania, struggle to collect tax effectively due to low compliance, prevalence of informal markets and limited resources for enforcement.
IGC collaborated with the Tanzania Revenue Authority to create enhanced digital tools to help gather and analyse tax information to improve collection and provide the public services needed for sustainable economic growth.
Kenya
Understanding the constraints on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is essential to creating policies that foster economic growth. But the information gathered about business growth constraints has traditionally focused on larger and more formal enterprises, leaving a gap in the data focused on SMEs and entrepreneurs.
The Kenya Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives and IGC partnered to survey these smaller enterprises about their business experiences and constraints, with the goal of using the results to help shape the country’s industrial strategy.
Communities in Africa know that education holds the key to critical thinking and knowledge-based solutions. In a world that is closing in and increasingly excluding Africa, LSE educational partnerships with Africa enable ‘value-add leadership’ and have the potential for global intergenerational impact.
Dr. Musimbi Kanyoro
Independent Member of LSE Council
Former President and CEO of Global Fund for Women
LSE AND AFRICA SOLVING GLOBAL CHALLENGES
We are living in a decisive moment for humankind and our planet, in which we face evolving global challenges that communities are grappling with at the local, national and international levels. The following are just a few examples of the ways that LSE is working with African communities to build durable responses to urgent global challenges.
Democracy
South Africa’s Political Party Funding Act (PPFA), which came into effect in 2021, aimed to increase transparency around the donations that political parties receive to strengthen public faith in the electoral system. But how effective has the PPFA been in improving trust in South Africa’s democracy – and what effect have subsequent amendments to the law had on public perception?
Forthcoming research from Dr Sarah Brierley and Dr Daniel De Kadt aims to understand how the PPFA has shaped voter attitudes and trust in elections among the South African electorate.
Political Economy
How do food security, trade policy and climate change interact and influence one another in the African context? How Africa Eats: Trade, Food Security and Climate Risk, a new book edited by Professor in Practice and FLIA Strategic Director Professor David Luke and published by LSE Press, seeks to answer this and other questions at the heart of food security across the continent.
Professor Luke and his collaborators were driven to understand how, in a world which produces enough food to feed everyone, one fifth of Africans are experiencing malnutrition.
Sustainability
The Women Entrepreneurs in Climate Change Adaptation (WECCA) project – a collaboration between LSE’s Grantham Research Institute for Climate Change and the Environment (GRI), IED-Afrique and Kenya Markets Trust – investigates the specific barriers to climate change adaptation faced by female-led businesses in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on Kenya and Senegal.
WECCA's goal is to identify gender-specific pathways to supporting women entrepreneurs, who often face additional barriers to adaptation and business development, including limited access to land, finance, educational opportunities and other relevant assets.
New Technologies
The Zambia Evidence Lab is a partnership between IGC and Zambia’s Ministry of Finance and National Planning helping the Zambian government make better, more strategic use of the data it collects to set clearer policy
priorities, monitor progress, and identify new opportunities for reform.
The Lab aims to improve the quality of data available to government ministries, create summaries and interactive dashboards to make data easier to analyse and interpret, identify opportunities to integrate automation and AI tools into workflows, and provide training for civil servants.
Inequalities
Through a recent collaboration, five African Fellows at LSE's Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity have examined how historical legacies, power dynamics and systemic inequalities shape development funding across the African continent, culminating in a new open-access book titled Reclaiming Africa’s Development Narrative.
This collection of essays amplifies African voices, proposes more equitable funding models and reimagines philanthropy and resource mobilisation in ways that empower African communities and organisations.
Shaping the World
The social sciences are essential to enable societies in Africa and around the globe to understand and navigate these developments. As the world’s foremost social science university, LSE is playing a leading role in understanding these challenges and developing the solutions that will help shape a better world for all.
Through our Shaping the World Campaign, we are bringing together LSE faculty, students, alumni, friends and partners to fuel the research and learning that will help communities in Africa and around the world
HELP US ACHIEVE MORE, TOGETHER
African staff and scholars are already leading the charge in addressing the biggest challenges facing our world today, generating new thinking and ideas that are driving change.
We invite our African alumni, friends and partners to join us as we deepen our engagement across the continent — accelerating progress, expanding our connections, and strengthening the impact we can achieve with Africa and the world.
Whether through philanthropic support, collaborative research, student opportunities, policy engagement, or sharing expertise and networks, there are many ways to work with us to shape lasting change.
We warmly welcome further discussion of areas of our work that are of particular interest to you and to explore bespoke opportunities for partnership.
To learn more and discuss opportunities to get involved, please contact:
Ikenna Acholonu
Philanthropy Manager
Email: I.Acholonu@lse.ac.uk
Sarah Cook
Director of Leadership Philanthropy
Email: S.J.Cook@lse.ac.uk
Daisy Jones
Alumni Engagement Regional and Thematic Lead
Email: D.C.Jones@lse.ac.uk
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