Bob Wekesa
Dr Bob Wekesa is acting director and research and communications coordinator at the African Centre for the Study of the United States based at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nairobi and Master’s and doctoral degrees from the Communication University of China, Beijing. His area of teaching, research and public engagement is the intersection of journalism, media, and communications on the one hand and geopolitics, diplomacy and foreign policy on the other. He supervises post-graduate projects in these fields. His current research work includes international communication; diplomacy with a focus digital and public diplomacy; African diaspora; the internationalisation of African cities; the geopolitics of Africa and established and emerging powers. Prof Wekesa is well published in academic and popular platforms.
Editorial – Bob Wekesa

Editorial – Bob Wekesa

This issue of Africa in Fact is part of a broader initiative aimed at shedding light on the competition between the US and China in the African digital sphere.

The battle for hearts and minds

The battle for hearts and minds

The United States and China have engaged in intense geopolitical competition in Africa since the turn of the millennium, which has seen tons of ink spilt in the media on this matter, as well as on intellectual and academic platforms. But what is often not appreciated is the increasing sophistication of the battle between the […]

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Editor’s note: A new vision for Africa?

Editor’s note: A new vision for Africa?

This special edition of Africa in Fact provides perspectives on wide-ranging Africa-US intersections. The authors were part of the many virtual sessions convened throughout 2020 as webinars became a media platform of choice for a world blasted by a pandemic like no...

Refining African policies towards the US

Refining African policies towards the US

A call for an African policy framework for its relations with America

This article argues the case for an African policy framework with regards to the United States of America, as a strategic approach to redressing the many areas of asymmetry in relations. The absence of a coherent African policy or policies towards the US, against the background of past American policies towards Africa, is partly accountable for Africa’s poor socioeconomic performance vis-à-vis the US.

African Union Executive Council at AU headquarters , Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2017. Photo: Government ZA

Editorial: The old and new African diaspora

Editorial: The old and new African diaspora

The articles in this special issue are derived from a virtual activity lasting just over five months between May and October 2020. Dubbed the Old and New African Diaspora: Before and After COVID-19, the series of activities kicked off with a half-day virtual...

Playing both sides to win

Playing both sides to win

Africa is a just a political pawn in China and Japan’s superpower rivalry; the continent needs to up its game strategically to benefit from the Asian nations’ need for its political backing, and resources The growing geopolitical competition between China and Japan...

Bob Wekesa
Dr Bob Wekesa is acting director and research and communications coordinator at the African Centre for the Study of the United States based at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nairobi and Master’s and doctoral degrees from the Communication University of China, Beijing. His area of teaching, research and public engagement is the intersection of journalism, media, and communications on the one hand and geopolitics, diplomacy and foreign policy on the other. He supervises post-graduate projects in these fields. His current research work includes international communication; diplomacy with a focus digital and public diplomacy; African diaspora; the internationalisation of African cities; the geopolitics of Africa and established and emerging powers. Prof Wekesa is well published in academic and popular platforms.
The battle for hearts and minds

The battle for hearts and minds

The United States and China have engaged in intense geopolitical competition in Africa since the turn of the millennium, which has seen tons of ink spilt in the media on this matter, as well as on intellectual and academic platforms. But what is often not appreciated...

Refining African policies towards the US

Refining African policies towards the US

A call for an African policy framework for its relations with America

This article argues the case for an African policy framework with regards to the United States of America, as a strategic approach to redressing the many areas of asymmetry in relations. The absence of a coherent African policy or policies towards the US, against the background of past American policies towards Africa, is partly accountable for Africa’s poor socioeconomic performance vis-à-vis the US.

African Union Executive Council at AU headquarters , Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2017. Photo: Government ZA

Playing both sides to win

Playing both sides to win

Africa is a just a political pawn in China and Japan’s superpower rivalry; the continent needs to up its game strategically to benefit from the Asian nations’ need for its political backing, and resources The growing geopolitical competition between China and Japan...