9th PÉCS AFRICAN STUDIES CONFERENCE
April 28-29, 2025 – University of Pécs Vargha Damján Hall, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
PROGRAMME
April 28, Monday
09:30 – 10:00 Onsite registration (Vargha Damján Conference Hall, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6) and welcome coffee
10:00 – 10:30 Welcome addresses
10:30 – 11:15 Keynote lecture / Ian Taylor Memorial Lecture:
Dr. Dominik Kopiński (PL), Chinese Investment in Africa: Beyond Eurocentric Lens followed by a Q&A until 11:30
Dominik Kopiński is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Economics, University of Wroclaw, where he heads the Department of International Economic Relations. He is a co-founder of the Polish Centre for African Studies. His research focuses on economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa, foreign direct investment, development aid, resource policy, and China-Africa relations. He has conducted field research in Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zambia. His work has been published in leading academic journals, including African Affairs, Global Governance, Third World Quarterly, and the Journal of Southern African Studies. His most recent edited volume is The Political Economy of Chinese FDI and Spillover Effects in Africa (Palgrave, 2023).
In this memorial lecture, Dr. Dominik Kopiński challenges conventional understandings of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by exploring its complex and often overlooked dimensions in the Global South. Drawing on field research and empirical evidence from Chinese firms operating in Zambia and Angola, the lecture critically examines how Western-centric definitions and theories of FDI fail to capture the diverse realities of investment practices in Africa.
The lecture interrogates the conceptual limitations of traditional FDI frameworks—particularly the assumptions embedded in
OECD and IMF definitions—and highlights how South–South flows, especially from China, defy these categories. Dr. Kopiński explores forms of investment that fall outside classic FDI metrics, such as infrastructure construction financed by state-owned enterprises, small-scale diasporaled ventures, and sovereign wealth fund engagements. These cases illustrate how capital flows often bypass formal FDI channels, yet exert significant developmental influence.
Beyond empirical analysis, the lecture engages with broader decolonial critiques in economics, advocating for epistemic pluralism and the inclusion of perspectives from the Global South. Concepts like “conceptual Eurocentrism” and “reciprocal comparison” are discussed as tools for rethinking how we understand economic development, firm behavior, and international investment.
This lecture invites scholars and policymakers to rethink global capital flows, question the universality of Western economic categories, and consider how re-centering marginalized perspectives can lead to more inclusive and accurate economic theory and policy.
| 11:30 – 12:50 Panel 1 |
Chair: István Tarrósy (HU)
The Sahel Region within the Changing World Order
11:30 – 11:45 Zoltán Vörös (HU): China in the Sahel
11:45 – 12:00 Danilo Lorenzo S. Delos Santos (PHIL): War Minerals, Energy, and the Sahel Region’s Importance to Global Order
12:00 – 12:15 Nóra Hanna Csőke (HU): The Geopolitical Basis of the “Alliance of Sahel States” Cooperation
12:15 – 12:30 Samat Kozhobaev (KG): Russian Gambit – Geopolitical Spillover from Syria to Sahel
12:30 – 12:50 Q&A debate
12:50 – 14:00 buffet lunch
| 14:00 – 15:00 Panel 2 |
Chair: Zoltán Vörös (HU)
Dynamics within the Horn of Africa
14:00 – 14:15 Yonas Ashine Demisse (ETH): The Geopolitics of Regionalism in the Horn of Africa
14:15 – 14:30 Zelalem T. Gebreegzabher (ETH): Maritime Insecurity in the Horn: The Perspective from Ethiopia
14:30 – 14:45 Bayuligne Zemedeagegnehu Bahru (ETH): Ethiopia’s Security Challenges in the Horn of Africa
14:45 – 15:00 Q&A debate
| 15:00 – 16:00 Panel 3 |
Chair: Dániel Solymári (HU)
Human rights, Africa and external f/actors
15:00 – 15:15 Pamela Chemelil (KE): EU–Ethiopia Partnership in Human Rights and Civilian Protection Following the Tigray Conflict
15:15 – 15:30 Ayoub El Alaoui (MO): EU Human Rights Initiatives for South Sudan Throughout and After the Civil War
15:30 – 15:45 Melinda Szappanyos (HU): Human Rights Diplomacy of the EU in Africa – What Does It Say, What Does It Do and What Does It Mean?
15:45 – 16:00 Fabiola Stephanie Todisoa (MD): Climate Change Undermines Human Rights
16:00 – 16:15 Réka Brigitta Szaniszló (HU): Humanitarian Crises in International Relations: What Is Happening in Eastern Congo?
16:15 – 16:40 Q&A debate
16:40 – 17:00 coffee break
| 17:00 – 18:00 Panel 4 |
Chair: Akbarali Thobhani (USA)
MSU Denver’s Current Initiatives in Rwanda and Morocco
17:00 – 17:20 Andrea Maestrejuan (USA): Global Environmental Crises, Challenges, and Responses: The Case of Morocco
17:20 – 17:40 John Rief (USA) & Jean Michel Habineza (RW): IDebate Rwanda: Post-Genocide Generation(s), Global Dialogue, and the Cultivation of Democratic Culture
17:40 – 18:00 Q&A debate
April 29, Monday
| 09:00 – 10:00 Panel 5 |
Chair: Réka Brigitta Szaniszló (HU)
External relations
09:00 – 09:15 Viktor Marsai (HU): Continuity or Change? – The Perspectives of US Africa Policy under the Second Trump Administration
09:15 – 09:30 István Tarrósy (HU): Africa’s External Relations with the Two Koreas
09:30 – 09:45 Dániel Solymári (HU): Break the Silence – The Rebirth of the Hungarian Presence in Africa after 1990
09:45 – 10:00 Q&A debate
| 10:00 – 11:45 Panel 6 |
Chair: Viktor Marsai (HU)
Migration
10:00 – 10:15 Ons Chaabane (FR): Migration Crisis in Tunisia
10:15 – 10:30 Hajer Trabelsi (TN): The New Gateway to Europe: Tunisia as an Emerging Transit Hub for Sub-Saharan Migrants
10:30 – 10:45 Imen Khemakhem (TN): Paradoxes of Democratization: Migration Governance and Human Rights Challenges in PostArab Spring Tunisia
10:45 – 11:00 Aadi Rajesh (IN): Parallel Societies and Challenges for Integration of Indian migrants in East Africa, with a focus on Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania
11:00 – 11:15 Márk Palócz (HU): Hungarian Émigrés in South Africa
11:15 – 11:45 Q&A debate
11:45 – 12:45 buffet lunch
| 12:45 – 14:00 Panel 7 |
Chair: Márk Palócz (HU)
Human security and development issues
12:45 – 13:00 Tibor Pintér (HU): Why Is It Difficult to Defeat the Mozambican Jihadist Organisation in Cabo Delgado?
13:00 – 13:15 Míra Rana Hussein (HU): The Heritage of Timbuktu – The Importance of Cultural Heritage Protection in the Sahel Region
13:15 – 13:30 Arthur Muhia (KN): Role of Kiswahili-English Spoken Word Poetry in Rise of the 2024 Gen Z Protests Against Patrimonial Political Culture in Kenya
13:30 – 13:45 Chi Thuy Nguyen (VT): E-Citizenship and Digital Identity in Africa: Comparative Lessons from South Korea’s Governance Reforms
13:45 – 14:00 Rovatiana Salema Andrianasolomahefa (MD): Evaluation of the Relative Efficiency of the 22 Regional Directorates of National Education (DREN) Based on CEPE Results Using the DEA Method in Madagascar
14:00 Closing of the conference