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5th Anniversary Conference of the Competence Center for African Research (CCAR)

African Futures in Transition:
Ethics at the Crossroads of Decolonization, Digitalization, and Decarbonization

November 19 – 22, 2025
University of St.Gallen, Switzerland

Organized by Prof. Nadia Mazouz (ETH Zürich) & Dr. Thierry Ngosso (University of St.Gallen/CCAR)

Registration:

Rose Wangui Kimotho

 

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5th Anniversary Conference of the Competence Center for African Research (CCAR) - program

Room 01-013

15:15-15:30

  • Welcome by Nadia Mazouz (ETH Zürich) & Thierry Ngosso (University of St.Gallen/CCAR)

15:30-17:30

  • Roundtable: Ancestral Remains, Artifacts, and other Objects/Subjects: Restitution as a Practice of Decolonization
  • Panelists:
    • Nadja Germann (University of Freiburg)
    • Albert Gouaffo (University of Freiburg/University of Dschang)
  • Moderation:
    • Kebene Wodajo (ETH Zürich) & Nadia Mazouz (ETH Zürich)

17:30-18:00

  • Break

18:00-20:00

  • Public Lecture by Ajume Wingo (Boulder University): “Africans in the Shade of Power”
  • Moderation:
    • Thierry Ngosso (University of St.Gallen/CCAR)

Room 58-424

9:30-10:00

  • Official Opening

Session 1: Feminism and Consent
10:00-12:00

  • Panel 1: Sharpening the Focus on Gender Equality: Women, Decolonization, and the Future of Africa
  • Panelists:
    • Dorothy Oluwagbemi-Jacob (University of Hildesheim/University of Calabra): “From Liberation Struggle to Post-Independence Marginalization: Decolonization, an Unfinished Project for African Women”
    • Abosede Priscilla Ipadeola (University of Hildesheim/University of Ibadan): “Diagnosing Patricolonization: Rethinking the Roots of African Women’s Perennial Subjugation”
    • Olajumoke Akiode (Osun State University): “Toward a Gender-Focused Decolonization Agenda for Africa”
    • Lerato Posholi (University of Hildesheim): “African Women’s Epistemic Agency in Decolonization”
  • Moderation:
    • Belén Pueyo-Ibáñez (ETH Zürich)

12:00-13:00

  • Lunch Break

13:00-15:00

  • Panel 2: Consent and Community: African and Non-African Philosophy
  • Panelists:
    • Bernard Matolino (University of KwaZulu-Natal): “Consent, Consensus, and Community: Rethinking Kwasi Wiredu’s Residue of Difference”
    • Modestus Onyeaghalaji (University of Lagos): “A Pragmatic Reimagining of Consent and Community for Research Ethics in Africa”
    • Nadia Mazouz (ETH Zürich): “Too)-Late-Modernities: The Constitution of Communities and the Role of Consent”
  • Moderation
    • Niklas Kirchner (ETH Zürich)

15:00-15:30

  • Coffee Break

Session 2: Decarbonization and Bioethics
15:30-17:15

  • Panel 3: Bringing Local Community Voices into the Decarbonization Debate
  • Panelists:
    • Elifuraha Laltaika (Tumaini University): “Energy Transition and Its Impacts on Africa’s Indigenous Peoples”
    • Gift Dembetembe (University of Fribourg): “The Unintended Consequences of Decarbonization”
    • Festus Boamah (Bayreuth University): “Navigating Uncertainties and Energy Justice Issues in Energy Transitions”
  • Moderation:
    • Robby Kapesa (Copperbelt University/University of St.Gallen)

17:15-17:30

  • Break

17:30-19:15

  • Panel 4: Translating Bioethics in the African Context
  • Panelists:
    • Kirubel Manyazewal Mussie (Addis Ababa): “Critical Perspectives on Patient Autonomy in Geriatric Care: Empirical Examples from Ethiopia”
    • Cynthia Khamala Wangamati (University of Oxford): “Rethinking Autonomy in Sexual and Reproductive Health in African Health Care Settings”
  • Moderation:
    • Daniel Lucas (ETH Zürich

Room 01-U123

Session 3: Justice and Decarbonization

09:00-11:00

  • Panel 5: Curating Law, Data, and Justice Otherwise: The (Infra)structural Interplay in the African Context
  • Panelists:
    • Neus Torbisco-Casals (Geneva Graduate Institute): “Reframing Human Rights: Inclusion, Oppression, and Structural Injustice in African Contexts”
    • Fola Adeleke (Global Center on AI Governance, online): “Labor, Language-Tech, and Equity in the Africa”
    • Grace Mutung’u (University of Nairobi): “An African Social Justice Analysis of Digital ID in Kenya”
    • Tomiwa Ilori (Human Rights Watch): “Imported Laws Meet Local Realities: Reimaging Law as Digital Infrastructure in African Contexts”
  • Moderation:
    • Kebene Wodajo (ETH Zürich)

11:00-11:15

  • Coffee Break

11:15-12:45

  • Panel 6: Decarbonization and Development
  • Panelists:
    • Eric Vernuy (Catholic University of Central Africa):
    • “Africa Decarbonization Traps: Why Expertise and Decision-Making within Global Climate Action Initiatives Pose a Threat to Africa’s Development”
    • Nelson Oppong (University of Edinburgh):
    • “Moral Entanglements and Gestural Politics of Ghana’s Green Energy Transition”
  • Moderation:
    • Iva Mihaylova (University of St.Gallen)

12:45-13:30

  • Lunch Break

13:30-14:30

  • Art Tour on Campus

14:30-16:30

  • Panel 7: Digitalization and Human Rights in Africa
  • Panelists:
    • Michelle Westermann-Behaylo (University of Amsterdam): “Digital Technologies for a Just Transition: Sustainable ETM Extraction in East Africa”
    • Kokebe Wolde (Addis Ababa University): “Critical Assessment of the Utility of Ethiopia’s Public Procurement Law as an Instrument for the Protection of Human Rights, with Comparative Perspectives from South Africa and Ghana”
    • Bantayehu Demlie Gezahegn (University of Bayreuth): “The Unification and Billionization of Borders in the Digital Age: Implications for Human Migration in the Context of Africa”
    • Khanyile Mlotshwa (University of KwaZulu Natal/University of St.Gallen): “Searching for New Business Models to Survive the Treachery of Technology and Digitalization in Zimbabwean Media”
  • Moderation:
    • Catherine McDonald (University of St.Gallen)

16:30-17:00

  • Coffee Break

17:00-18:45

  • Panel 8: Decolonization and Development
  • Panelists:
    • Symphorien Ntibagirirwa (Institute of Development and Economic Ethics (IDEE), Burundi): “The Process of Decolonization as a Journey Toward Recovering the Wealth of Ubuntu: Etical-Environmental Implications in the Context of Burundi”
    • Gnaka Lagoke (Lincoln University): “The Ubuntu Philosophy and the Decolonization of Development”
  • Moderation:
    • Rita Kesselring (University of St. Gallen) 

19:00

  • Dinner

Room 01-U123

Session 5: Human Rights, Trust and Economic Growth 

09:00-10:45

  • Panel 9: Does Business and Human Rights need to be Decolonized?
  • Panelists:
    • Nojeem Amodu (Tilburg University): “Decolonized Future for Africa: Embracing Afro-Communitarianism and Resurrecting Indigenous Business Observances”
    • Rose Wangui Kimotho (University of St.Gallen/CCAR): “Decolonising Human Rights due Diligence”
    • Bantayehu Demlie Gezahegn (University of Bayreuth): “From Ubuntu to Duties to Direct Corporate Accountability: The Making of an African Approach to Business and Human Rights”
  • Moderation:
    • Mariam Shakil (University of St. Gallen)

10:45-11:15

  • Coffee Break

11:15-12:30

  • Roundtable: Economic Growth, Happiness and African Values
  • Panelists:
    • Dominic Roser (Université de Fribourg)
    • Vicky Messanga (University of Dschang)
  • Moderation:
    • Thierry Ngosso (University of St. Gallen)

12:30-13:30

  • Lunch Break

13:30-15:30

  • Panel 10: The Social Dimension of Trust and Distrust in African Contexts
  • Panelists:
    • Aderonke Ajiboro (Obafemi Awolowo University): “Trust, Communality, and Knowledge Systems in Africa”
    • Adaba Koffi Amessou (University of Lomé/CROP): “Who Do Africans Trust Most?”
    • Kutoma J. Wakunuma (Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility): “Rethinking Trustworthy AI through an African Lens”
  • Moderation:
    • Louisa Estadieu (ETH Zürich)

15:30

  • Closing

This conference is funded by ETH Zürich, HSG - University of St.Gallen and SNF - Swiss National Science Foundation

Get more information

Rose Wangui Kimotho

Wissenschaftliche Assistentin

IWE-HSG
Büro 48-316
Blumenbergplatz 9
9000 St. Gallen

Mathieu Thierry Ngosso

PhD

Managing Director IWE-HSG Africa Center

IWE-HSG
Büro 48-320
Blumenbergplatz 9
9000 St. Gallen

Map of the Campus

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