AfOx Insaka
The Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx) Insaka is a gathering for sharing ideas and knowledge about Africa-focused research. AfOx invites speakers from varied disciplines and academic backgrounds to present their work and ideas, followed by discussions and networking. You can watch our previous Insakas here.
AfOx is hosting an Insaka on October 31 2025, from 17:30-19:00 PM UK time at the Lecture Theatre L2, Maths Institute, University of Oxford. The event will also be live-streamed on the AfOx YouTube Channel.
Here's a preview of our past Insakas
Why Do African Presidents Travel Abroad For Medical Care?
This study examines the paradox of African presidents seeking medical care abroad through the lens of medical geography and African politics. Using mapping, digital ethnography, and archival research, it explores how power, inequality, and healthcare quality shape these medical trips, and reveal deeper crises within Africa’s health systems.
Dr Tolulope Osayomi Currently serving as an AfOx-TORCH Visiting Fellow at the History Faculty’s Centre for the History of Science, Medicine and Technology (with Professor Erica Charters as host), alongside my role as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Coloniality, Citizenship, and the environmental threats of mineral extraction in African countries
Many African countries are grappling with how to govern the extraction of minerals in ways that are equitable, responsible, and environmentally sustainable. The growth of renewable energy technologies and AI promises to increase the demand for critical minerals. Current mining laws in many African countries are premised on coloniality.
I take illegal small-scale gold mining, galamsey, in Ghana as a case study. Galamsey’s impact is profound: it destroys forests, pollutes water sources, destabilizes the balance of the ecosystem, exposes human and animal populations to health risks such as diseases and accidents, and fosters conflicts in communities. Beyond the environmental and social costs, galamsey also raises ethical questions about justice, governance, and what we owe future generations.
I argue that galamsey is primarily a moral problem and not just legal and environmental threat to current and future Ghanaians. Current gold mining policies are deeply rooted in coloniality, a system designed to subtract local agency by perpetuating epistemicide, ecocide, and genocide. The defiance of galamseyers could arguably be interpreted as an attempt by disenfranchised citizens and communities to regain control over natural resources. The use of State coercion and the depiction of galamseyers as criminals could further heighten tensions, alienate communities and citizens, and undermine long-term solutions to the social, health, and environmental challenges caused by the current practice of galamsey.
I suggest an ethical approach of respectful and participatory engagement with the practitioners of galamsey to co-generate an equitable and accountable framework for gold mining policies in Ghana.
Caesar Atuire is a philosopher and health ethicist from Ghana who is currently the Ethics and Governance Lead for the MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine. He is also Co-Associate Director of Oxford Global Health. Caesar holds an Adjunct Professorship of Philosophy at the University of Ghana and is an affiliate Instructor at the University of Washington’s Department of Bioethics and Humanities. He is also the President of the International Association of Bioethics (2024-2026).
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