The threat of secession and complete disintegration of African states is ever present and dangerously imminent. It is both a threat to nation-building projects, as well as signifier of their failure. From the Horn to the West of Africa, secession movements are rising, leading to bloodshed in their wake. Many scholars and political actors have argued that the inherited colonial borders in Africa are the root causes of the problems which make secession movements attractive. Arguably, secessions present an opportunity for course correction and self-determination for oppressed peoples. But do the conflict recurrences and political repression seen in successful cases of secessions prove that the process of leaving existing nations and forging new ones are doomed to failure? What is to be understood from the apparent resurgence of secessionist sentiment across Africa today? What should be done to address their fundamental causes? This webinar will seek to address these and other germane questions in a survey of the continent’s contemporary secessionist trends as seen in the Horn, Central and West Africa.

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