Introducing: #rpAccra Speaker Nanjala Nyabola

We’re very excited to count Nanjala Nyabola, an independent political analyst and writer, as one of our keynote speakers at re:publica Accra! Based in Nairobi, Kenya, she’s a brilliant observer of East African politics and has published extensively on the digital processes that are changing and shifting the balance of power in the region today.

After completing her studies at the University of Oxford and Harvard Law School, she was a fellow of Foreign Policy Interrupted and concentrated her research on the topics of conflict and post-crisis reconstruction. A humanitarian advocate, she’s been deeply involved in feminism and causes of other marginalized groups.

She will take over our main stage for a thought-provoking analysis on what Technology Can’t Fix. Technological process is often seen as the key to social stability, job creation and a general infrastructural improvement - but to what extent?Nanjala Nyabola will question and criticize this idealistic approach, exposing its crucial limits and weaknesses. Technology can only pave the way for a more united, open and uncorrupted society if communities and their leaders decide to act upon the gaps that can only be filled offline.

Her analysis of the growing tech-optimism in Kenya stems from her just-released book Digital Democracy and Analogue Politics - How the Internet Era is Transforming Kenya (ZED books/African Arguments, 2018). It is the fruit of over ten years of field research exploring online activism, the Kenyan political sphere and the recent 2017 elections.

Nanjala’s work has appeared in Al Jazeera, Foreign Policy, World Policy Review and other platforms - find a selection of her articles on her website.