Africa Day & AJI Call for New Journals
On May 25 2026, Africa Day was celebrated globally, marking the establishment of the Organisation of African Unity, now the African Union in 1963. To commemorate this day, we spotlight Dr Jama Musse Jama’s contribution in the latest issue of Dhaxalreeb, where he pens a judicious article titled The African Border Paradox – A Necessary Curse or a Missed Benediction?, where he examines the legacy of the Scramble for Africa and the enduring impact of colonial borders on African identity, governance, and imagination.
“Colonial borders are a ‘necessary curse’ that Africa has yet to fully transcend. They provided the skeleton for modern governance, but they have also become ‘cognitive borders’ that limit the African imagination. The challenge for the next generation is not necessarily to redraw the lines with ink, but to render them irrelevant through deep integration.”
Explore the full issue for free on ScienceOpen here.
The new issue has been praised by readers, and we highlight one indelible comment below:
Other news
African Journals Initiative – Call for New Journals
In 2025, Pluto Journals and African Books Collective (ABC) launched the African Journals Initiative working with a growing community of no-fee (‘diamond’) Open Access (OA) social science and humanities journals based in African universities, supported by ScienceOpen and JSTOR.
We are looking to partner with more journals published from the African continent for 2027. Applications are open here. The deadline is 30 September 2026, although we welcome earlier applications and requests for informal discussions prior to making an application.
The initial six 2025 AJI journals and five new 2026 AJI titles are Diamond Open Access and all articles are free to read. You will be able to see the issues as they are published on ScienceOpen and JSTOR
We are currently considering titles for 2027 and have an exciting selection of journals from across Africa. We look forward to sharing them with you.
If you have any colleagues that might be interested, please share this newsletter with them. We will continue to highlight the latest articles from the African Journals Initiative, and they can sign up
here.
