Dr. Christine Hackenesch

• Christine Hackenesch
• Godfred Bonnah Nkansah

African Youth and the Future of Democracy

With African youth at the heart of political change, this study draws on Afrobarometer data from 41 countries to examine how the youth bulge, urbanization, and social media use shape young Africans’ support for democracy, voting behavior, and protest participation.

doi:10.18449/2025MTA-WP20

• Download (PDF) | 1.1 MB

• Christine Hackenesch
• Lena Gutheil
• Tobias Heidland
• Emmanuel Nshakira-Rukundo
• Rainer Schweickert
• Denis M. Tull

Megatrends and the Future of Democracy in Africa. How Do the Youth Bulge, Urbanization and Digitalization Shape African Politics?

Africa’s future will be young, urban and digital, but will it be more democratic? This Working Paper explores how age, urbanization and access to social media shape African citizens’ political attitudes, their willingness to participate in democratic institutions, and forms of collective action.

doi:10.18449/2025MTA-WP16

• Download (PDF) | 1.2 MB

• Christine Hackenesch
• Julia Bader

Pragmatic, Strategic and Wide-Reaching: The CCP’s Party Diplomacy in Africa

This policy brief analyses recent patterns and motives of China’s party diplomacy in Africa. It finds that the International Department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP-ID) maintains close ties with the main ruling parties in some countries in the South and East of the continent as well as a broad range of parties in countries in North Africa. 

doi:10.18449/2024MTA-PB29

• Download (PDF) | 483 KB

• Hangwei Li
• Christine Hackenesch

FOCAC 2024: Moving Away from Large Infrastructure Deals towards Normative Power of China

• German

The FOCAC Beijing Action Plan (2025–2027) outlines concrete targets for China–Africa relations. What are the latest trends shaping this partnership, and how might they impact Europe’s cooperation with Africa?

• Megatrends Afrika

Joint Futures: Ideas for Germany’s Africa Policy

What does it mean to design a sustainable and effective Africa policy? How can Germany develop and rethink its relations with Africa? We addressed these questions in a dedicated blog series between September 2023 and February 2024: Joint Futures. This publication brings together all the contributions.

doi:10.18449/2024MTA-WP12

• Download (PDF) | 3.8 MB

• Christine Hackenesch
• Wolfram Lacher (eds.)
• Fahd Azaroual
• Oumayma Bourhriba
• Tobias Heidland
• Cynthia Kamwengo
• Stephan Klingebiel
• Melanie Müller
• Bettina Rudloff
• Meike Schulze
• Denis M. Tull
• Cobus van Staden

The Russia-Ukraine War’s Shockwaves in Africa. A Zeitenwende for German Africa Policy?

Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began, this Working Paper examines repercussions in Africa and on German Africa policy, analysing to what extent they are in continuity with trends that preceded the war and to what extent they represent a break with past patterns. Has the Ukraine war turned out to be a sea change for Africa and German Africa policy, too? 

doi:10.18449/2024MTA-WP10

• Download (PDF) | 587 KB