We are happy to announce that GLOBALCIT has recently published four analyses of citizenship laws in different states in Africa.

In the report on the citizenship law of Zimbabwe, Bronwen Manby explores the contestations of citizenship in this country taking into account the legacies of its colonial legal models and discriminatory practices, as well as the backlashes inherent to an unstable political settlement over the past 30 years.

Tigranna Zakaryan writes that the citizenship policies in Uganda were largely shaped by nation-building efforts, torn between struggles of how to define national and political identities. She highlights the relevance of such a legislative framework on the rights of minorities and refugees.

Patrícia Jerónimo’s reports Angola and Mozambique offer a meticulous exploration of the conceptions and trajectories of citizenship in the Portuguese-speaking African states. Both countries seem to have adopted an open regime and an inclusive concept of citizenship with good provisions for protection against statelessness. However, the legal uncertainties in both countries lead to a situation where facts on the ground are quite different from the black letter of the law.

In the coming months we will seek to further expand our analysis of citizenship laws in African states. All published reports remain permanently available through our publications section and our country profiles.