The Frankfurt Inter-Centre-Programme for new African-Asian Interactions is based on the premise that Area Studies in a globalised world are increasingly confronted with processes of deterritorialisation and transregionalisation. These processes have to be approached with new innovative concepts and theories in order to keep up with the continuously changing subject matter of African and Asian regional studies. The Frankfurt Africa-Asia Programme addresses this problem by focussing on new African and Asian interactions and is based on the assumption that these interactions – on the economic, political, social, and cultural level – are not only opening up new opportunities for Asian countries, but also for their African counterparts. In addition to China and India other countries such as Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam, whose relations to Africa have not received much attention yet, will also move into the focus of research.

Therefore, the Frankfurt Research Programme AFRASO will

• Analyse and describe the currently developing and increasingly more complex relations between various African and Asian regions within a comparative inter- and transdisciplinary perspective;
• Provide new and innovative theoretical resources for Area Studies by focussing on transregional interactions between Africa and Asia;
• Develop enduring networks and cooperation between Area Studies and the systematic disciplines at Goethe University;
• Concentrate and disseminate analytical and technical expertise on African and Asian interactions on an international level.

Already existing bilateral relations between Goethe University and its partners in Africa and Asia will be strengthened by joint research projects and conferences. Furthermore, through the cooperation with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) an exchange of experiences between academic research and the realisation of development policies will be established. Since its launch on February 1, 2013, the project has been funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. It is jointly led by Arndt Graf (IZO Director) and Frank Schulze-Engler (Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary African Studies) and also involves IZO members Thomas Feldhoff (Human Geography), Heike Holbig (Political Science), Cornelia Storz (Economics) und Dorothea Wippermann (Sinology).

Recent activities and funding:

• Successful application to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research for the funding of the research programme “AFRASO – Africa’s Asian Options”, amount of grant about 4.6 million Euro, grant period 2013-2017.
• Lecture series “Afrikas asiatische Optionen: Neue Chancen durch neue Interaktionen?”, summer semester 2013

Further informations:

• AFRASO-Flyers hier
• Homepage: http://www.afraso.org/