Richard Dowden - World Economic Forum on Africa 2012 crop

Richard Dowden (born 20 March 1949 in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, United Kingdom) is a British journalist who has specialised in African issues. Since 1975, he has worked for several British media and for the past eight years he has been the Executive Director of the Royal African Society. He is the author of the book ''Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles'' (Portobello Books, 2008), which has a foreword by the

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

writer Chinua Achebe. Dowden lives and works in London.

Journalism

He first went to Africa in 1971 and worked as a volunteer teacher in a rural part of

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The sou ...

, until the end of 1972, when he left the country because of

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

's dictatorship. In Dowden's words, in December 1972, "Amin declared all whites in our area to be spies who had uniforms and guns hidden in their houses. It was time to go". On his return to Great Britain, Dowden worked for the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, mainly in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

, and turned to journalism in 1975, being made Editor of ''

The Catholic Herald The ''Catholic Herald'' is a London-based Roman Catholic monthly newspaper and starting December 2014 a magazine, published in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and, formerly, the United States. It reports a total circulation of ...

'' in 1976. After joining ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its s ...

'' foreign desk in 1980, he began to travel to Africa and the Middle East until 1986, when he was appointed Africa Editor at the newly-established newspaper ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

''. In 1995, he became Diplomatic Editor of ''The Independent'', then moved to ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econ ...

'' as Africa Editor. He has visited and written about almost every country in sub-Saharan Africa. His articles and documentaries in recent years include:
"Chinua Achebe: A hero returns"
(18 February 2009), BBC World Service
"Jacob Zuma – a question of competence, not conscience"
(23 April 2009), ''The Sunday Times''

(15 December 2008), ''The Independent''
"Mugabe's power ploy – Zimbabwe's president is using talks with Morgan Tsvangirai to buy time while he prepares for war"
(26 July 2008), ''The Guardian''
"Condescension and ignorance are no help to Kenya – The West's patronising response to the recent events in Kenya betrays our lack of respect to a sophisticated continent"
(6 June 2008). ''The Observer''

''Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles''

Published in 2008 by Portobello Books, Dowden's first book overviews African contemporary history from an autobiographical point of view, on a journey through the geography of the most troubled continent.Butcher, Tim

''The Telegraph'', 24 October 2008 . Retrieved 24 September 2014. "On a more personal level, this is the story of Dowden's love for the continent." As

African Affairs ''African Affairs'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by Oxford University Press on behalf of the London-based Royal African Society. The journal covers any Africa-related topic: political, social, economic, environmental a ...

, the top-ranked ''Africanist Journal'' underlines, the book can be considered between an academic and a popular text, allowing the reader to become interested in the subject even if they are not Africa experts. As Chinua Achebe explains on his foreword:

"Africa is a vast continent, a continent of people, �� In Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles, it is clear that Richard Dowden understands this, and one could not ask for a more qualified author to explore Africa's complexity."

Royal African Society Executive Director

From 2002 to 2017, he was Executive Director at the Royal African Society, an association founded in 1901 to promote relations and a better understanding between Africa and Great Britain. Dowden is on the Editorial Board of ''

'', journal of the Royal African Society, and together with Alex de Waal coordinates African Arguments, a series of short books and a blog about Africa today. Dowden also promoted the creation of Africa Writes and Film Africa as well as helping to establish the Africa All-Party Parliamentary Group at Westminster in collaboration with Hugh Bayley, MP for York. Dowden also lectures on Africa and its place in the world and he writes a regular blog commenting on contemporary African affairs on the website of the Royal African Society.The Dowden Blog, Royal African Society.

Journalism

''Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles''

Royal African Society Executive Director

References

External links