Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur

African Futures Lab (AfaLab)

Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur sheds light on individual and collective actions across Europe, Africa and the Americas to defend racial equality and justice. Our guests - scholars, activists, artists - share their practice with us, highlighting both the forms that historical and contemporary racial violence takes in these different contexts, and examples of possible reforms and mobilizations. Through their experiences fighting against racism, we draw the contours of racial justice efforts today. Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur is hosted by Liliane Umubyeyi and Amah Edoh, co-founders and co-directors of the African Futures Lab (AfaLab). A new episode is published every two weeks, and episodes alternate between French and English. Production credits: Production: Amah Edoh; Liliane Umubyeyi; Matt Dann; Recording and editing: Matt Dann; Music: “African Dreams,” written and composed by Seun Anikulapo Kuti; Artwork: Amélie Umuhererezi

  1. Sep 24

    S5 E3: Who Should Pay for Africa’s Climate Losses?

    Send us Fan Mail Who should pay for Africa’s climate losses, and how can that financial and moral responsibility be legally enforced?  In this third episode, we unpack the concept of climate debt and examine Africa’s unequal experience of global climate disasters. Despite contributing minimally to global greenhouse gas emissions, African nations—particularly Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States—face the highest economic and human costs of climate adaptation, loss, and damage.  We explore how climate impacts force governments to borrow heavily to fund disaster recovery, locking states into cycles of dependency and shrinking public spending on essential services. The conversation interrogates current climate finance models, asking whether existing loan-based mechanisms reproduce historical inequalities rather than deliver justice. We also center the experiences of frontline communities, women, and marginalized groups who subsidize inadequate global responses. Join us as we argue that climate justice demands accountability, financial redistribution, and structural transformation.  In this episode, we cover: The climate debt cycle: How climate impacts intersect with mounting sovereign debt burdens. Flaws in climate finance: Why loans and voluntary support reinforce financial dependency. Frontline realities: The gendered and social impacts of climate disasters on vulnerable communities. Featured guest: Nciko wa Nciko — Climate Justice Advisor for East and Southern Africa at Amnesty International and lead advisor on human rights in Madagascar. Hosted & moderated by: Riska Koopman — Lead Officer, International Public Private Finance (IPPF) at AFRODAD. Dr. Patrick Toussaint — Research Advisor at African Futures Lab. Resources & further reading: Explore Amnesty International’s human rights research on climate justice in East and Southern Africa. Learn more about AfaLab's work on climate reparations.------------------ This podcast season is a joint collaboration between the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) and African Futures Lab (Afalab).  Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

    S5 E3: Who Should Pay for Africa’s Climate Losses?
  2. Sep 10

    S5 E2: Debt Cancellation is Not Enough!

    Send us Fan Mail Why is debt cancellation alone insufficient to solve Africa's economic crises, and what deeper structural transformations are required?  Debt Cancellation is Not Enough explores why debt cancellation alone cannot deliver economic justice. Drawing on African Futures Lab's Debt Cancellation Is Not Enough! report, the episode examines how debt is rooted in a global financial architecture shaped by colonial power relations, unequal decision-making, and extractive economic models. Joining the conversation is Grieve Chelwa, Associate Professor of Political Economy and Chair of Social Sciences at The Africa Institute. The discussion engages themes from his recent book, How the International Monetary Fund Strangles Africa, and explores the role of institutions such as the IMF and World Bank in perpetuating debt and economic dependency across the continent. Together, we discuss what reparative justice would require: restructuring global finance, redistributing financial power, reclaiming policy autonomy, and building more just economic futures. In this episode, we cover: Beyond short-term relief: Why debt cancellation without structural reform fails to stop future dependency. Global financial architecture: How power asymmetries within major institutions reinforce cycles of debt. State responsibility and accountability: Balancing demands on global institutions with sound, equitable domestic governance. Featured guest: Dr. Grieve Chelwa — Associate Professor of Political Economy and Chair of Social Sciences at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. Moderated by: Liliane Umubyeyi, PhD - Cofounder and Executive Director, African Futures Lab. ----------- This podcast season is a joint collaboration between the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) and African Futures Lab (Afalab). Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

    S5 E2: Debt Cancellation is Not Enough!
  3. Aug 25

    S5 E1: Understanding historical foundations of systemic extraction

    Send us Fan Mail How did centuries of colonial exploitation directly shape Africa’s modern sovereign debt crisis? In this premiere episode, we lay the groundwork for our joint miniseries by unpacking the deep historical links between colonial extraction, land dispossession, and contemporary financial dependency in Africa. Drawing on key insights from AFRODAD’s landmark paper, “The political economy of debt and reparation in Africa: Building a united front to advance the cause of debt justice and reparation in Africa and diaspora,” we move past surface-level economic analyses to examine how today's debt traps are rooted in long-standing structural inequalities. Join us as we explore what it means to anchor an African-led reparative justice agenda—one that links debt cancellation to complete structural transformation, global financial reform, and true economic sovereignty. In this episode, we cover: The root cause: How pre- and post-colonial systems of extraction created postcolonial financial dependency.Beyond debt relief: Why modern sovereign debt operates as a continuation of historical exploitation.African agency: Building a unified front across Africa and the diaspora to demand reparative justice and global governance reform.Featured guest Dr. Marie Louise Aren — International economic lawyer, expert in sovereign debt, trade, and tax law, and author of The political economy of debt and reparation in Africa. Moderated by Catherine Mithia - Policy Research & Advocacy Officer - Sovereign Debt Management at AFRODAD Resources & further reading: The Political Economy of Debt and Reparation in Africa: Building a United Front to Advance the Cause of Debt Justice and Reparations in Africa Debt Cancellation Is Not Enough! Repairing Economic Colonial Injustices through Radical Reform of the International Financial Architecture —------- This podcast season is a collaboration between the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) and African Futures Lab (Afalab). Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

    S5 E1: Understanding historical foundations of systemic extraction
  4. Season 5 Trailer

    S5 E0: Decolonizing Africa’s debt and reclaiming her future

    Send us Fan Mail As the African Union inaugurates the 2026–2036 Decade of Reparations, this collaborative podcast series from the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) and African Futures Lab (Afalab) unpacks how modern sovereign debt, climate vulnerability, and gender inequality function as direct continuations of colonial extraction. The new season moves beyond conventional narratives of debt relief to position reparative justice as a vital catalyst for true African economic sovereignty. Across six compelling, expert-led episodes, the series exposes the structural flaws of the global financial architecture—from biased credit rating systems to predatory debt servicing—and connects historical dispossession to modern economic realities. Featuring leading scholars, legal experts, and activists, each episode challenges normative financial frameworks and highlights concrete pathways toward systemic transformation. Key season themes & episodes Historical roots of systemic extraction: Uncovering how colonial exploitation laid the groundwork for today’s sovereign debt crises.Legal accountability & sovereignty: Mobilizing international law to challenge odious debt and build on diplomatic momentum, such as landmark UN resolutions on reparative justice.Beyond debt cancellation: Demonstrating why short-term debt relief is insufficient without radical structural reform of global financial institutions.Climate reparations: Examining how climate debt and financial dependency disproportionately impact frontline African communities.Gendered dimensions of subjugation: Deconstructing how austerity measures and debt servicing exploit women’s unpaid care work.Pathways to economic sovereignty: Synthesizing history, climate, and gender to map out pan-African institutions, legal strategies, and economic autonomy.Tune in to this new season to join frontline movements, scholars, and policy leaders in shifting the global narrative from debt reliance to African agency, dignity, and reparative justice. ------------------ This podcast season is a joint collaboration between the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) and African Futures Lab (Afalab). Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

    S5 E0: Decolonizing Africa’s debt and reclaiming her future
  5. Aug 18

    S4 E6: Para além das fronteiras – Força e solidariedade do feminismo negro (PT)

    Send us Fan Mail Em todos os continentes, as mulheres negras nunca resistiram isoladamente. Das lutas anticoloniais aos movimentos contemporâneos pela justiça racial, de gênero e climática, as solidariedades transnacionais têm sido fundamentais para desafiar os sistemas de opressão. Essas conexões unem as lutas na África, na América Latina, no Caribe, na Europa e na diáspora, revelando histórias compartilhadas de colonialismo e estratégias comuns de resistência.  Neste episódio final de Desfazendo o Roteiro Colonial: Centrando as Vozes das Mulheres Negras — a série de podcasts do nosso projeto mais amplo Liberdade Inacabada —, celebramos o poder da organização transcontinental. Produzido em parceria com o Observatório da Branquitude, as coapresentadoras Helene Himmer e Manuela Thamani conversam com as convidadas Naiara Leite e Janira Miranda.  A conversa se concentra nas formas contemporâneas de organização da diáspora africana, com destaque especial para a Marcha de Um Milhão de Mulheres no Brasil — uma mobilização histórica de mulheres negras da qual o African Futures Lab participou. Ao situar esse momento dentro de uma história mais ampla do internacionalismo feminista negro, o episódio explora como a solidariedade atravessa idiomas, geografias e gerações para remodelar as agendas feministas globais e exigir reparações, dignidade e transformação estrutural.  O que você aprenderá:  A estratégia da solidariedade transnacional: analise o significado político da solidariedade feminista negra transcontinental tanto como prática histórica quanto como estratégia contemporânea. O poder da mobilização em massa: examinar a Marcha de Um Milhão de Mulheres no Brasil como um exemplo concreto e poderoso de mobilização feminista da diáspora em grande escala. Moldando agendas globais: explorar como os movimentos feministas africanos contribuem ativamente e moldam as agendas globais sobre justiça, reparações, clima e responsabilidade democrática. Navegando pelas solidariedades de forma ética: Identificar as tensões, os desafios e as considerações éticas na construção de coalizões que ultrapassam barreiras linguísticas, geográficas, desigualdades de financiamento e contextos políticos divergentes. Construindo alianças não exploratórias: Obter insights práticos para organizadoras que buscam construir alianças transnacionais duradouras, não exploratórias e de apoio mútuo. Solidariedade como ação política: Vá além de encarar a solidariedade como um simples alinhamento moral para compreendê-la como uma ação política coordenada, capaz de produzir mudanças institucionais reais. O papel da comunicação: Examine como a comunicação estratégica possibilita uma mobilização feminista em grande escala, territorialmente diversificada e multilíngue. ---  Nossas apresentadoras  Helene Himmer  Manuela Thamani  Nossas convidadas  Naiara Leite  Janira Miranda  Nosso parceiro  Observatório da Branquitude  -----  Créditos   Produção: African Futures Lab e Observatório da Branquitude, Matt Dann.   Gravação e edição: Matt Dann.   Música: “African Dreams”, escrita e composta por Seun Anikulapo Kuti.   Arte: Florence Akyams.   Este episódio foi viabilizado graças ao generoso apoio de nossos doadores individuais:   Nabeelah Shabbir, Carmen Ervin, A. Lorenceau, Taoufik, Anita Munyaneza, Amy Ngoc Dung Hong, Britta Redwood, Michel DeGraff, Deborah Ashimwe, Soline Laplanche-Servigne, Claire Bernard, Yasmine Abdillahi, Simon e Anita Hanukai Kirpalani, Maite Van Regemorter, Asdis Olafsdottir, S.F. du Toit e Julie Frey.   Somos profundamente gratos por sua generosidade e por apoiarem os esforços para amplificar as vozes das mulheres negras e promover a narrativa feminista descolonial.  Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

    S4 E6: Para além das fronteiras – Força e solidariedade do feminismo negro (PT)
  6. Aug 11

    S4 E5: Between war and peace (EN)

    Send us Fan Mail Sexual violence was not incidental, but central to colonial rule. Soldiers, administrators, and settlers systematically exerted power through coercion, assault, and absolute impunity—including the taking of women hostage to force labor productivity. Today, these historical patterns of violence and control persist in militarized policing, border regimes, and wartime contexts.   In this fifth episode of Disrupting the Colonial Script: Centering Black Women’s Voices—a crucial chapter in our Unfinished Freedom project—we confront these continuities head-on. Produced in partnership with FEMNET, co-hosts Lavender and Susan sit down with guests Gassi and Musola. Together, they trace how historical systems of militarized violence shape contemporary realities and discuss what it means to demand genuine accountability in a world that routinely excuses these harms.   This episode is an invitation to move beyond standard human rights frameworks and engage with deeply transformative, decolonial approaches to bodily autonomy and justice.   What You Will Learn  Colonial Roots of Violence: Understand the direct, historical link between colonial rule and contemporary forms of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).  The Impact of Militarization: Recognize how ongoing militarization and state security regimes shape and restrict women’s bodily autonomy, even outside of formal conflict zones.  Frontline Perspectives: Hear grounded, real-world perspectives from activists and practitioners working on the frontlines of survival and resistance.  Decolonial Accountability: Engage with feminist, decolonial approaches to justice that challenge existing institutional frameworks.  Imagining Meaningful Repair: Reflect on what true structural change, collective safety, and meaningful repair could look like for affected communities.  Our Hosts  Lavender Namdiero  Susan Nyabena  Our Guests  Topista Gassi  Musola C. Kaseketi  Our Partner  FEMNET   -------- Credits  Production: African Futures Lab and FEMNET, and  Matt Dann.   Recording and editing: Matt Dann.   Music: "African Dreams," written and composed by Seun Anikulapo Kuti.   Artwork: Florence Akyams.  This episode was made possible through the generous support of our individual donors:   Nabeelah Shabbir, Carmen Ervin, A. Lorenceau, Taoufik, Anita Munyaneza, Amy Ngoc Dung Hong, Britta Redwood, Michel DeGraff, Deborah Ashimwe, Soline Laplanche-Servigne, Claire Bernard, Yasmine Abdillahi, Simon and Anita Hanukai Kirpalani, Maite Van Regemorter, Asdis Olafsdottir, S.F. du Toit, and Julie Frey.   We are deeply grateful for their generosity and for supporting efforts to amplify Black women's voices and advance decolonial feminist storytelling.  Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

    S4 E5: Between war and peace (EN)
  7. Aug 4

    S4 E4: The price of Black women's labour (EN)

    Send us Fan Mail The exploitation of Black women’s labor—whether domestic, agricultural, care-based, or within the cultural and fashion industries—sits at the sharp intersection of race, gender, and class. Historically, colonial systems relied on cheap, feminized labor, constructing powerful ideologies to justify the economic extraction of Black women and girls.  In this fourth episode of Disrupting the Colonial Script: Centering Black Women’s Voices—a key part of our Unfinished Freedom project—we examine how these historical patterns continue to persist. Produced in partnership with the Nawi Afrifem Collective, hosts Lavender Namdiero and Elizabeth Maina sit down with guest Wangari Kinoti. Together, they trace the direct line between colonial extraction and contemporary inequalities, discussing modern-day manifestations such as the recruitment of young refugee women into exploitative modeling circuits, pay disparities, and unequal access to workplace protections.  This conversation moves beyond highlighting exploitation to center the transformative power of feminist organizing and the demand for genuine economic justice.  What You Will Learn  Colonial Legacies of Labor: Understand how colonial labor systems historically shaped and continue to drive the contemporary exploitation of Black African women.  Transnational Patterns: Identify consistent, systemic patterns of exploitation across domestic, care-based, agricultural, and cultural industries.  Grounded Realities: Hear the lived experiences and stories of women directly affected by these exploitative labor structures.  Feminist Resistance: Learn about active feminist labor organizing and collective movements fighting for change across Africa and the diaspora.  Transformative Justice: Consider what truly reparative and transformative labor justice looks like for Black women globally.   Our Hosts Lavender Namdiero Elizabeth Maina Our Guest Wangari Kinoti Our Partner Nawi Afrifem Collective  ---------- Credits Production: African Futures Lab and NAWI Afrifem Collective, Matt Dann.  Recording and editing: Matt Dann.  Music: "African Dreams," written and composed by Seun Anikulapo Kuti.  Artwork: Florence Akyams. This episode was made possible through the generous support of our individual donors:  Nabeelah Shabbir, Carmen Ervin, A. Lorenceau, Taoufik, Anita Munyaneza, Amy Ngoc Dung Hong, Britta Redwood, Michel DeGraff, Deborah Ashimwe, Soline Laplanche-Servigne, Claire Bernard, Yasmine Abdillahi, Simon and Anita Hanukai Kirpalani, Maite Van Regemorter, Asdis Olafsdottir, S.F. du Toit, and Julie Frey.  We are deeply grateful for their generosity and for supporting efforts to amplify Black women's voices and advance decolonial feminist storytelling.  Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

    S4 E4: The price of Black women's labour (EN)
  8. Jul 28

    S4 E3: Beauté, peau et pouvoir (FR)

    Send us Fan Mail Les normes de beauté eurocentriques — notamment l’éclaircissement de la peau, la politique capillaire, la stigmatisation du corps et les hiérarchies esthétiques — trouvent leurs racines profondes dans les idéologies coloniales qui opposaient le corps « civilisé » au corps « primitif ». Aujourd’hui, ces logiques coloniales sont activement reproduites par des industries de la beauté néfastes, le colorisme systémique et l’exploitation mondiale dans le secteur de la mode. Dans ce troisième épisode de « Disrupting the Colonial Script : Centering Black Women’s Voices » (Briser le scénario colonial : mettre en avant les voix des femmes noires), qui s’inscrit dans le cadre de notre projet en cours « Unfinished Freedom », nous animons une conversation essentielle sur l’autonomie, la dignité et le droit à l’autoreprésentation. Réalisé en partenariat avec KIMPAVITA, cet épisode réunit les coanimatrices Elena Bougaire et Liliane Umubyeyi ainsi que leurs invitées Khardiata Pouye et Catherine Tetteh pour analyser comment notre peau même est devenue un champ de bataille politique et économique. Ensemble, elles remettent en cause le contrôle commercialisé des corps des femmes noires et explorent comment nous pouvons, collectivement, nous réapproprier notre esthétique selon nos propres termes. Ce que vous apprendrez :  Les racines coloniales du colorisme : Comprendre comment les histoires coloniales ont donné naissance au colorisme et à des hiérarchies de beauté racialisées et tenaces. Déconstruire l’éclaircissement de la peau : Analyser les pratiques d’éclaircissement de la peau comme des phénomènes sociaux, économiques et historiques complexes, plutôt que comme de simples choix cosmétiques individuels. Le renforcement institutionnel : Reconnaître comment des institutions puissantes — telles que la religion, les médias et l’État — continuent de reproduire activement ces normes de beauté eurocentriques. Le tribut de la dépigmentation : Identifier les graves conséquences médicales, psychologiques et sociales associées aux pratiques de dépigmentation. Se réapproprier la représentation : explorer des stratégies culturelles et politiques visant à se réapproprier la beauté, la dignité et l’autoreprésentation au-delà de l’esthétique coloniale.  Nos animatrices  Elena Bougaire  Liliane Umubyeyi  Nos invitées  Khardiata Pouye  Catherine Tetteh  Notre partenaire  KIMPAVITA  -------- Crédits  Production : African Futures Lab, KIMPAVITA et Matt Dann. Enregistrement et montage : Matt Dann. Musique : « African Dreams », écrit et composé par Seun Anikulapo Kuti. Illustration : Florence Akyams.  Remerciements particuliers Cet épisode a pu voir le jour grâce au généreux soutien de nos donateurs particuliers :   Nabeelah Shabbir, Carmen Ervin, A. Lorenceau, Taoufik, Anita Munyaneza, Amy Ngoc Dung Hong, Britta Redwood, Michel DeGraff, Deborah Ashimwe, Soline Laplanche-Servigne, Claire Bernard, Yasmine Abdillahi, Simon et Anita Hanukai Kirpalani, Maite Van Regemorter, Asdis Olafsdottir, S.F. du Toit et Julie Frey.  Nous leur sommes profondément reconnaissants de leur générosité et de leur soutien aux efforts visant à amplifier la voix des femmes noires et à promouvoir une narration féministe décoloniale.  Support the African Futures Lab and Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur! Click here for more details.

    S4 E3: Beauté, peau et pouvoir (FR)

Trailer

About

Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur sheds light on individual and collective actions across Europe, Africa and the Americas to defend racial equality and justice. Our guests - scholars, activists, artists - share their practice with us, highlighting both the forms that historical and contemporary racial violence takes in these different contexts, and examples of possible reforms and mobilizations. Through their experiences fighting against racism, we draw the contours of racial justice efforts today. Future Perfect | Futur Antérieur is hosted by Liliane Umubyeyi and Amah Edoh, co-founders and co-directors of the African Futures Lab (AfaLab). A new episode is published every two weeks, and episodes alternate between French and English. Production credits: Production: Amah Edoh; Liliane Umubyeyi; Matt Dann; Recording and editing: Matt Dann; Music: “African Dreams,” written and composed by Seun Anikulapo Kuti; Artwork: Amélie Umuhererezi