The Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on African Governance is one of 11 British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowship recipients for 2023

The British Academy has announced its Senior Research Fellowships for 2023, awarding over £500,000 to 11 “outstanding academics” working in the SHAPE disciplines (Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts for People and the Economy/Environment). These fellowships are funded by the Leverhulme Trust and other non-government sources, providing one year of research leave for established scholars to complete often career-defining projects.

Among the recipients is Professor Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on African Governance, who has been awarded the fellowship for his project "Africa Offshore: The Global Offshore Economy and the Reshaping of African Politics." This project aims to investigate the globalisation of finance and its impact on African economies and their worldwide linkages.

His research will focus on the rise of an international offshore system of tax havens and deregulated economies, a pivotal dimension of the global economy that is often overlooked in the study of present-day African politics and international relations. Through his work, he hopes to provide a groundbreaking perspective on the African political economy and shed light on ongoing developments in global capitalism.

The Oxford Martin School congratulates Professor Soares de Oliviera on this achievement. The British Academy's Senior Research Fellowships provide academics with a unique opportunity to bring a major piece of research towards completion. Other researchers funded in this cohort include those focusing on legacies of colonialism, religion in the Valley of Pompeii, and the archaeology of the Crusades.