Richard Dowden (born 20 March 1949) is an English journalist who has specialised in African issues. Since 1975, he has worked for several British media and was formerly Executive Director of the

Royal African Society The Royal African Society (RAS) of the United Kingdom was founded as the African Society in 1901 to promote relations between the United Kingdom and countries in Africa. It received a royal charter in 1935, when it acquired its present name. The RA ...

(2002–2017). 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 derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

writer

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel ''Things Fall Apart'' ( ...

. Dowden lives and works in London.

Journalism

Born on 29 March 1949 in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England, Richard Dowden read History at Bedford College,

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

(1967–70). He first went to Africa in 1971 and worked as a volunteer teacher in a rural part of

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It 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 ...

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

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...

'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 from 1973 to 1975 for the Catholic Justice and Peace Commission, mainly in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, before he turned to journalism; from 1976 he was employed by '' The Catholic Herald'', where he served as Editor from 1977 to 1979. He went on to join the foreign desk of ''

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 modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' in 1980, and 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 publis ...

''. Working in this role until 1995, he became Diplomatic Editor of ''The Independent'' in 1996, then moved to ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' as Africa Editor (1996–2002). He has visited and written about almost every country in sub-Saharan Africa. Dowden's book ''Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles'', first published in 2008 by Portobello Books, is an overview of African contemporary history from an autobiographical point of view. As underlined by ''

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, 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

explained in a foreword to Dowden's book:

"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, Dowden was Executive Director at the

(RAS), an association founded in 1901 to promote relations and a better understanding between Africa and Great Britain. He is on the Editorial Board of ''

'', journal of the RAS, 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 Sir Hugh Nigel Edward Bayley (born 9 January 1952) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for York Central, previously York and City of York, from 1992 to 2015. Early life Bayley was born in Maidenh ...

, 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

Royal African Society Executive Director

References

External links