Theoretical and practical aspects of East European development aid to Africa during the Cold War era | University of Warsaw | 20-21.11.2025

Theoretical and practical aspects of East European development aid to Africa during the Cold War era

University of Warsaw, 20-21 November 2025

 

Thursday, November 20
Audytorium Maximum, aula D
ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28

10.00 – 10.20 | Opening remarks

10.20 – 11.30 | Multilateralism, regional cooperation, and Socialist bilateralism
MICHAEL TSHINYALANI KHOROMMBI (Stellenbosch University), Competing Solidarities: Eastern
European Aid Rivalries and African Agency under the Council for Mutual Economic
Assistance (1961–1988)
BARBORA BUZÁSSYOVÁ (Slovak Academy of Sciences), Trading Solidarity: Czechoslovakia,
UNESCO and Educational Aid to sub-Saharan Africa from the 1960s and beyond
Moderator: Anna Konieczna (University of Warsaw)

11.30 – 11.50 | Coffee break

11.50 – 13.00 | Organization of expertise, flow of knowledge, experts
TJAŠA KONOVŠEK (Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana), Tracing solidarity and
development: origins, activities and transformation of the Centre for the Study and
Cooperation of Yugoslavia with Developing Countries (1966–1973)
FILIP URBAŃSKI (University of Warsaw) “Polish experts as the best export goods” – locating
experts from Poland in Central and Southern Africa in the years 1960–1989
Moderator: TBC

13.00-14.30 | Lunch break

14.30 – 16.00 | Ideology, political regimes and development aid
CHRISTOPHER LASH (Łazarski University, Warsaw), Polish approaches to development in
Francophone West Africa from 1960-1989 in theory and in practice
DOMNICA GOROVEI (University of Bucharest), Exporting Development, Projecting Socialism:
Romania and Upper Volta/Burkina Faso (1960-1980)

GABRIEL ZVÎNCĂ (Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca), Helping Others to Benefit Yourself.
Romania’s Aid Policy in Africa during the Cold War
Moderator: JĘDRZEJ CZEREP (Polish Institute of International Relations)

16.00 – 16.20 | Coffee break

16.20 – 17.30 | Eastern Europe and Ghana
PRZEMYSŁAW GASZTOLD (War Studies University; Institute of National Remembrance,
Warsaw), Trade, Development and Socialism: Polish-Ghanian Economic Relations,
1957–1966
JAN KOURA (Charles University, Prague; Czech Academy of Sciences), Between
Modernization and Dependency: Czechoslovak Agricultural Assistance to Nkrumah’s Ghana
Moderator: PIOTR PUCHALSKI (UKEN)

Friday, 21 November

Old Library of the University of Warsaw (Stary BUW), room 308

ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28

10.00 – 11.10 | Socialist models of development in a comparative perspective
BARBORA MENCLOVÁ (Charles University), Contesting Modernization of the West:
Czechoslovakia in Cold War Angola and Mozambique
SIMON HUXTABLE (University of London), Schools for Solidarity: The Socialist Developmental
Model and the Training of African Journalists, c.1960-1970.
Moderator: BARBORA BUZÁSSYOVÁ (Slovak Academy of Sciences)

11.10 – 11.30 | Coffee break

11.30 – 12.40 | Ethiopia and Eastern Europe
SARAH HOWARD (University of Bristol), Socialist childcare between Ethiopia and Eastern
Europe from 1974

SARAH MARKS (University of London, UK), Czechoslovak Health Aid to Ethiopia during the
Selassie Period
Moderator: FILIP URBAŃSKI (University of Warsaw)

12.40 – 13.40 | Lunch
13.40 – 14.10 | Conclusions