Portia Roelofs

Dr. Portia Roelofs is a Lecturer in Politics at the Department of Political Economy, King's College London. She holds degrees from Oxford University (BSc PPE), SOAS (MA African Politics), and the London School of Economics (PhD International Development). Her research focuses on development studies, African politics, and political theory, particularly exploring governance, democracy, accountability, and decolonizing knowledge production. She has conducted fieldwork in Nigeria and held fellowships at LSE and St Anne’s College, Oxford. Currently, she co-convenes the Global Development Politics special group and serves on the editorial board of the African Arguments book series. Dr. Roelofs’ 2023 book *Good Governance in Nigeria* challenges conventional accountability frameworks through Yoruba case studies, while her ongoing research examines privatization dynamics and management consultants' roles in governance. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has supervised PhD students on topics like diaspora social media and Nigerian state legitimacy.

• Education:
• BSc Politics, Philosophy & Economics, Queen's College, Oxford
• MA African Politics, SOAS, University of London
• PhD International Development, LSE
• Affiliations:
• Research Associate, African Studies Centre, Oxford
• Co-Investigator, JFF-funded project on governance in Nigeria

Her work critiques global development paradigms and emphasizes localized African political frameworks. Recent contributions include analyses of urban renewal in Ibadan and pandemic governance transparency.