Dr. Nsah Mala

Dr. Nsah Mala (born Kenneth Nsah) is a Non-Resident Fellow in the Governance and Democracy Division of the Nkafu Policy Institute (Denis and Lenora Foretia Foundation). He holds a PhD (Arts, Literature and Cultural Studies, specialising in Comparative Literature and Environmental Humanities) from Aarhus University (Denmark) and an Erasmus Mundus Masters (Crossways in Cultural Narratives) from three European Universities: Université de Perpignan (France), University of St Andrews (UK), and Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (Spain). He trained as a Bilingual Teacher (English and French) at École Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Yaoundé and obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Bilingual Studies (English and French) from the University of Yaoundé 1. He also holds certificates from University of Oregon (USA), CESAG (Senegal), SOAS University of London (UK), Institute for the Future (USA), Thomson Reuters, and United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC).

Dr. Nsah Mala has worked for numerous institutions across the globe, including Cameroon’s government, Aarhus University (Denmark), Radboud University (Netherlands), Université de Lille (France), University of Cologne (Germany), and UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES Coalition. He has the French Qualification aux Fonctions de Maître des Conférences (MCF) du Conseil National des Universités (CNU). He has served as a consultant to international organisations and think tanks like Future Earth at CNRS (France), Fondation 2100 (France), Brookings Institution (USA) and Mongabay (USA). He is also affiliated with the School of International Futures (SOIF), University of Lancaster and University of Nottingham. As of April 2025, in addition to regular university lecturing, Dr. Nsah Mala has given over fifteen guest lectures in universities and delivered numerous conference presentations and high-level talks, including the facilitation of foresight workshops, in many countries and events. This includes countries like Cameroon, Czechia, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Norway, UK, Sweden, Switzerland, Japan, Dubai, USA, and Kenya, as well as events like the Dubai Future Forum (2023 & 2024), 2024 Wales Future Generations Forum, 2024 UN Civil Society Conferences, 2024 UN Summit of the Future (New York), and 2024 Belgian Presidency of the Council of Europe #StrongerTogether SSAH Conference, among others.

Nsah Mala has published numerous literary works (poetry collections, short stories, children’s books), peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, journalistic articles, and other public-facing publications. Some of his books and co-edited anthologies include Bites of Insanity (2015), If You Must Fall Bush (2016), CONSTIMOCRACY: Malafricanising Democracy (2017), Les Pleurs du mal (2019), Corpses of Unity – Cadavres de l’unité (2020), Andolo, the Talented Boy with Albinism (2020), and Ecotexts in the Postcolonial Francosphere (2025), among others. And he has placed viral pieces with international platforms such as Times Higher Education and The Conversation (Africa & France). He has been a judge in many contests and fellowships, notably the 2022 Mandela Washington Fellowship, the 2023 Southern Cameroons Poetry Prize, the 2024 World of 8 Billion Student Video Contest, the 2024 Young English Cameroon Writers Award, and the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Dr. Nsah Mala has received multiple awards, scholarships and fellowships, including the European Union Erasmus Mundus Masters Scholarship, Aarhus University PhD Fellowship, Young African Leaders Initiative RLC Fellowship, 2018 Caine Prize Literary Workshop, 2017 Malraux Literary Prize, 2022 Prix de Thèses Francophones en Prospective (Prize for Francophone Theses in Foresight and Futures Studies) from Fondation 2100 and Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (for his PhD thesis on the Congo Basin), and 2023 Next Generation Foresight Practitioner (NGFP) Fellowship. His studies and research have thus received funding from institutions like the British Academy, European Union, US Department of State, School of International Futures, and Seed Funding for the Cluster of Excellence at University of Cologne.

Dr. Nsah Mala volunteers with many organisations and is the Founder of an NGO called Africa Needs Us Foundation (ANUF). He is the Chairperson of the Mbessa Kingdom Indigenous Commission for Future Generations and Sustainability, and the Coordinator of the Mbessa Language Committee. He is a member of many professional bodies, especially the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE), Association of Professional Futurists (APF), and Société Française de Prospective (SFdP).

Operating professionally in English and French, Dr. Nsah Mala is an award-winning poet and writer, multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary researcher, foresight practitioner and futurist. He has expertise and a wealth of experience in education and research; comparative arts, literature and cultural studies; environmental humanities; sustainability science and sustainable development; planetary wellbeing; science-informed policymaking; foresight and futures thinking; future generations and anticipatory or long-term governance; as well as democratic innovation (especially deliberative and participatory democracy).