Africa Program
The Africa Program works to address the most critical issues facing Africa and U.S.-Africa relations, build mutually beneficial U.S.-Africa relations, and enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa in the United States. The Program achieves its mission through in-depth research and analyses, including our Africa Up Close blog, public discussion, working groups, and briefings that bring together policymakers, practitioners, and subject matter experts to analyze and offer practical options for tackling key challenges in Africa and in U.S.-Africa relations.
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Brown Capital Management Africa Forum High-Level Meeting: Strengthening the Role of African Sovereign Wealth Funds in the International Financial System: Interplay between Policy, Governance, and Sustainability
On Thursday and Friday, August 11-12, 2022, the Brown Capital Management Africa Forum at the Wilson Center hosted its third high-level meeting for Africa sovereign wealth funds in Washington, D.C. This high-level meeting convened 15 African countries, including the heads of sovereign wealth fund CEOs as well as deputy ministers, US officials, private sector leaders, and representatives from US and international, financial, and development institutions and initiatives. The opening and closing ceremonies were webcast and are available to watch.
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The Brown Capital Management Africa Forum
Launched in September 2015, the Brown Capital Management Africa Forum provides a premier platform for substantive and solution-oriented dialogue on key trade, investment, and development issues in Africa, and in U.S.-Africa relations. The Brown Capital Management Africa Forum has been generously funded by Brown Capital Management, LLC (Baltimore, MD) since its inception in 2015.
The Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding
Centering African knowledge and agency is key to building and sustaining peace in Africa. The Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding (SVNP) is a network of 22 African policy, research, and academic organizations that works with the Wilson Center’s Africa Program to attain the most appropriate, cohesive, and inclusive policy frameworks and approaches for achieving sustainable peace in Africa. Generously funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York since its establishment in 2011, the SVNP works to generate African knowledge to inform U.S. and international peacebuilding policies on Africa; help build the next generation of African peacebuilders through its scholarship program; and create a pan-African network of African peacebuilding organizations, practitioners, and experts to collaborate and share knowledge, best practices, and lessons learned on peacebuilding in Africa.
Stafford Capacity Building Internship Program
The goal of the internship is to develop and build the professional capacities of the next generation of Africanists and international public policy analysts. The program accomplishes this by bringing in a diverse pool of interns from colleges and universities across the United States to support the mission and work of the Africa Program, while exposing them to careers in international public policy and research, boosting their practical experience and professional skills, and providing them with mentorship opportunities. This project has been generously funded by Mr. Earl W. Stafford and the Wentworth Group since its establishment in 2019.
Sudans Working Group
Through high-level working groups, the Africa Program provides a platform for in-depth, candid discussions and offers real-time options and actionable ideas for addressing pressing issues confronting Africa and U.S.-Africa relations.
AFRICA PROGRAM IN THE NEWS
A New Day for U.S.-Tanzania Relations: A Conversation with H.E. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the Republic of Tanzania
The Wilson Center Africa Program hosted A Conversation with H.E. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania to discuss key challenges and opportunities for the future of U.S.-Tanzania relations in various spheres. President Samia discussed her vision for Tanzania and U.S.-Tanzania relations during a candid conversation with Ambassador Mark Green, President and CEO of the Wilson Center and former U.S. Ambassador to Tanzania from 2007-2009. They explored new models of aid with a focus on trade and mutual benefits, lessons from COVID, education for adolescent mothers, and more.
YALI 10th Anniversary Commemorative Book and Competition Book Release
Established in 2010, the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is the U.S. Government’s signature effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders. In 2021, the U.S. government hosted the 10th anniversary celebration of YALI through a series of events and activities. The YALI 10th Anniversary Commemorative and Competition Books were produced to memorialize this momentous milestone. As the implementing partner of "Ten Plus Ten: YALI and the United States Look Back, and Ahead, Together,” the Africa Program invites you to read these two publications memorializing this celebration of YALI.
Program Staff
Fellows
James A. Schear
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, US Department of Defense
Christopher Maloney
Senior Director for Strategy and Business Development, Digital Impact Alliance (DIAL) at the UN Foundation
Terence McNamee
Independent
Donna A. Patterson
Professor, Department of History, Political Science, and Philosophy, Delaware State University
Adesoji Adelaja
John A Hannah Distinguished Professor in Land Policy, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics
Olufemi Vaughan
Alfred Sargent Lee and Mary Ames Lee Professor of Black Studies, Amherst College
Daniel Agbiboa
Assistant Professor, Harvard University
Worku Gachou
Head of North America Inclusive Impact & Sustainability, Visa, Inc.; Adjunct Professor, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Naser Yenus Nuru
Assistant Professor of Economics, Adigrat University
Scholars
Florence Odiwuor
Lecturer, School of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, Rongo University, Kenya
Hyginus Banko Okibe
Lecturer, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Department of Political Science
Monde Muyangwa
For too long, U.S.-Africa relations were defined by Cold War calculations, humanitarian crises, and conflict and insecurity, while economic and development matters were largely on the periphery of U.S. engagement with the continent. Since 2014, there has been an effort to re-position U.S.-Africa relations by bringing business and economic relations squarely into the center of U.S.-Africa relations.
📝 BLOG: @johnsunday123 writes on recent conflicts in southern Nigeria and identifies possible reasons for the influ… t.co/k9EFirQVeb
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