For over 20 years, the goal of the Wilson Center Africa Program has been to address the most critical issues facing Africa and US-Africa relations, build mutually beneficial US-Africa relations, and enhance knowledge and understanding about Africa in the United States.

A primary focus of our work is to bridge the gap between African knowledge and US policy formulation on governance, development, and peacebuilding in Africa. Of note, some of the most significant issues facing Africa are governance and democracy. Legitimate systems need to be in place and serve as a foundation so peace, security, and sustainable development can properly function. Our focus throughout September addressed the topic of good governance in Africa with in-depth expert insights and analysis on current leadership, recent election outcomes, the resurgence of coups, and the state of democracy across the continent.

We also hosted our Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding (SVNP) in Pretoria, South Africa this month. Established by the Africa Program in 2011, the SVNP is a network of 20+ Pan-African organizations that seek to foster dialogue and increase the visibility of African perspectives within the US policy arena. The Africa Program was also in Accra, Ghana where it hosted a meeting with SVNP members WANEP and SADEQ institute to explore the changing socio-political landscape in the Maghreb-Sahel, examine the role of external actors, discuss the impacts of the spate of coups in the region, and offer policy recommendations to inform the actions of national and international actors engaging in the region.

We invite you to read the analysis and watch the events, share with your networks, and follow us on Twitter/X and LinkedIn.

With thanks,

Oge Onubogu

Director, Wilson Center Africa Program

Takeaways from the 2023 Southern Voices Network for Peacebuilding Conference

In this article, Africa Program Director Oge Onubogu reflects on a week's worth of discussion and dialogue with key takeaways focusing on this year's conference theme of examining democracy, governance, and peacebuilding in Africa.

Some takeaways from the week-long conference include:

• Africa’s youth want better and more accountable governance and insist on democratic governance and development simultaneously. A two-track approach focusing on good governance and trade integration must be prioritized to drive sustainable development in Africa.
• The quality of democratic governance in Africa is declining, impacting the citizen debate about the value of democracy, particularly among younger citizens who might show more tolerance to military intervention than the older generation.
• US and international partnerships to strengthen governance must address the problem of “Democracy Capture” in many African countries, where the political context may seem formally democratic. However, public policies are still largely developed to favor elite interests.
• There is a need to articulate Africa’s strategic governance and development vision for engaging with the changing global landscape. Will the African Union’s (AU) recent invitation to join the G20 encourage a degree of policy coherence from the AU?
• Africa’s Think Tanks and research organizations remain a largely untapped resource by their governments and the international community.
• Evidence-based policies are required to spur development in Africa. Bridging the gap between academia, research, and policy is more important today than ever. Read the full article here.

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