July/august 2024

Dear Colleagues,

In July and August, the Africa Program took on a wide range of projects related to trade, investment, and peacebuilding.

As part of the 21st US-sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum (AGOA Forum), the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Africa Program hosted the AGOA Civil Society and Organized Labor Forum on July 24th. The event featured remarks from US Trade Representative, Ambassador Katherine Tai, USAID Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Africa, Dr. Monde Muyangwa, and an array of African and US leaders from government, civil society, and organized labor. The conversation focused on strategies to enhance AGOA’s efficacy in the future, with takeaways from the conference informing discussion at the AGOA ministerial.

The month of August marked 500 days since the outbreak of fighting in Sudan. In partnership with the Wilson Center Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative, the Africa Program participated in an event on the conflict’s internal displacement. The Wilson Center Sudans Working Group (SWG) continues to serve as a space for key stakeholders to share analyses and perspectives and provide policy options for addressing the conflict. Hear more about the activities of the SWG in a recent edition of Wilson NOW - a podcast series of brief, incisive conversations with leading experts that make sense of today's headlines and the forces behind them.

The Africa Program was pleased to debut our African Leadership Perspectives (ALP) Series with our Inaugural speaker H.E Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The ALP series invites African public figures and former African heads of state to the Wilson Center to share their perspectives on Africa’s leadership role in the evolving global arena.

We are excited to share more of our highlights from July and August in this newsletter. Follow us on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook to stay up to date on our programming.

Thank you for your continued engagement with the publications and insights produced by the Africa Program’s network of experts and scholars.

Sincerely,

Oge Onubogu, Director, Wilson Center Africa Program

AGOA Civil Society and organized labor forum

Watch the event, and read the event report and summary presented at the AGOA ministerial. To stay informed on all things AGOA, check out our Road to Reauthorization Collection page as well.

African Leadership Perspectives Series

In our inaugural session of the Africa Leadership Perspective series, H.E. Obasanjo reflected on his time as Nigeria’s president and the challenges he and his fellow African leaders faced leading Africa into the 21st century.

Sudans Working Group

The Africa Program continues to promote locally informed analysis of the crisis in Sudan as a top priority. Most recently, this took the form of a Wilson NOW podcast conversation and an event we co-sponsored with the Wilson Center’s Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative (RAFDI).

Africa Up Close

The Africa Up Close blog brings accessible and in-depth insights from experts, policymakers, and practitioners on current events and research from across the continent. Review our most recently featured articles:

Interested in contributing to Africa Up Close? Have you recently submitted something but not heard back? Send your submissions to our new Program Coordinator at nathaniel.oakes@wilsoncenter.org. Your insights are critical to enhancing understanding of current events on the continent, and we look forward to reading your submissions!

Upcoming Events

Join the Africa Program on Tuesday, September 17, for a discussion on how policymakers and investors can harness Africa’s critical minerals to build infrastructure and new economies on the continent.

New Members of the Africa Program

We are pleased to welcome two new members to the Africa Program! Aaron Stanley will serve as our Senior Program Associate and Nathaniel Oakes as our Program Coordinator. Welcome to the team, Aaron and Nathaniel!

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