PAST IAFS EVENTS

		April 24, 2023: Expanding Commercial Engagement in Africa: The 2023 David H. Miller Memorial Lecture with Reta Jo Lewis, President and Chair of the Board of the U.S. Export-Import Bank.  Co-sponsored by the Onero Institute, Young Black Professionals in International Affairs, and Delta Phi Epsilon Foreign Service Fraternity. More Information
		April 23, 2023: Overshadowed: Armed Conflicts in Africa. With former assistant secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy; Victor Marsai, Director, Migration Institute of Hungary; and Klaudia Toth, Migration Institute. Moderated by Elliott School Prof. Paul Williams. In partnership with the Security Policy Studies Program.
		April 13, 2023: Renewing the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act: What Comes Next? With keynote address by H.E. Albert Muchanga, African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry. In partnership with the AGOA Civil Society Network. Full Agenda
		March 29, 2023: Africa Career Talk: With recent Elliott School alumni Jayde Lyon, U.S. State Department; Max Bone, International Republican Institute; Tomas Husted, Congressional Research Service.
		March 28, 2023: “Rethinking Development: Foreign Aid Localization in Africa” co-hosted with the GW Africa Development Initiative (GWADI). With Chimue Effrong, Global Giving; Mohyel Omer, USAID; Phiwokuhle Mnyundo, Howard University; James Winker, Creative Associates.
		March 27, 2023: Africa’s Future: Trade and Investment, with Geoffrey Garrett, Dean of the USC Marshall School of Business; Afua Hirsch, University of Southern California; Caesar Mwangi, Executive Dean, Strathmore University Business School, Nairobi; Laird Treiber, professorial lecturer, Elliott School and Senior Adviser, Corporate Council on Africa.
		February 28, 2023: “Africa’s Future: Democracy and Human Rights,” with Ambassador Salah S. Hammad, Head of the African Governance, Peace and Security Architecture (AGA-APSA) Secretariat; Commissioner Ourveena Geereesha Topsy-Sonoo and Peoples’ Rights; Dr. Nikiwe Kaunda, Policy Manager for Africa, Open Society Foundations.
		January 30, 2023: “The 2022 U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit: Review and Looking Forward,” co-hosted by the Elliott School’s Institute for African Studies; Howard University’s Center for African Studies; the African Center for the Study of the United States at the University of Witwatersrand; and the Annenberg Center for Communication Leadership and Policy. With IAfS Director Jennifer Cooke; Krista Johnson, Howard University; Gilbert Khadiagala, Witwatersrand University; Gifty Obeng, Good Governance Africa, Ghana; Adam Clayton Powell III, USC.
		December 16, 2022: “Africa’s Future: University Partnerships, Business, Tech and Diplomacy,” co-hosted by the GW Institute for African Studies; Howard University’s Center for African Studies; the African Center for the Study of the United States at the University of Witwatersrand; and the USC Annenberg Center for Communication Leadership & Policy. Keynote address by Judd Devermont, Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council.

December 12, 2022: “Peace, Trade, and Youth: Highlighting Youth Perspectives on U.S.-Africa Collaboration,” in partnership with Search for Common Ground, the Social Science Research Council’s Africa Peace Network, USIP, and the African Union. Speakers included Desirée Cormier Smith, U.S. Special Representative for Racial Equity & Justice; Dr. Rhuks Ako, African Union Youth for Peace Coordinator; Christian Achaleke, African Union Youth for Peace Ambassador for Central Africa.    Video Available

December 11, 2022: “Visionary African Leaders Summit,” in partnership with the Senegal-based GE7. Featured speakers included world-renowned Chef Pierre Tham; Sidi Ould Tah, chair of the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa; Don Stephens, founder of Mercy Ships, representatives from the African Development Bank, the African Export-Import Bank and a conversation with Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, moderated by IAfS director Jennifer Cooke.

November 17, 22: “Building Resilient Generations: Lessons from Uganda,” a discussion with development practitioners: Christine Gottshalk, director, center for Resilience, Bureau for Food Security, USAID; Kelly Saldana, Abt Associates; Dorothy Muroki, Chief of Party, Integrated Community Agriculture and Nutrition (ICAN), Abt Associates Uganda; Roslyn Brock, Abt Associates.

November 16, 2022: Discussion: The IMF’s Africa Regional Economic Outlook, in partnership with the Institute for International Economic Policy.

September 22, 2022: “South Africa in Crisis? Charting a Course Toward Democratic Renewal,” a discussion on political, economic and social developments with South African media leaders: Mondli Makhanya, Editor, City Press Newspaper; Pule Molebelde, Managing Director for News and Media at Arena Holdings; Ranjeni Munusami, journalist; and Branko Brkic, Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Maverick.

September 11, 2022: IAfS Research Talk with Dr. Lassane Ouedraogo of the  Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo in Ougadougou, on “Understanding the Sahel’s Slide Toward Authoritarianism: Regional Dynamics and Prospects.”

May 2, 2022: The David H. Miller Memorial Lecture: “Supporting African-Led Development, with Travis Adkins, President and CEO, African Development Foundation.

April 5, 2022: The Islamic State in Africa. Dr. Jason Warner, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at West Point, discussed his new book on the emergence, evolution, and likely trajectory of nine ISIS affiliate groups in Africa.

April 4, 2022: African Peacekeeping: A Discussion with Nina Wilén. Dr. Wilén presented on her recent book (co-authored with Jonathan Fisher) on African soldiers in peacekeeping operations and how deployment of peacekeepers has shaped African state building and  international relations.

March 22, 2022: A Discussion with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi. President Bihi discussed his country’s economic and political progress and its quest for deeper international engagement and recognition.

March 8, 2022: IAfS Africa Career Chat.  With Pierre Tantchou and Jonathan Eigege, respectively director and analyst in the Albright Stonebridge Group’s Africa Practice.

February 28, 2022: Somaliland: Inside and Out. Elliott School alumnus Max Webb led discussion with Omar Mahmood,  senior analyst for Somalia with the International Crisis Group, and Mohamed Farah Hersi, director of the Somaliland-based Academy for Peace and Development, on political developments in Somaliland and how geopolitical dynamics in the Red Sea region are affecting its prospects for international recognition.  (In partnership with the Onero Institute.)

January 12, 2022: The Political Economy of Belonging to Liberia. A book talk with Dr. Robel Neajai Pailey, assistant professor in international social and public policy at LSE and author of Development (Dual) Citizenship and Its Discontents in Africa: The Political Economy of Belonging in Liberia.  Video Available

November 22, 2021: Autocratic Adaptability in Uganda: Coercion, Clientelism, and Control.  With Dr. Moses Khisa, Assistant Professor of Political Science, North Carolina State University, discussed his research on how institutions, resources, and coalitions have been used to propel autocratization and assure regime resilience during Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s 35-year tenure. Video Available.

October 29, 2021: The Idea of Immunity: West African Medicine in the Age of Enlightenment. Distinguished Visiting Scholar Dr. Ike Achebe, presented on the little-known therapeutic systems, medical societies, and surgical guilds that were in operation in the kingdoms and states of West Africa during the late 17th century, and how they contributed to ending the smallpox pandemic in Boston in 1721. 

October 15, 2021: Defending Democracy: The Vital Role of Africa’s Free Press.  Branko Brkic, founder and editor-in-chief of South Africa’s Daily Maverick, and Dapo Olorunyomi, founder and publisher of Nigeria’s Premium Times, discussed the vital role of independent media in holding the powerful to account and the challenges that independent journalists and media houses confront in Africa today.

October 14, 2021: U.S. Army in Africa: Partnering for Security in Challenging Times. Major General Andrew M. Rohling, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa Commander, discussed the U.S. Army’s perspective on Africa’s changing security landscape and the challenges and opportunities of partnering with African counterparts on shared priorities.

August 26, 2021: A Conversation with Tanzanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Liberata Mulamula. Former IAfS Asssociate Director and Visiting Scholar Ambassador Liberata Mulamula returned to the Elliott School for a conversation on her time at GW and the challenges of her new job as Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

April 23, 2021: Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad.  Author Michela Wrong discussed her book on the assassination of a former head of Rwandan intelligence and the nature of the Rwandan regime.

March 26, 2021: Campaigns to End Violence against Women: Lessons from Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia.  Dr. Peace Medie, author of Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence Against Women in Africa.

March 12, 2021: Do Endorsements by Traditional Leaders Affect Voter Attitudes? Lessons from Ghana’s 2020 Presidential Election.  A research talk with Dr. George Ofosu, Assistant Professor of Comparative Government, London School of Economics.

March 9, 2021: Africa after COVID-19: Charting a New Course for Economic Growth and Development. Vera Songwe, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa; Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO of the African Union Development Agency/NEPAD; and Khaled Sherif, Vice President for Regional Development with the African Development Bank, discussed the need to “building back better” in the midst of the global pandemic.

February 13, 2021: Converging Crises in the Sahel: Situation Update and the Path Forward.  With Mohammed Ibn Chambas, UN Special Representative to West Africa and the Sahel, and El-Ghassim Wane, Elliott School Visiting Shapiro Professor of International Affairs.

January 6, 2021: How Insurgency Begins: Rebel Group Formation in Uganda and Beyond.  A book talk with Dr. Janet Lewis, GW Assistant Professor of Political Science.

December 4, 2020: Ethiopia’s Tigray Crisis: Humanitarian and Political Dimensions of the Crisis. A discussion with Patrick Youssef, Regional Director for Africa, ICRC; Beza Tesfaye, MercyCorps; Hardin Lang, Vice President for Programs and Policy, Refugees International; Elizabeth Hume, Vice President, Alliance for Peacebuilding on the unfolding Tigray crisis and its impacts on the surrounding region. Video Available.

November 3, 2020: Science Diplomacy & Partnership in Africa: Research Partnerships and Capacity Building in the Time of COVID-19, featuring a keynote address by Africa CDC Director Dr. John Nkengasong.  See event page for details.

October 23, 2020: The African Continental Free Trade Agreement: Trading Up in the Era of COVID-19. Albert Machanga, African Union Commissioner for Trade and Industry; Florizelle Liser, President and CEO, Corporate Council on Africa; and Tony Carroll, Vice President, Manchester Trade, discussed the progress and prospects of the ACFTA, which if successful could lift some 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty.

EVENTS ARCHIVE