The Afreximbank Africa Diaspora Center (AADC) is set to be launched on Monday, September 23, 2024, at The Africa Center at Aliko Dangote Hall in New York during the 2024 Future Africa Forum, the Africa Center and African Export-Import Bank has announced.
Afreximbank describes the initiative as groundbreaking, saying it will help bridge the gap between Africans on the continent and the African Diaspora.
“AADC will serve as an institutional gateway that connects Africans and people of African descent to each other, enhancing the flow of Africa-focused information, allowing them to better harness economic opportunities in Africa and the Diaspora, ultimately to the benefit all Africans irrespective of geographic location,” Afreximbank says in a statement.
It adds that the establishment of the AADC advances both The Africa Center’s mission to serve as a gateway for engagement with contemporary Africa, shifting understanding of the role of Africa, Africans, and people of African descent in today’s world, and Afreximbank’s mission to ‘create a vibrant and significantly sizeable economic force that can front the challenges of now and build opportunities for Africans of tomorrow’.
“In partnership, The Africa Center and Afreximbank will create a space where critical discussions on Africa’s role in the global landscape can take place, particularly at a time when the African Diaspora continues to play an influential role in shaping policy, demographics, and cultures around the world.
“Through this collaboration, both organizations aim to harness the power of the African Diaspora, facilitating individual and collective engagement with Africa in ways that are progressive, impactful, and transformative,” Afreximbank says in a statement.
The Africa Center CEO Dr. Uzodinma Iweala said the AADC launch demonstrates how The Africa Center continues to be an interdisciplinary institution that brings the ideas, people, and possibilities of Africa together.
“As the world converges in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly, The Africa Center stands as a critical venue for conversations, connections, and celebrations of African innovation. This is where the complexities of Africa’s past, present, and future can be explored and appreciated in their full depth,” Dr Iweala said.
He added that AADC will offer opportunities and relationships to Africans and people of African descent to better understand who they are as a global community and what they can accomplish for the future of Africa together.”
President and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Afreximbank Prof. Bennedict Oramah noted that the African Diaspora has snowballed into a significant economic bloc that is increasingly integrating into the broader African continent and facilitating exchange of ideas and resources.
In a polarizing world, Prof Oramah said, deepening the socio-economic engagements between Africa and its Diaspora towards a Global African Community has become urgent.
“The Afreximbank Africa Diaspora Center will serve as the gateway to harnessing and organizing African resources for the transformation of the fortunes of the African people, wherever they may be. We are most pleased to have launched this initiative, which is a further step to concretizing our ‘Global Africa’ Agenda,” he said.
The Africa Center will also open the exhibition Points of Resonance: Contemporary Photography in Africa on September 18, 2024.
Curated by Heba Farid and Zein Khalifa, founders of TINTERA gallery, and Sarah Sarofim, the exhibition brings together the work of 12 artists living and working in Africa and the Diaspora. They are Ibrahim Ahmed, Sammy Baloji, Fatoumata Diabaté, Nelly El Sharkawy, Maheder Haileselassie, Heba Khalifa, Seif Kousmate, Lebohang Kganye, Safaa Mazirh, Hashim Nasr, Nobukho Nqaba, and Dawit L. Petros.
“Employing the language and tools of photography, these artists explore the effects of colonialism, migration, and changing identities. Points of Resonance underscores common links across the African continent and its Diaspora, showing how the works resonate and echo each other, amplifying shared struggles, dreams, and aspirations,” the statement added.
The 2024 Future Africa Forum will include a panel conversation, special remarks by invited guests, and a celebration of African fashion, complemented by live music and African gastronomy.
