Director's Letter

In thinking about the Africa Initiative’s future direction, we started by asking the question: “What are Africa’s greatest assets presently and how can we build on them?” 

The first is demography. Africa has the largest proportion of young people in the world, and it can be a source of great energy, creativity and growth if harnessed properly. One of the goals is to encourage research on what realistic opportunities there are for young African graduates in our age of accelerating modern technological applications. My predecessor at the Africa Initiative, Dan Smith, built a strong program linking Brown to a collaborative network of universities, including Makerere University, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Ibadan and others, called the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), that can be leveraged for student education and training in innovation and entrepreneurship. 

Second, Africa has an abundance of critical minerals that are not presently being mined in a way that is not always environmentally responsible, nor safe for communities. We initiated work on a survey to determine where critical minerals are and whether the countries involved have regulatory systems to protect communities and the environment. I would like to see us build a program with colleagues who specialize in the earth sciences, engineering, environmental surveillance, public policy and governance, to work in this domain.

Third, Africa’s large tracts of cultivated and unused agricultural land have the potential to become breadbasket zones for Africa and perhaps the world. China’s Belt and Road Initiative has recognized the potential; they are investing at scale in this area — just monitor the investments and biotechnologies that are flowing into African agriculture at this moment. We need another green revolution and a new generation of GMOs, especially drought-resistant crops.

Finally, to recognise the contribution Africa leaders are making to global affairs we introduced a high-level speaker series titled African Leaders’ Contribution to Global Affairs:

• September 14 - Nelson Mandela, the Gold Standard. Wilmot James, Department of Health Services, Policy & Practice, Senior Advisor to the Pandemic Center and Director of the Africa Initiative.
• November 11 -  Reflections of the founding director of the Africa CDC and US Ambassador responsible for Pepfar. Guest: John Nkengasong, Mastercard Foundation.
• March 16 2027  - Opportunities, Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology. Guest: Solomon Assefa, Vice President IBM Research, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Sincerely,

Wilmot James
Director, Africa Initiative
Professor of Practice and Senior Advisor to the Pandemic Center at the School of Public Health