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Chuks Udo Okonta
The Africa Center and African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) (www.AfreximBank.com) have announced the upcoming launch of the Afreximbank Africa Diaspora Center (AADC), a groundbreaking initiative that will help bridge the gap between Africans on the continent and the African Diaspora, and the African continent. 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.
The official AADC launch event will take place at the 2024 Future Africa Forum on Monday, September 23, 2024, from 4:30pm EST at The Africa Center at Aliko Dangote Hall, 1280 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York.
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, African people, 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.
Dr. Uzodinma Iweala, CEO of The Africa Center said, “The launch of the Afreximbank Africa Diaspora Center at The Africa Center during the annual Future Africa Forum, 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 (UNGA), 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. We are excited about the opportunities and relationships the AADC will offer Africans and people of African descent to better understand who we are as a global community and what we can accomplish for the future of Africa together.”
To celebrate this historic milestone, Professor Bennedict Oramah, President and Chairman of the Board of Directors at Afreximbank said, “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, 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.”
Alongside the launch of the Afreximbank Africa Diaspora Center, 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 – an independent curator and editor, based in Cairo, Egypt. The exhibition brings together the work of twelve artists living and working in Africa and the Diaspora: 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 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. Points of Resonance will be free and open to the public for two months, showcasing the dynamic interplay of African and Diaspora identities.
About The Africa Center
The Africa Center is a multidisciplinary 501c3 nonprofit institution helping to shape a vision of Africa’s future. Serving as a gateway to engagement with contemporary Africa, and as a platform for the exchange of ideas around culture, business, and policy as related to the African continent, The Africa Center advances thought and action around Africa’s global influence and impact on our collective futures.
Follow The Africa Center on X (https://apo-opa.co/4cWFfh2), Facebook (https://apo-opa.co/4dRkFjC), Instagram (https://apo-opa.co/47ibwhF), and YouTube (https://apo-opa.co/47d8ISN) @TheAfricaCenter.
About African Export-Import Bank
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is a Pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance and promote intra-and extra-African trade. For 30 years, the Bank has been deploying innovative structures to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialization and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa. A stalwart supporter of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Afreximbank has launched a Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) that was adopted by the African Union (AU) as the payment and settlement platform to underpin the implementation of the AfCFTA. Working with the AfCFTA Secretariat and the AU, the Bank is setting up a US$10 billion Adjustment Fund to support countries effectively participating in the AfCFTA. At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37.3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6.1 billion. Afreximbank has investment grade ratings assigned by GCR (international scale) (A), Moody’s (Baa1), Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) (A-) and Fitch (BBB). Afreximbank has evolved into a group entity comprising the Bank, its impact fund subsidiary called the Fund for Export Development Africa (FEDA), and its insurance management subsidiary, AfrexInsure (together, “the Group”). The Bank is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt.
About the Points of Resonance curators
Heba Farid and Zein Khalifa are co-founders of TINTERA gallery, a photographic art consultancy with a gallery in Zamalek, Cairo, and an office in London. Their aim is to raise the profile of both contemporary and historical photography in and out of Egypt through a program of curated exhibitions, events and research projects. They represent artists from Egypt and elsewhere, emerging and established, with Egypt being the common inspiration in their work. www.Tintera.art
Sarah Sarofim is an independent curator and editor based in Cairo. She was awarded the fall 2020 Editorial Residency at Canadian Art magazine and most recently curated Impressions as part of Cairo Photo Week 2023. Sarofim is an Art History and Visual Studies graduate of the University of Toronto.
