About
the Center
Development
of the Center
The public phase
of the Center's development will be inaugurated with a Fall
2001 symposium - "Democratization and Free Market Reform
in Africa: After the African Growth and Opportunity Act, What's
Next?" Participants will include former and present government
leaders, private sector leaders, members of the University
community, and members of the philanthropic community. In
tandem with the planning of this inaugural event, the Center's
development will proceed in three (3) phases.
PHASE I
will focus on establishing three (3) core programs of the
Center's work: the African Presidents in Residence Program,
the Public Papers/Private Conversations Project, and the Annual
African Leaders' State of Africa Report.
PHASE II
of the Center's evolution will involve developing several
new programs and initiatives. The following are examples of
possible foci of the Center:
- African Presidential
Papers Project (in addition to the papers of former democratically
elected Presidents, the Center would also seek to procure
the papers of other important figures in the development
of Africa)
- Visiting Lecturer
Program
- Visiting Professor
Program
- Opinion leaders
Lecture Series
- Opinion Leaders
Symposia and Conferences
- Africa and
the Media Project (to include archival material from CNN
program Inside Africa)
- Website with
up-to-date information on political and economic trends
in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Project for
the Study of Free Market Development in Africa
- Post Doctoral
Fellowships
- Course development
on democratization and free market reform in Africa
- Host the Corporate
Council on Africa bi-annual Summit
PHASE III
will cap the establishment of the Center. The primary objective
of this phase will be the construction/reconstruction of a
facility on the Boston University campus to house the African
Presidential Library and the programs and projects of the
Center.
Conclusion
The establishment
of the African Presidential Archives and Research Center is
timely. There is a dearth of opportunities for former democratically
elected African leaders to offer their vital perspectives
to the ongoing discussion of Africa's place in the global
community. The Center will provide a necessary and credible
forum for these leaders to continue to contribute to the improvement
of Africa and the broadening of the world's understanding
of Africa's problems and potential. Given the consolidation
of economic activity globally, the international reach of
pandemics like HIV/AIDS, the fragility of African democracies
and the nascent stage of their free market reforms, a Center
such as APARC is critical if Africa's issues and interests
are to become part of the broader policy debates taking place
internationally. APARC will also facilitate an informed
understanding here in the U.S. of the many points at which
our own and Africa's interests intersect.
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The Director
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APARC