About
the Center
Development
of the Center
The public phase of the Center's development was inaugurated during the Fall 2001 symposium - "Democratization and Free Market Reform in Africa: After the African Growth and Opportunity Act, What's Next?" Participants included former and present government officials, private sector leaders, members of the University community, and members of the philanthropic community. Following this inaugural event, the Center's development proceeded in three (3) phases:
PHASE I focused on establishing three (3) core programs of the Center's work: the African President 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 involved developing several
new programs and initiatives.
- The African Presidential Roundtable, a multi-continental conversation, uniting former democratically elected African heads of state with students, faculty, and leaders from the public and private sectors in the United States, Europe, and Africa around issues pertinent to growth and development on the African continent.
- The American-African Universities (AAU) Collaborative, provides an opportunity to use the American and African university communities as focal points in a trans-continental conversation about African policy issues, particularly those that focus on democracy, free market reform, and globalization.
- The Communique (APARC Newsletter), is a bi-annual publication on APARC initiatives and programming distributed worldwide.
- African Presidential Papers Project (in addition to the papers of former democratically elected Presidents, the Center has also procured the papers of other important figures in the development of Africa)
- The Bob Ward Collection of art, books, and historical documents from the African continent.
- Africa and the Media Project (including archival material from the CNN program “Inside Africa”)
- Website with information on political and economic trends in Sub-Saharan Africa
PHASE III
will cap the establishment of the Center. The primary objective of this phase will be to construct a facility on the Boston University campus to house the African Presidential Library and the programs and projects of the Center.
- Visiting Lecturer Program
- Visiting Professor Program
- Opinion Leaders Lecture Series
- Opinion Leaders Symposia and Conferences
- Project for the Study of Free Market Development in Africa
- Post Doctoral Fellowships
- Course development on democratization and free market reform in Africa
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 provides 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 also facilitates 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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