The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center will host a networking breakfast and consult on creatives-centered content as part of the US-Africa Leaders Summit’s African and Diaspora Young Leaders Forum on December 13

WASHINGTON DC—DECEMBER 09, 2022—The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center announced today that it will partner with the US Department of State for the African and Diaspora Young Leaders Forum on December 13 as part of the US-Africa Leaders Summit. 

The Africa Center will harness its high-level and strong convening expertise to spotlight the African creative-industries sector, its signature initiative, during the three-day summit in Washington, DC. The center’s previous creative industries events include the Africa Creative Industries Summit in Washington in 2021 and the Sports Business Forum in Senegal in 2022.

“This partnership is such a privilege and a recognition of our work,” said Ambassador Rama Yade, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. “The Atlantic Council is Washington’s only global think tank to place African creative industries at the center of its work. We are honored to have been identified as a partner by the US government and welcome the opportunity to cooperate on highlighting world-class African artists, creators, and entrepreneurs.”

With support from the Open Society Foundation, the Africa Center will host a complimentary networking breakfast for Forum participants. The breakfast will be held alongside an interactive exhibitto welcome participants of the African and Diaspora Young Leaders Forum, supervised by the Africa Center. The exhibit will use physical and digital media as well as African textiles to showcase Africa and the diaspora’s creativity and to highlight several creative entrepreneurs from a wide range of artistic mediums who embody African potential in the field.

The Africa Center will also participate in the creative industry breakout session. This Davos-style dialogue on Africa’s creative industries, opened by Atlantic Council experts, will focus on music, film, and television as the subsectors of the economy with the greatest potential for growth and job creation. The event will aim to identify solutions to the challenges inhibiting the creative-industries sector’s monetization and growth and opportunities; highlight potential mechanisms for the United States to support African creative industries through public-private partnerships; and further discuss access to finance and investment, intellectual-property protection, and capacity building and mentoring.

The Africa Center is the Atlantic Council’s first regional program, founded in 2010. It works for dynamic geopolitical partnerships with African states by promoting better knowledge and narratives about Africa; strengthening the voice and influence of Africa in Washington, DC; and preparing American, European policymakers, and investors for the African century.

For more information on the US-Africa Leaders Summit, please contact the US Department of State. Due to spatial limitations, media participation at the Diaspora Forum will be invite-only to summit-credentialed press.