The Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a luncheon “transition seminar” for H.E. Akec Khoc, ambassador of the Republic of South Sudan to the United States, to introduce him to the policy community and assist him in orienting his mission.

South Sudan became independent as Africa’s fifty-fourth sovereign state on July 9, 2011. A little over a year later, on July 30, 2012, Ambassador Khoc presented his letters of credential to President Barack Obama formally accrediting him as its first ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary in Washington.

Participating in the event, moderated by Ansari Center Director J. Peter Pham, were the deputy chief of mission of the South Sudanese embassy, Ambassador Dhanojak Obongo; a number of Africa policy experts from the US government, think tanks, and advocacy organizations; and representatives of the private business sector.