Africa Center Commentary & Analysis

Roundtable with H.E. Paul Kagame

By Africa Center

On Monday, March 27, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a roundtable discussion with His Excellency Paul Kagame, president of the Republic of Rwanda. Atlantic Council Vice President and Africa Center Director Dr. J. Peter Pham  welcomed participants and former National Security Advisor General James L. Jones, Jr., USMC (ret.), chairman of the Atlantic Council’s […]

Africa Seen as Key to Addressing Global Challenges

By Rachel Ansley

An increase of investment and innovation in Africa has made the continent a rising power on the global stage and an essential partner for the United States in facing today’s myriad global challenges, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs, said at the Atlantic Council on March 9. “The truth is we […]

Africa’s place on the world stage: a public address by Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield

By Africa Center

On Thursday, March 9, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a public address by Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs the Honorable Linda Thomas-Greenfield on the future of US and global relations with Africa. Atlantic Council Vice President and Africa Center Director Dr. J. Peter Pham welcomed participants and introduced Thomas-Greenfield, who will leave […]

Roundtable discussion with Nigerian army delegation

By Africa Center

On Thursday, February 16, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted a roundtable discussion on the status of the fight against Boko Haram with Major General Johnny Hamakim, director general of the Nigerian Army Resource Centre; Major General David Ahmadu, chief of training and operations for the Nigerian Army; and Brigadier General Sadiq Ndalolo, the Nigerian […]

Opposition Leader Katumbi to Return to the DRC

Moïse Katumbi, a prominent opposition leader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), will return to the country to continue the fight for the first peaceful, democratic transition in its history. “My heart is with the Congolese people,” Katumbi said on February 16 at a meeting hosted by the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. “I […]

Roundtable Discussion with Moïse Katumbi

By Africa Center

On Thursday, February 16, the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center hosted Moïse Katumbi, joint opposition candidate for the presidency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and former governor of Katanga Province, for a roundtable discussion on the evolving political situation in the country. Vice President and Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham welcomed participants […]

Understanding Africa’s Disappointing Economic Growth in 2016

By Mayécor Sar

While sub-Saharan Africa has enjoyed an average economic growth of over 5 percent since the turn of the century, a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimate has sparked worries of a continent-wide slowdown. The report estimated that Africa’s combined gross domestic product (GDP) has grown by a mere 1.5 percent rate in 2016, the continent’s […]

Germany’s ‘Marshall Plan’ for Africa

By J. Peter Pham

Explicitly invoking the US aid initiative that rebuilt Western Europe’s devastated infrastructure and weakened economies after World War II as a bulwark against Communist expansionism, the German government unveiled its ambitious framework for a “Marshall Plan with Africa” (Eckpunkte für einen Marshallplan mit Afrika) on January 18 with the twin objectives of increasing trade and […]

A Democracy Test in The Gambia

By Kelsey Lilley

Even as Donald Trump was preparing for his inauguration as the next president of the United States, a more contentious transition of power was being attempted in the Gambia, where the incumbent president, Yahya Jammeh, has stubbornly refused to make way for President-elect Adama Barrow. Senegalese forces under the umbrella of Economic Community of West […]