Africa Policy Breakfast #2: AGOA and Obama in Africa

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Ade Adefuye, AGOA, ECOWAS, Florie Liser, Grant T. Harris, Karen Bass, Microsoft Africa, Power Africa, Somduth Soborun, Stephanie Peters, Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, YALI

As I have previously mentioned, AGOA is not a mechanism for American engagement in Africa that I find particularly compelling.  However, the glowing DC discourse on AGOA is probably indicative of a need for me to brush up on its provisions.

Yesterday I attended my second Africa Policy Breakfast (per my usual disclaimer I departed 30 minutes early), an 8am gathering of DC African power brokers in a very rectangular room in the main Library of Congress building.  I missed the full list of

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Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders is Ready for Take Off

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Airlift Africa, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Obama Africa, Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, White House Africa, World Learning, Young African Leaders Initiative

The Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders was only announced by Obama a few weeks ago, while he was in South Africa.  However, the Washington machinery (public and private) is already gearing up for the initiative.

Organizations wishing to profit from the government’s largesse have until the end of August to submit their applications to secure a cooperative agreement with the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs to the tune of roughly over 6 million.  World Learning is one organization that will be bidding, as they are already soliciting for a Project Director to name in their proposal.

The award is expected to last from the end of November 2013 to the end of June 2015.  By the time it is complete, 500 young African leaders will have received six weeks of training at a US higher education institution on one of three topics: business, civic leadership, and public management.  Approximately 100 of these young leaders will also have the opportunity to gain hands on learning experience from a 2 month internship.

All in all, the Fellowship seems like a very exciting development, even if it may not match the magnitude of the ‘Africa airlifts‘ in the 1960s that brought Barack Obama’s father to America.