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In this edition of Focus on Africa we present an array of highlights encompassing research partnerships, student and alumni impacts, and educational programs on the continent. We also bring you a snapshot of the various activities on campus that serve as an invaluable platform for substantive inquiry and discourse on Africa. This fall we launched the Hakeem & Myma Belo-Osagie Forum on Contemporary Africa with an inaugural lecture by Yale Law School alumnus H.E. Peter Arthur Mutharika, LLM '66. JSD '69, president of the Republic of Malawi. We hope you enjoy the issue.
- Eddie Mandhry, Director for Africa
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Malawi President visits Yale
Malawi President Peter Mutharika, '66 LL.M., '69 J.S.D., returned to Yale on October 1 for the first time since being elected president of Malawi to take part in the Hakeem & Myma Belo-Osagie Forum on Contemporary Africa. Speaking at the Law School, he highlighted the necessity of economic self-determination on the continent as democracy takes hold. "How can the people have true freedom," Mutharika said, "if they don't have the power to make economic choices?"
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Collaborating on biosafety training in Nigeria
Seeking to "train the trainers" on proper biosafety procedures for infectious disease outbreaks such as Ebola, Nigerian health officials turned to faculty and staff from Yale and Lagos Business School, who together trained more than 150 healthcare providers and public health officials on best practices. Among those participating was Lagos State Health Commissioner and Yale School of Public Health alumnus Dr. Jide Idris, who has been credited as the person responsible for controlling the Ebola epidemic in Nigeria. More >>
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A student-built network in West Africa
When two students got the idea to research entrepreneurship and investment opportunities in West Africa, they turned to the University of Ghana Business School, a member of the Global Network of Advanced Management, for help. That help flourished into a partnership, allowing the students to deepen their research and establish a network of local companies and other key players in the regional economy.
Their research has so far revealed the potential for growth in two large sectors: agriculture and energy. More >>
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Chronic disease on the rise in poor countries
Developing countries are now facing the same problems with chronic disease as the developed world faces, with rates of diabetes, heart disease, and cancer on the rise. Two new papers by Yale researchers in the journal
Health Affairs
examine the extent of the issue, and address the special challenges developing nations face in treating chronic disease, such as access to medications, gaps in funding, and policy that must change as awareness of the extent of the problem increases.
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First Fox Fellows share their experiences
Last year, the University of Ghana became the thirteenth school to join the Fox Fellowship Program, which allows exchanges between students at Yale and partner institutions all over the world.
The first three Fox Fellows: Jessica Brooks from Yale, and Mabel Oti-Boadi and Reuben Tete-Larbi from the University of Ghana, have provided updates on their transforming experiences both at Yale and in Ghana.
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Yale alums on hand as "Obamamania" reaches Kenya
As President Obama noted when he made his historic three-day trip to Kenya in July, Africa is a continent "on the move." Alumni Patrick Njoroge, '93 Ph.D., Wilmot Allen YC '89, and Aida Sykes YC '07 were in Nairobi to witness the presidential visit, which Allen sees as "both an exclamation point and a catalyst" for a continent in the middle of a period of profound economic growth and change.
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Mentoring African students on the continent
The Yale Young African Scholars (YYAS) program gathered 50 promising high school students from all over Africa in Rwanda, and another 50 in Zimbabwe this summer. The six-day program prepares talented African students for university studies, and exposes students to global issues and topics in international affairs in preparation for roles as future leaders in Africa and the world.
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Additional initiatives needed to fight poverty in Rwanda
Speaking at an Economic Policy Research Network lecture in Kigali, Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Economics Christopher Udry called for additional efforts by government and non-profit organizations to reduce poverty in Rwanda. Udry applauded Rwanda's Vision 2020 Umurenge program, which has lifted more than one million Rwandans in rural areas out of poverty, but, citing similar successful initiatives in other developing countries that give assets such as livestock to the poor, said that still more can be done to further decrease poverty.
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Advocating for wage subsidies in South Africa
James Levinsohn, professor of economics and director of the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, writes that wage subsidies could reduce high rates of youth unemployment in South Africa. Long-term strategies would include education reform, but in the short term, he says, a wage subsidy would encourage employers to hire young people with limited work experience. More >>
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PROGRAMS AND EVENTS
On Campus
Three African writers: Teju Cole, Helon Habila, and Ivan Vladislavić, won the 2015 Windham Campbell prizes for fiction; prizes were given at a ceremony during the Windham Campbell Festival on September 28. For more information on the writers, visit here >>
October 15:
Dr. Ibrahim Mayaki, the former Prime Minister of Niger and the CEO of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), will speak on NEPAD's role in implementing the African Union's 50-Year Vision as part of the inaugural Africa and Business & Society Club Africa Speaker Series at the School of Management. More >>
October 28: Billy Kahora, writer and managing editor of Kwani magazine, will speak with Stephanie Newell as part of the Council on African Studies Lecture Series. More >>
November 6: Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Undersecretary-General of the United Nations and executive director of UN Women speaks on gender and violence at the MacMillan Center.
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