This year, and for the first time ever, the Sullivan Foundation organized The Africa Policy Forum: A Vision for the 21st Century, held in Atlanta, GA, intended to bridge the gap between Africa, the U.S. and citizens of both in an event which featured:

• High level policy forum on the Obama Administration’s policy to Africa
• Exclusive networking opportunities
• Exciting entertainment
• Critical education, health and economic opportunities
• Celebrities and live cultural events
• Sports events and much more for four full days in the international tourism capital of Atlanta, Georgia

Join Mrs. Hope Masters, President and CEO of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation in this provocative discussion assessing the 112th Congress and how newly elected officials will impact the future of Africa. She will discuss the topic with noted columnist and talk show host, Mr. Raynard Jackson.

Throughout history women have been disincluded (purposefully excluded) and disregarded. This is especially true in Africa. For hundreds of years women have been doing the majority of the work while receiving little to no credit. President and CEO Hope Masters will be joined by a very special guest.

Seventeen years ago, Reverend Leon H. Sullivan established a chain of investment groups that offered the power of the dollar to African American investors.  Now the Foundation that bears his name is taking this concept international with linkages to African stock exchanges and companies.  This forum at the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will explain the Self Help Investment Program (SHIP) process for maximizing African Diaspora return on investment. If you’re losing money in American markets, you need to invest in Africa.

African leaders such as Liberia’s Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Senegal’s Abdoulaye Wade have reached out to the African Diaspora to help in the advancement of their countries. What will this mean practically? Will these and other leaders accept dual citizenship for the Diaspora as the governments of Cameroon, Gabon, Nigeria and Sierra Leone have? Will many African Americans want to have an expanded linkage to Africa?

Can the African Diaspora help to rebuild the African continent? Interest in investing in Africa has risen in many corners of the world, including among institutional American investors. Building on Reverend Leon H. Sullivan’s Self-Help Investment Program (SHIP),  the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation is rebuilding SHIP by focusing on the opportunities for the African Diaspora investment in companies on the continent. How significant an impact wil this new source of foreign direct investment have on Africa’s future?

Speakers:

Hope Sullivan Masters, President and CEO of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation

Todd Pride, SHIP Organizer

Moderator: Gregory Simpkins, Vice President of the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation

The 28th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations began on Saturday, January 21 and is being co-hosted by Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. The 16 teams hail from Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Libya, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Tunisia, and Zambia.

The conference will be held for three weeks and conclude on Sunday, February 12.

Today was the first day of the 18th African Union Summit being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme is “Boosting Intra-African Trade” and the agenda will cover multilateral cooperation, refugees, returnees and displaced peoples as well as economy, trade, and emergency assistance for drought and famine victims. The summit marks the 23rd ordinary session of the permanent representatives and the 20th session of the executive council.

Click here to read the first press release from the summit.