On March 28-29, 2014, visionary policy makers, innovative business leaders, philanthropists, accomplished academics, and proactive leaders of civil society organizations will gather at Harvard University for the 5th Annual African Development Conference (ADC).
This year’s conference takes place at an auspicious moment–shortly after and before the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of the African Union (AU) and the African Development Bank (AfDB), respectively. The Golden Jubilee of Africa’s premier development and governance institutions is therefore a unique chance to reflect on the journey thus far as well as forecast prospects for the future. With this forward-looking stance in mind, this year’s conference theme is “An Agenda for Africa’s Development: What Do We Want?”
Organized by a coalition of African student groups from various Harvard University schools (Harvard Law School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Graduate School of Design and Harvard College), the ADC aims to support Africa’s expedited structural transformation through intellectual debate and practical exchanges on issues from the fields of law, government, technology, health, education, design, media, business and more.
This year’s edition of the ADC is organized in two main parts: (i) an “I Am A Professional African (IAAPA)” networking mixer organized in collaboration with Face2Face Africa on the evening of Friday March 28th 2014 at the Sheraton Commander Hotel and; (ii) a full-day panel and plenary conference on Saturday March 29th 2014 at the Harvard Law School.
Day two will commence with a high-level discussion about the pre-requisites for an Africa’s transformation agenda that will be delivered by four leading development executives. The conference will then break into ten (10) thematic panel sessions. Finally, the conference will conclude with a plenary session that will summarize key recommendations from the panels and discuss specific cross-sectorial implications in order to address the question posed by the theme of this year’s conference—“An agenda for Africa’s development: What do we want?”
For more information, please visit www.harvardadc.com or email harvardadc@gmail.com
