Background on Africa Agenda
Founded on December 11, 2004 by George Bamu and formed as a 501C(3) non-profit organization, governed under Colorado state and the Internal Revenue Service(IRS) laws, Africa Agenda’s mission is to promote positive African News through engagement with the community, mass media outlets, leaders and lay people.
More than an information portal, Africa Agenda is a news media and education organization and a work -in-progress. The organization plans to be a leader in the projection of positive and accurate images of Africa in order to boost the socio-political and economic development of the continent. Africa Agenda follows the trends in education, economic development, and democracy in Africa that need media exposure and for a balanced perspective about Africa in the 21st century.
Since March 2005, we have conducted over one hundred (100) breakthrough Africa related forums and events around the Denver metro area. The organization has invited top officials within African government-U.S non-governmental organizations to Denver for discussions about African development. During this time, the organization not only partnered and worked with over fifty (50) organizations and communities; our activities have placed increasing focus on the significant role that a vibrant Africa can play in the world today.
Recently, our organization has worked with the Peace JAM Foundation, Rocky Mountain PBS TV, Denver Film Society, the City of Aurora, the Community College of Aurora, the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, East Africa Community Center in Greeley, the University of Colorado in Boulder, University of Denver, Liberty Day, Metro State College of Denver, the Denver Presbytery, Smoky Hill High School, Project CURE among many others. These relationships have proved fruitful in forging education and development within the African community in Colorado.
In 2008, Africa Agenda held the Z imbabwe Talk as well as the Kenya Media and Citizens Dialogue, organized in the aftermath of election violence in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Throughout 2009, Africa Agenda accomplished numerous positive news reportings in the Colorado media market; including in-depth Africa articles, broadcast reports, workshops and conferences in the Greeley Tribune, Aurora Sentinel, Aurora Ch.8 TV, Aurora Comcast Ch. 54 TV and the Denver Urban Spectrum respectively.
As part of a freedom of information(FOI) initiative dubbed the Cameroon Information and Education Day(CIED), Africa Agenda recently printed and distributed 1000 booklets of the revised Cameroon constitution, using locally donated paper. You can learn more about CIED through the resources section of this website.
In May 2009, we launched the Cameroon Information and Education Project (CIEP), to help bridge the knowledge and information gap about Cameroon. As part of the CIEP, the organization invited leaders from the Cameroonian embassy in Washington DC and the local community to discuss the future of Cameroon. In a period of four months, the CIEP distributed over 600 free-pocket-size copies of the revised Cameroon Constitution. The booklets include the April 2008 constitutional amendments made by the administration. Today, requests for more Cameroon constitution booklets continue coming into our organization.
In July 2009, Africa Agenda organized Obama, Ghana and John Atta Mills in reaction to President Obama’s visit to Ghana. This was a historic event for the Ghanaian nation and for Africa Agenda as well. For one thing, the discussions led to a recommendation for Africans to take ownership of the affairs of Africa and not remain as bystanders.
In December 2009, Africa Agenda invited and hosted top officials within African government, U.S government, non-governmental and international business organizations, including Dr. Chris Fomunyoh, Senior Associate for Africa at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs(N.D.I). We recently hosted Cameroonian politician Jean Jacques Ekindi in the lead up to the 2011 Cameroon presidential elections.
In 2010 and the first part of 2011, the board and staff of Africa Agenda met at a retreat to evaluate our progress since 2004. In terms of our impact it was felt that we have performed a significant service to the community by exposing hundreds of students, professionals and citizens in the Denver area to the political and economic issues affecting Africans. In looking forward, we all agreed that it was not enough. African issues are still seen as marginal to the life of the community and the challenge is to narrow our activity into strategic goals that will pay off not only in expanded awareness but also in building our organizational capacity to provide the links to real news, information and debate.
In seven years, Africa Agenda has not only established a uniqueness about what we do; it has distinguished itself as a driven, focused and determined organization. Africa Agenda has done this by staying at the forefront of the global challenges confronting Africa today
With over two hundred(200) active supporters , in addition to a mailing list of over two thousand, (2,000), Africa Agenda is poised to leverage its resources into making itself a highly relevant and strategic twenty first century organization.
Copyright@ Africa Agenda, 2012