September at The Africa Center
Ambassador Martin Kimani
CEO Message for Fall 2025 Season Newsletter
Dear Friends,
The Africa Center exists to ensure that Africa and its diaspora are central actors in building a more just and peaceful global future. We do this by convening across culture, policy, and commerce to advance a flourishing Africa in deep communion with its diaspora. This communion increases prosperity, strengthens peace and security, and affirms the dignity of African peoples everywhere.
This fall, our work unfolds in a world marked by crises. From the devastating wars, to the return of great power confrontation, and the deepening social fractures in democracies across the globe, including the United States, we are living through a season of profound upheaval. Rarely has our mission been more urgent. We have shaped our programming to meet the moment.
The damaging events unfolding, from Gaza to Sudan, Central Africa, the Sahel, and Ukraine, impact Africa and its peoples profoundly. African artists, business leaders, and policymakers are responding in diverse ways. It is the duty of The Africa Center to make that agency visible and more effective. We also recognize that in these troubled times, people need communion and inspiration. Our calling this fall and in the years ahead is to make The Africa Center a site where Africa and its diaspora gather with confidence and draw strength from unity and shared purpose.
September is a busy start to the season. We open with readings from some of the most brilliant literary minds across Africa and its diaspora. We continue our Films at The Africa Center series in collaboration with the African Film Festival, alongside workshops and roundtable discussions designed to support business professionals and female entrepreneurs. One highlight is our Africa Means Business session during the New York Marathon window, focused on the business of running. It brings together African-owned businesses penetrating the sports industry to grow enterprise and job creation. These programs are interventions to grow markets, expand networks, and position African creativity as an engine of opportunity.
The Africa Center will be buzzing with activity during the United Nations General Assembly’s High Level Week. We will host the Future Africa Forum on Wednesday, 24th September, starting with a private screening of Amazing Grace: YorubaWorlds by Haitian award-winning filmmaker Raynald Leconte, and narrated by Wole Soyinka. It will be followed by a conversation honoring the African lineages shaping Brazil, the Americas, and the wider African world. Afterward, we will convene heads of state and government from Africa and the Caribbean, the leadership of Afreximbank, and select political and business leaders for discussions on how shared cultural heritage and connection can serve as a foundation for investment and partnership.
This fall, we will also launch a group exhibition showcasing the work of emerging Sudanese photographers, offering an opportunity for dialogue, discovery, and connection. Much of our programming is shaped by the imperative to draw greater attention and action to put a stop to the ongoing conflict in Sudan, which has destroyed lives, displaced millions, and accelerated the urgent need to preserve the nation’s cultural heritage.
At The Africa Center, we have watched the devastation of Sudan with rising alarm, particularly the lack of urgency and action by the international community. We believe the destruction of Sudan’s precious civilizational heritage, as reflected in its sites, museums, and educational institutions, is a tragedy for the people of Sudan and for humanity. Because memory is central to reforging the social trust necessary for recovery and reconciliation after war, the assault on Sudan’s cultural heritage is an impediment to peacebuilding. In centering Sudan’s cultural legacy within our fall season, we hope to foster a collective awareness and a spirit of solidarity.
Designed by architect Robert A.M. Stern, The Africa Center was envisioned as a grand secular cathedral for African art and public life. We’re thrilled to announce the restart of construction on this iconic space. The current facilities will remain open for exhibitions and events. This is more than an architectural ambition, it is a core part of our strategy. The Africa Center must function as a platform for high-level diplomacy, world-class exhibitions, and African-led enterprise.
Completing the building is a statement of presence and permanence. We are deeply grateful to our champions, especially the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs under the leadership of Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, for helping bring this vision to life.
This season also marks the launch of our Diaspora Study, commissioned in partnership with Afreximbank. The landmark study will generate essential insights into the social, economic, and civic lives of African diaspora communities in the United States. It is a foundational step in aligning policy, investment, and cultural engagement with the lived realities and ambitions of African-descended communities. This work supports our broader mission to ensure that the diaspora is understood and empowered as a core driver of Africa’s global future.
We invite you to stand with us this fall. Attend our programs. Share our message. Support our work. These times demand awareness and action. Together, we can ensure that the cultural and strategic power of Africa and its diaspora is recognized, protected, and mobilized.
Sincerely,
Ambassador Martin Kimani