2017: Year in Review & Look Ahead
The Brazil Africa Institute (IBRAF) ended 2017, consolidating the good results obtained in previous years and presenting new projects for 2018.
Among the main achievements of the year, one of them is the Youth Technical Training Program (YTTP), developed in partnership with the African Development Bank. During a month, 28 young people from 14 African countries studied the cassava production chain at the Embrapa Cassava and Fruits, in Cruz das Almas (BA). The goal for 2018 is to bring 300 Africans to participate in other classes that are addressing different topics such as health, information technology, education and infrastructure.
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Another IBRAF’s important project, the Brazil Africa Forum, reached its fifth edition with the theme “Trends in Innovation and Technology for Sustainable Development”. The event took place in São Paulo on November 23 and 24, bringing together about 200 people from 100 different organizations, covering 48 countries. The ATLANTICO magazine has already reached its 12th edition this year, with reports about tourism, environment, technology and education, as well as exclusive interviews with leading authorities such as Roberto Azevêdo, Gilbert Houngbo and Issad Rebrab. Bilingual and quarterly publication, ATLANTICO has free distribution in our network of partners.
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In the beginning of the year, the Brazil Africa Institute signed a Memorandum of Understanding with O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU), one of the most important universities in India. The partnership resulted in the arrival of two researchers from the Center for Studies on Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (CALACS), in Brazil. For a month, Sanjana Medipally and Aakanksha Lohia visited public and private institutions, like banks, and class entities in the cities of Fortaleza and São Paulo to map Brazil’s business environment. The result of this study will help Indian executives invest in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Brazil Africa Institute also had a dialogue with other major institutions. “We understand that in addition to the dialogue between Brazil and the African continent there is also a need to describe other latitudes or other regions in this conversation. I have spoken with authorities from non-Brazilian and non-African spaces and make it clear that Trilateral Cooperation is more intrinsic in the Institute’s agenda”, says João Bosco Monte, president of IBRAF.
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For the year 2018, the Brazil Africa Institute prepares news. The organization based in Fortaleza, with an office in São Paulo, will open an office in Accra, capital of Ghana, in the coming months. It will be the first representation of the Institute on the African continent.
In addition, the Institute intends to hold the Centennial Mandela, a exhibition that celebrates Nelson Mandela’s 100th anniversary. The founding director of the Apartheid Museum, Christopher Till, was in Brazil in June to discuss legal procedures for the exhibition to come to the country. The 6th edition of the Brazil Africa Forum is also being planned. Announced at the end of this year’s event, its main theme will be Youth Empowerment and will be held in Salvador (BA) in November.
