Brazil Africa Institute launches new headquarters in Fortaleza, Brazil
The Brazil Africa Institute (IBRAF) inaugurated this Tuesday (25) its new headquarters in the city of Fortaleza. The event was attended by Ambassador Kenneth Nóbrega, Secretary for Africa, Europe and the Middle East of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; the Ambassador of Ghana to Brazil, Abena Busia; the Minister of Education of Guyana, Nicolette Henry; and Ecuador’s Deputy Minister of Environment, Michael Castañeda.
Ambassador Kenneth Nóbrega
During the launch, Ambassador Kenneth Nóbrega emphasized the importance of the institution. “We are here today celebrating a new phase for IBRAF, which has stood out in the promotion and strengthening of a common agenda between Brazil and the countries of the African continent.”
Founded in 2013, the Brazil Africa Institute is a private, non-profit entity based in Brazil and in Accra, Ghana. IBRAF aims to guarantee a socio-political-cultural approach between Brazil and the African continent. The Institute carries out various projects, studies and research, as well as facilitating an open debate between government agents, academics and businessmen.
“I am here today representing the largest group of Ambassadors in Brazil, which is the African diplomatic corps. We are 35 in all, and few people know that. But Professor João Bosco knows. I come to, on behalf of this group, to say ‘Congratulations and thank you’ ” said Ambassador Abena Busia.
Pious Dadzie, do Zenith Bank de Gana; Embaixadora Abena Busia; Ministra Nicolette Henry, Edem Bakshish e Prof. Jão Bosco Monte
The event was also attended by Edem Bakshish, director of the UN Office for South-South Cooperation in Istanbul; Ivan Oliveira, Director of International Studies at IPEA, the representative of the Interministerial Commission for the Resources of the Sea of the Brazilian government, Captain Rodrigo de Campos Carvalho and former President of Itaipu, Jorge Samek.
Homage to Ambassador Paulo Cordeiro
Ambassador of Brazil to Lebanon, diplomat Paulo Cordeiro Andrade Lima received a posthumous homage during the launch. IBRAF’s library was named after the ambassador, who stood out as a great encouraging for relations between Brazil and the African continent.
Paulo Cordeiro and his wife, Ambassador Vera Lúcia Estrela Pinto, died in a car accident in Italy last month. “Ambassador Paulo Cordeiro played a very important role in strengthening the recent relations between Brazil and Africa. I felt the pain of losing a friend and a great supporter of IBRAF’s initiatives. For us it is an honor to have the chance to pay this homage, naming a space that is dedicated to the promotion of knowledge after a figure who worked so hard in this area” Prof. João Bosco Monte, President of the Brazil Africa Institute during the inauguration of the space.
