I was in Dakar for Thanksgiving and presented my books, Unequal Partners and Partenaires inégaux at the West African Research Center (WARC). I was equally pleased to visit Université Cheick Anta Diop and exchange with the administrators of Fondation UCAD as well as meet with several professors and students.

My talk at West African Research Center (WARC) focused on the role of U.S. foundations in higher education in Africa. I shared the floor with Profs. Ousmane Sene, Omar Gueye, and U.S. ambassador Tulinabo Mushingi who introduced my talk on philanthropy and higher education. The exchange with the audience was rich. We touched on the American tradition of giving back and how it could be transferred to Senegalese society, how philanthropy can impact education when all participants have equal ownership of an initiative, and how African philanthropy could grow. Interesting to hear about the work of the WARC which is hoping to get more support from private donors to buy a bus that will serve more students and increase their programs’ impact. Here is a video recording of my talk:

As a follow up to my book talk, I was invited to visit Université Cheikh Anta Diop de dakar (UCAD) where I was able to meet professors, researchers and students, and share information on philanthropy and U.S. foundations with the administrators of Fondation UCAD, a pioneer in fundraising among Francophone African universities. Check out their website https://fondation.ucad.sn
Special thanks to Omar Gueye for the invitation

I was live on Les matins de Radio Senegal International 92.5 FM with host Babacar Ndiaye and Cheikh Diagne Artiste, Coumba Marone, and Mamadou Thior. We talked about cross-cultural bridges, languages, philanthropy, and the development of higher education in Africa.