Africa Program

About the Africa Program

About the Program

Africa faces enduring challenges and vast opportunities that continue to focus the minds of governments, civil society, and private corporations. Drawing on the continent’s complicated history, the Council on Foreign Relations’ Africa program examines the continent’s growing strategic, demographic, and economic importance.

High economic and population growth rates and rapid urbanization make Africa a new frontier for international trade and investment. Democratic governments are taking root in some places. Nonetheless, profound poverty remains, repressive regimes persist, and elections frequently have only a veneer of legitimacy. Ethnicity, religion, and disputes over access to water, land, and other resources fuel conflicts and terrorist movements that challenge government authority.

The Africa program produces Africa in Transitiona blog that focuses on African political and security issues. The program hosts three roundtable series: "Africa Strategic Opportunities," "Political Transitions in Africa," and "U.S. Strategic African Partners." The program’s senior fellows regularly lecture students, brief those in government, business, civil society, and the media, and publish op-eds, articles, and books related to Africa.