Following the Gold Road Together

Dear AAI Community,

We began 2026 at AAI by travelling together along an old and illuminating path.

In partnership with Howard University and Boston University, we convened our 10th annual State of Education on Africa conference, Following the Gold Road: Global Medieval Africa in the Time of Ghana, Mali, and Songhai. Across three weeks of virtual conversations, scholars and journalists guided us through histories that reveal how West Africa helped shape the modern world — reminding us that the past remains a living compass for the present.

Through sessions on Geography, Technology, and Governance; Gold, Power, and Global Trade Networks; and Ajami Manuscripts & Knowledge Production in West Africa, participants engaged with ideas that connected scholarship, education, and shared curiosity. Educators, students, families, and lifelong learners joined us in record numbers, and we are especially grateful to all who attended and enriched the discussions by engaging our speakers with thoughtful, insightful, and often fascinating questions that deepened the collective learning experience.

We are pleased to share a collection of freely available resources on our website so that this learning may continue. We were also honored to collaborate with our friends at Afropop Worldwide, whose thoughtfully curated playlist of Malian music accompanied the series with sound and spirit.

I am deeply grateful to the AAI team for their dedication and care, and to our partners at Howard and Boston University for their generosity and collaboration in bringing this vision to life.

In this newsletter, we continue walking the Gold Road together, exploring more deeply the many ways Africa has shaped our shared world.

As ever,

Felicia Appenteng

President & CEO

The Africa-America Institute