AAI & IAS Partnership Announcement
Accra, Ghana - November 10, 2025
During the official opening of the Institute of African Studies (IAS) in October 1963, Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president declared in The African Genius speech, the need for an African centered approach to dealing with the challenges of the world. An approach that includes connecting Africa with people of African descent towards a “cross fertilisation between Africa and those who have their roots in the African past.” Nkrumah’s aspiration for connecting Africa with its diaspora stemmed from the influences he had from close relationship with mentors like Horace Mann Bond, through Lincoln University, their alma mater. In May 1951, Horace Mann Bond serving as the first black president of Lincoln University, invited and conferred an honorary doctorate on Kwame Nkrumah, then an emerging leader in the Gold Coast. In 1953, Dr. Bond co-founded the Africa-America Institute (AAI) to bridge Africa and its diaspora and his bond with Nkrumah deepened throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
These historical entanglements between the Africa-America Institute (AAI) and the Institute of African Studies (IAS) were highlighted by the President and CEO of the Africa-America Institute, Felicia Appenteng during a signing of a five-year Memorandum of Agreement between AAI and IAS on Monday 27 October 2025 at University of Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah complex in Accra. In discussing AAI’s pillars of work with the Director of IAS, Prof. Samuel Ntewusu - who signed on behalf of IAS - Ms. Appenteng indicated that the shared vision of both institutions is the basis for potential collaborative research in key areas notably:
Working together on recently returned artifacts to Manhyia Palace;
African indigenous knowledge systems for dealing with contemporary challenges such as climate change and unregulated/illegal mining;
Internal continental migration, and peace building
AAI is excited to announce this partnership with IAS and share with our community updates on the collaborative efforts of our institutions.
