2016 Camden Conference (New)

The New Africa

February 19-21, 2016

The 29th annual Camden Conference, The New Africa, asserted that today’s Africa is radically different from the continent portrayed in most textbooks or even in much of the contemporary media. It’s home to the world’s poorest nations, yet a dozen of its economies maintained seven percent growth over the last decade. While Africa is a major global provider of mineral and other natural resources, Africans today are increasingly questioning the corrupt practices of the past and are now seeking the benefits of these resources. Africa’s population is ballooning, creating a youthful culture that can help sustain economic expansion and cultural adaptation, but it carries the threat of the kind of violence that has engulfed much of the similarly youthful Middle East. It is also prey to massive ecological degradation, alongside rich and creative cultures and vibrant civil societies.Perhaps the most striking aspect of Africa today, though, is the determination of Africans to frame their own future, breaking free of their colonial heritage to find African solutions. The New Africa considered what foreign and regional policies Africans are espousing for themselves and assessed what US policy has been and should be toward this massively diverse continent.