A foundation for democracy in Africa, the principle of which was decided a year ago at the Africa-France summit in Montpellier, was officially launched on Thursday in Johannesburg and will be chaired by the Senegalese philosopher Souleymane Bachir Diagne.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced in October 2021 the creation of an innovation fund with "
independent governance
", to help "
agents of change
" on governance and democracy issues.
Its allocation has been increased to 50 million euros over five years.
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This fund, which then took the form of this foundation, was one of the main proposals of the Cameroonian intellectual Achille Mbembe, a major thinker of postcolonialism, responsible for preparing the summit.
Mr. Mbembe, who teaches at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg where the foundation will sit, will be part of its board of directors, specifies a press release from the foundation which has NGO status.
It will also have three regional branches in Africa as well as in Marseilles, specifies this text.
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“
We are proud to welcome this African initiative for collective and innovative thinking, supporting endogenous dynamics in the field of democracy in Africa
,” says Zeblon Vilakazi, Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Witwatersrand.
It "
aims to connect African youth from all walks of life (...) Its programs and tools will be dedicated to a wide audience, from researchers to artists, from social entrepreneurs to NGO managers who are active in the field of democracy
", explains Mr. Diagne, professor at the American University of Columbia, in this press release.
Mr. Mbembe, to prepare for the Montpellier summit, had launched around sixty "
dialogues
" over several months in twelve African countries, on themes such as health, climate, colonialism, equality and democracy.