APD 2026: APN Explores Partnership with Global African Leaders to Expand Global Africa Forum
On the sidelines of the fourth day of the Africa Prosperity Dialogues (APD) 2026, APN Chairman Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko held a separate meeting with Marilyn Sophocle, President of the US-based Women Ambassadors Foundation (WAF) and a professor at Howard University.
The discussion centred on the strategic expansion of APN’s annual New York meeting, the Global Africa Forum, which is held alongside the United Nations General Assembly. The goal is to include the Black academic community more intentionally in the Global Africa narrative.
“We want Global Africans not to only see Africa’s integration just as a moral obligation, but also as a profitable venture,” said Mr Otchere-Darko. He argued that Africa’s global perception directly impacts the dignity of people of African descent worldwide.
Both leaders agreed on the vital need to invest resources, intellectual and material, to create dedicated engagement spaces with Global African communities. “The economic contribution of Global Africans towards bankable development projects will serve both as a moral good and a profitable investment,” Ms Sophocle said.
Ms Sophocle was accompanied by Pascal Meslien, a French Caribbean Africa policy consultant and businessman, and Lucrèce Meslien of Comité de la Marche ‘98, a French association that advocates for the recognition of Afro-descendants in French jurisdictions.
Ms Sophocle, also founder of the African-American and Afro-European Transatlantic Forum, proposed a partnership between APN’s Global Africa Forum (GAF), the WAF, and the Organisation of American States (OAS) to build a comprehensive platform.
In response, Mr Otchere-Darko proposed expanding the forum to a two-day event. “While the New York meeting will continue to focus on the UN General Assembly, a Washington, D.C. meeting could engage the WAF, OAS, and academia from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This will ensure a more surgical approach to our engagements. We believe in practical discussions, actionable policy proposals, and the projects that are both profitable and morally uplifting.”
