On June 15, 2023, the African Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Pretoria (ACSUS-UP) hosted its first US-Africa Diaspora Diplomacy Biennial Conference with the theme: "Farooq Kperogi, the Digital Age and US-African Diaspora Diplomacy". Convened by Prof. Christopher Isike, Director of ACSUS-UP and Prof Toyin Falola, Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair in the Humanities at the University of Texas, Austin and Extraordinary Professor at ACSUS-UP, the virtual conference had 65 paper presenters from across Africa, Europe, Australia, and the US. The conference was declared open by Prof. Tawana Kupe, the Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria (UP) with a message of support from the Acting Dean, Faculty of Humanities at UP, Prof. Sandy Africa. 

The conference was based on Prof. Toyin Falola’s book , Citizenship and the Diaspora in the Digital Age: Farooq Kperogi and the Virtual Community (2023) and was used to reflect more broadly on the impact of digitalization on Africa US-Africa relations through the agency of the African Diaspora. The 12 panels of this insightful conference covered topics such as the African Diaspora, social media, diplomacy and social change in Africa. Others include democratization, citizenship engagement and diaspora diplomacy of the African Diaspora, emerging media, culture and the future of the world.

In his keynote address titled “The Diaspora Diplomacy and Soft Power Agency of the African Diaspora in the United States and Australia”, Prof Isike  used the examples of the Nigerian diaspora in the US and the South African diaspora in Australia to highlight how the African diasporas are foreign policy actors for both their home and host countries. This set the tone for the conference as it underscored the African Diaspora as a critical soft power resource for the continent. In his reflection on the conference, Prof Farooq Kperogi, Professor of Journalism and Emerging Media at Kennesaw State University's School of Communication and Media, in Georgia appreciated the host and Prof Falola for the honour and reiterated his commitment to fostering citizenship journalism and engagement in Nigeria.

Selected papers from the conference shall be peer-reviewed for publication by a reputable publisher in an edited book by Toyin Falola and Christopher Isike and the second ACSUS-UP US-Africa Diaspora Diplomacy Biennial Conference shall be held in-person in June 2025.

Click here to wacth the conference recording.