Africare Commemorates Its 50th Anniversary With Planned Sunset Of All U.S. Operations And Assisting In Standing Up A New "PanAfricare" On The Continent
COMPLETES A STRATEGIC PIVOT TO AFRICA
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Crowning an impressive fifty-year legacy of high-impact programming within Africa, the Africare Board of Directors and President & CEO Robert L. Mallett today announced both the planned cessation of Africare operations in the US and the endorsement of a newly created independent entity, "PanAfricare" based in Senegal, West Africa. The birth of PanAfricare will coincide with the planned sunset of Africare. The new PanAfricare has established its own board of directors and will operate autonomously from the existing organization. Africare will transition its entire portfolio of projects to PanAfricare. As the legacy Africare closes its operations, a new "Friends of PanAfricare" has also been established. Its sole, independent purpose will be to support the new PanAfricare and other organizations with similar missions in sub-Saharan Africa with fundraising from donors who support the mission of Africare.
Upon inception, PanAfricare can demonstrate extensive reach with a presence in each region of Sub-Saharan Africa -- Angola, Burkina Faso, Chad, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and, of course, Senegal where the new PanAfricare headquarters will be based. Programs are within the core competencies of legacy Africare and the new PanAfricare, including: Agriculture, Nutrition, Health, Women's and Youth Empowerment.
"It has been my great honor to serve as a steward of Africare's enormous impact of transforming lives in Africa – from agricultural innovation, food security and nutrition to empowering women and youth. Now is simply the right time to pass this baton of stewardship not only to the capable Gorgui Diallo and the talented field staff – but to the entire continent of Africa via the new PanAfricare. I have great confidence that governments and donors committed to capacity building will take note and support this bold new venture," said President & CEO Robert Mallett.
"It was indeed the appropriate moment to dually celebrate Africare's wonderful legacy while also looking forward to ensure PanAfricare would be in a position to deliver services to the people of Africa," said Board Chair Stephen D. Cashin. "We are greatly appreciative of all the global 'Africare alumni' who have provided their energies and idea capital towards reaching this milestone."
"We are also grateful to our many government, international and corporate partners, foundations, sororities, churches and individual donors over this period who have underwritten the delivery of valuable services to the people of Africa. Africare has long enjoyed a widely diverse base of donor support," he added.
The new PanAfricare will be headed by the experienced and respected former Africare country director Gorgui Diallo and many talented country-based project teams will join him in this new venture. "I am humbled, honored and energized to become the inaugural CEO of the new PanAfricare. We appreciate the confidence of existing donors such as Bayer, Exxon Mobil and others who have reauthorized former Africare grants to PanAfricare. The new PanAfricare is excited about many projects such as nurturing a highly innovative initiative converting mining waste to fertilizer in Chad."
Africare is inviting existing staff, dedicated Africare Alumni, donors and all our loyal supporters to adopt the hashtags "#AfricareGoldenYear2020" and "#MyAfricareMemory" on social media and share their sentiments, participation and even photos in support of the collective work in Africa. During the 1970-2020 period, Africare invested approximately $2 billion across 38 African countries.
"#AfricareGoldenYear2020 is dually a recognition of our great fifty-year legacy in Africa while highlighting the promising planned programming on the continent," said President & CEO Robert Mallett. "As we are on the ground every day, we increasingly see effective solutions towards uplifting people's lives developed locally throughout our operating countries vs. imported from the US. A new autonomous PanAfricare is dedicated to delivering programming which directly benefits people," Mallett added.
Additional details regarding Africare, Africare House, PanAfricare and past influential leaders such as C. Payne Lucas can be found on Africare's website at www.africare.org.
Africare was founded in 1970 as a leading non-governmental organization committed to addressing African development and policy issues by working in partnership with African people to build sustainable, healthy and productive communities. During its fifty years, it has invested approximately $2 billion in 38 African countries . In 2020, Africare announced a planned sunset of US operations coinciding with the formation of an autonomous new Senegal headquartered entity named PanAfricare. PanAfricare will continue Africare' s legacy of implementing programs with a commitment towards 'improving lives and building futures' on the African continent. Africare concurrently also facilitated the formation of the "Friends of PanAfricare" non-profit entity which will support PanAfricare and other organizations with similar missions in sub-Saharan Africa.
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