New center will study African economic development
Nov. 1, 2000
KALAMAZOO -- African economic development and its social and cultural consequences will be the focus of a new research center to be located at Western Michigan University.
The WMU Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the Center for African Development Policy Research at its Oct. 27 meeting. The center will be housed in WMU's Diether H. Haenicke Institute for International and Area Studies and directed initially by Dr. Sisay Asefa, WMU professor of economics. The establishment of the center was made possible by an endowment fund given to the University in 1994 and designated for that purpose.
The center will act as a research, conference, exchange and publication center for scholarship on various dimensions of African economic development. Among the center's initiatives will be the coordination of short term programs to promote economic development and business opportunities in Africa, facilitation of linkages between WMU and higher education institutions in Africa and other organizations concerned with African problems and issues, and the development and publication of a new journal titled the Journal of African Development Studies.
Media contact: Marie Lee, 616 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu