United in learning and discovery:
The Africa Global Initiative
Northeastern University’s renowned experiential education and highest impact research align with the vibrant learning and innovation landscapes across key African countries.
OUR DRIVE
Northeastern’s excellence as an innovative R1 research university, as a global university, and as a university with unique focus on experiential education, matches the dynamic African landscape, and poises us for expanded and important engagement across key African countries.
GLOBAL AMBASSADORS
Meet Young Global Leader Award recipient Jonas Feit
1. Can you tell us about your experiences on your Global Co-op in Africa so far? What projects have you been involved in? My experiences on global co-op have been incredibly varied. I’ve written blog posts, grant proposals, drafted annual reports, gone on field trips,...
Meet Young Global Leader Award recipient Enam Fiattor
Enam Fiattor is an undergraduate junior pursing her Biology degree with a Minor in International Affairs at Northeastern, currently on her first co-op in Ghana. Enam is a recipient of the Young Global Leaders Africa Fund for global co-ops. She shares her journey...
Meet Young Global Leader Award recipient Alex Chang
Alex Chang is an undergraduate junior pursing his Biology and Political Science degree with a minor in Photography. His plan is to start medical school as soon as he graduates from Northeastern. He is currently on his third co-op as a lead researcher at ACCIH – The...
An interview with undergraduate student Vivian Akyirem
Vivian Akyirem is an undergraduate sophomore pursing her Marketing and Brand Management degree at Northeastern and a recipient of an Athletic Scholarship. Vivian is a football (soccer) player and a graduate of the Right to Dream Academy in Ghana which she joined at...
These co-op students went to Kenya to find ways to prevent one of the world’s most deadly tropical diseases
The Global Work Citizen program connects Huskies to African partners for the second straight year
By: Aspa PapanastasiouEmployer Engagement and Career Design in collaboration with Global Co-op Faculty run the brand-new Global Work Citizen summer badge program. This immersive month-long virtual program was designed especially for first year learners. It aimed to...
Eyeing a career in the foreign service, forged at home and in class
Since high school, Stephanie Beja has known that she was interested in studying cultures around the world—and visiting as many as she could. During her undergraduate career at Northeastern, Beja took advantage of opportunities to study abroad, including a stint in...
AGI COMMUNITY
The Africa Global Initiative will promote collaborative pathways for our community to engage with partners from African nations. Driven by our commitment to high impact research, innovative education, and lifelong learning, the AGI will serve as a hub to facilitate research partnerships, experiential education, talent solutions and global connections.
Meet some of our alumni, researchers and co-op employers; this is only a snapshot of our vast and ever growing network.
Faculty Spotlight: Killion Mokwete
Faculty Spotlight: Denis Sullivan
Faculty Spotlight: John O. Olawepo
Roots: Co-op Employer
Alumni Spotlight: Anna Butler
Khalid Kodi – Artists, Social Engagement and Peace Advocacy in Sudan
Univerity Partner Spotlight: University of the Witwatersrand
Right to Dream – Co-op Employer
The High Atlas Foundation: Co-op Employer
Alumno Astralis: Co-op Employer
Faculty Spotlight: Jonathan Esole
Alumni Spotlight:
Ewart Thuo
Head of Operations
Safeway Hypermarkets Limited
Kenya
Alumni Spotlight:
Linda Zwane
Head, Data and Analytics
Standard Bank
Eswatini
Alumni Spotlight:
Henry Ogbuagu
Founder, Nova Tech
Nigeria
Faculty Spotlight: Richard Wamai
Tunaweza Children’s Center: Co-op Employer
Alumni Spotlight:
Roland Fomundam, MSc
CEO / COO at GreenHouse Ventures Ltd
Cameroon
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
How a professor found her calling in Ghana by bringing hundreds of Northeastern students to West Africa
Northeastern Professor Vanessa Johnson explains the infamous history of Elmina Castle to members of the 2023 Global Leadership Summit, which included alumni, incoming students, faculty and staff of Northeastern University.
FEATURED STORY
Northeastern University expands global reach with the University of the Witwatersrand Partnership
Northeastern Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Madigan (front right) and Zeblon Zenzele Vilakazi, vice chancellor of University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, sign a memorandum of...
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
‘That sense of togetherness is what is needed.’ Northeastern entrepreneur from Ghana builds his restaurant business on African hospitality
The 2014 Northeastern University graduate wants to better connect the rest of the world to Africa and its more than 1.4 billion people by creating outstanding, memorable experiences both for visitors to the continent and outside of it.
Faculty Spotlight: Jonathan Esole
Research in DRC
Dr. Esole designed the telemetry of the seismic network and created the LindaProject, an organization that works with the DRC Government and private companies to maintain and develop the monitoring capacity to protect the city of Goma.
Dr. Esole is a member of the Advisory Board of Malaika, an organization that focuses on women’s empowerment and education. Professor Esole is contributing through teaching, mentoring and fundraising.
Faculty Spotlight: Killion Mokwete
Research in Benin
Killion’s academic research is focused on the preservation of building heritage in urban settlements in Sub-Saharan Africa through leveraging digital 3D terrestrial LiDAR scanning technology and community social participation to create digital databases that act as preservation and education platforms. This interdisciplinary research is currently being piloted in collaboration with research partners at Northeastern University and local researchers, such as Dr Franck Ogou in Benin. More recently the team submitted a conference paper accepted for the AMPS conference in Prague where they presented this project and its goals and envisaged use of technology and impact.
Faculty Spotlight: Richard Wamai
Research in Kenya
In 2016 Dr. Wamai opened The Research on Multi-Disease and Educational Services (TERMES) Center to accelerate his work on neglected diseases. In 2020 the project was formally incorporated as an NGO: African Centre for Community Investment in Health (ACCIH). TERMES hosts Northeastern students on global co-ops every semester, thanks to Dr. Wamai.
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Denis Sullivan
Founding Director of the Boston Consortium for Arab Region Studies and the founder of Northeastern’s Dialogue of Civilizations Program
Dialogue of Civilization in Egypt
Dr. Sullivan is a professor of Political Science and International Affairs, the Co-Director of Middle East Center and the founder of Dialogues of Civilization program. His current work focuses on the Syrian and Yemen civil wards and refugee crises and on citizenship in the Middle East. He runs the Dialogue of Civilizations in Egypt, Jordan and Dubai.
Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Marc Fuller
Innovators for Global Health: Ethiopia
Prof. Fuller has worked with the Northeastern student organization Engineering World Health. With students, he has worked in a hospital bioengineering laboratory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He has also traveled to Ghana to help facilitate joint efforts between students here and at the University of Ghana to develop medical instrumentation for use in low-resource environments.
Roots: Internships that Matter
Co-ops in Malawi
As an intern with Roots, students will be working for small organizations with big missions. These are charities that run worthwhile social development, environmental, or wildlife conservation projects around Africa; projects making tangible impact on people’s lives and their environment. Whether the focus as an intern is NGO management, fundraising, communications, or something else, students work will contribute to these causes. It’s a rewarding and much appreciated experience.
Tunaweza Children’s Centre
Co-ops in Uganda
Alumno Astralis
Co-ops in Mauritius
Alumno Astralis means Star Student in Latin and they deal with students worldwide. Alumno Astralis was founded in 2003, with the aim to offer Cross Cultural Experience to International Students. They have been operating in Mauritius since 2007 and their focus is on offering Quality Internships on the tropical island of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. Many students, from many different countries use our services to find suitable internships, housing and get the required residence permit in Mauritius, every year. Theydeal with 50 different fields of education from Finance to Engineering and from Marketing to Tourism.
Faculty Spotlight: John O. Olawepo, MBBS, PhD
Research in Nigeria
Center for Translation and Implementation Research, University of Nigeria (CTAIR-UNN):
Dr. Olawepo works with CTAIR-UNN on a consultancy from University of California San Diego. They are performing research on how to increase the number of women living with HIV who receive cervical cancer screening.
Nigeria Implementation Science Alliance (NISA):
In partnership with CTAIR UNN, Dr. Olawepo and his colleagues are working with NISA to develop a research infrastructure across Nigeria.
Right to Dream
Empowering exellence through football
Eddie Mensah
CEO
Right to Dream Academy, Ghana
Right to Dream is a football community dedicated to expanding people’s understanding of excellence through football. they’re committed to nurturing young talents and creating opportunities for them to pursue their dreams on and off the pitch through a unique blend of football, education, and character development.
Global Leadership Summit 2023
Northeastern’s fourth Global Leadership Summit in Accra, Ghana, convened close to 300 alumni, parents, Young Global Leaders, trustees, students, and friends to exchange perspectives, listen and learn from one another, and create positive change.
Speakers included U.S. Ambassador to Ghana Virginia E. Palmer; Second Deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana Elsie Addo Awadzi; parent of a Northeastern student and executive chairman at Fueltrade Limited Chris Chinebuah; the chief executive officer of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa Sipho Dlamini; and Ghanaian leadership in the government, banks, private sector, and social enterprise. In addition, the summit provided meaningful opportunities for cultural exploration of Ghana, including a visit to the National Museum of Ghana; performances by Ghanaian musicians; a festival at the Nubuke Foundation that showcased food, music, dance, and artworks by modern Ghanaian artists along with Northeastern-led projects; and a powerful tour of the castles of Cape Coast and Elmina—key locations in the transatlantic slave trade.
The High Atlas Foundation
Empowering co-ops to be environmentally conscious global citizens
The High Atlas Foundation is a Moroccan association and a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2000 by former Peace Corps Volunteers committed to furthering sustainable development. Since 2011, HAF has had Consultancy Status at the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
The High Atlas Foundation plants and monitors trees for carbon offset units as a financial catalyst for water infrastructure, women’s cooperatives, education, and other community-designed initiatives to ensure long-term well-being.
HAF also implements programs with partners in the areas of intercultural dialogue and preservation, family literacy, and youth development in response to the defined priorities of local communities.
Khalid Kodi – Artists, Social Engagement and Peace Advocacy in Sudan
Sudan
In Summer 2022, Prof. Kodi traveled to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, where he met and strategized with leading artists who are active in producing artwork that carries social messages which respond creatively to the ongoing political turmoil. He led two workshops, one in Wad Madani, in Gezira state, and one in Kauda, South Kordofan state. The workshop in Medani brought together leading artists in the region who are involved in promoting a peaceful transition to democracy in Sudan via the arts. Prof. Kodi led presentations and side talks that focused on the role of arts in the civil rights movement in the USA.