The Africa Fund
Alternate Names: Africa Action
Location: New York, New York, United States
Duration: 1966 - 2001
Newsletter(s):
Africa Fund News,NIGERIA Democracy Action Update,Nigeria Democracy Update
The Africa Fund, a non-profit 501(c)3 organizations, was founded in 1966 by the American Committee on Africa (ACOA, see separate entry). The Africa Fund and ACOA shared office space and some staff (including the Executive Director), and there was some overlap between the boards of the two organizations. The Executive Directors were: George M. Houser...
The Africa Fund, a non-profit 501(c)3 organizations, was founded in 1966 by the American Committee on Africa (ACOA, see separate entry). The Africa Fund and ACOA shared office space and some staff (including the Executive Director), and there was some overlap between the boards of the two organizations. The Executive Directors were: George M. Houser (1966-1981), Jennifer Davis (1981-2000) and Salih Booker (2000-2001). The Africa Fund worked to support the struggles against colonialism and apartheid in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Namibia, Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) and South Africa. The Africa Fund provided material assistance to the education and health programs of African liberation movements. It provided funds to the Mozambique Institute, a FRELIMO run school in Tanzania. The Africa Fund distributed the money raised by the Sun City album including sending $220,000 to the Solomon Mahlangu Freedom College (SOMAFCO) run by the African National Congress (ANC) in Tanzania; $160,000 to the South African Council of Churches to aid political prisoners and their families; and $119,000 each to TransAfrica and the ACOA for anti-apartheid educational work in the United States. The Fund also provided clothing, medicine and other support to refugee camps run by liberation movements of South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Western Sahara in Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and Algeria. It provided small emergency assistant grants to African refugees in the U.S. The Africa Fund conducted research into U.S. corporate involvement in southern Africa and the archives includes correspondence with companies, questionnaires sent to companies and company documents. It published numerous publications that were widely used by other solidarity organizations in the U.S. from short fact sheets to a comprehensive directory of U.S. corporations doing business in apartheid South Africa and illegally occupied Namibia. The Africa Fund sponsored a weekly half hour television news program "South Africa Now" produced by Globalvision from 1988 to 1991. It exposed violations of the arms embargo against South Africa. The Africa Fund conducted public education campaigns in the U.S. including the "Unlock Apartheid's Jails" campaign for the release of detainees and political prisoners in South Africa. In the 1990s The Africa Fund had an active program supporting the struggle against the dictatorship in Nigeria. Following the end of apartheid the Fund had a program to promote the involvement of state and municipal officials with U.S. policy toward Africa including campaigning for the cancellation of Africa's debt. In 2001 The Africa Fund, ACOA and the Washington, DC-based Africa Policy Information Center merged to form Africa Action and somewhat later the New York office was closed.
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