On 26 March 2026, the Afrique Students' Association hosted its fourth Africa Summit at the Geneva Graduate Institute. Under the theme Anchoring Africa in the Present: When Vision Meets Momentum, the day was built around a simple but urgent premise: Africa is too often framed either through the lens of the past or projected far into the future. This summit was an invitation to shift that focus, to recognise the dynamism, agency, and momentum shaping the continent right now.
The day opened with a panel on Sudan, moderated by Esra Alfadil (LL.M. student at Geneva Graduate Institute) and featured Abdelbagi Jibril, founder of the Swiss-based Sudan Knowledge Centre, Dr. Eva Khair, humanitarian consultant and founder of the Women4Sudan campaign, and Roman Deckert, independent analyst and Sudan specialist. Together they challenged the lazy narrative of yet another African civil war, reframing the conflict as a war on civilians that demands urgent attention. The conversation centred the agency of Sudanese people in finding their own solutions, and a reminder that external solidarity must follow, never lead. In a room where many students had deep ties to conflict-affected regions, it landed with particular weight.
A workshop on democracy followed, facilitated by Professor Dêlidji Eric Degila and Institute alumnus and former ASA co-director Claudel Simo. The session asked not whether Africa needs democratic institutions, but what an authentically African democracy could look like. Drawing on pre-colonial governance traditions, including the checks and balances of the Ashanti Empire, students discussed, questioned, and challenged each other in imagining what democracy should and could look like on the continent. The choice to centre student voices was deliberate. Africa has the world's youngest population, and if that energy and perspective is meant to shape the continent's future, it needs spaces to be heard. What better place to start than the summit itself?
The summit closed with a panel on narratives, art, and the African creative industry, moderated by Charlotte Diez-Bento, founder of This is your Heart, and featuring curator and researcher Bansoa Sigam, choreographer Filibert Tologo, and entrepreneur Nelly Wandji. Closing with art was not a choice to end on something light, but to root the day in a topic that is often underestimated despite its significance in conversations about soft power and identity. Our panelists reminded us that African creativity is not waiting to be discovered. It is already reshaping global contemporary art, luxury, and identity, one story at a time.
That spirit ran through the entire day: the band Mogoya brought music to the summit, and for the entire month of March the walls of The Fab hosted an exhibition by Gallery Brulhart, bringing African art into the everyday life of the Institute long before the panels began. Attendees were also honoured to hear from artist Kidist Degaffe, who spoke about her piece, and from Mona Brulhart, Director of Gallery Brulhart, about the exhibition itself.
We hope the summit encouraged you to question assumptions, engage critically, and walk away with a deeper, more textured understanding of Africa in the present. That, more than anything, is what ASA set out to do. The stories we tell about Africa matter. And so does the way we choose to listen.
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Banner image: Summit Team. From left to right: Samira Ibrahim Faria, Joanne Carla Tcheho Tate, Esra Alfadil, Hyeonji Chang, Khadijah Harris-Muhammed, Lou Rinaldo, Louise Bodian, Malak Afifi, Jennifer Siaw, Haddy Faye, Malak Helal. Not pictured: Charis Riebe, Tinsae Abiyo, Shadrach Kundi, Alexis Akodjenou
