 Statistically, every immigrant from Africa to the United States brings with him a wealth of knowledge, collegiate experience, and often a PhD. According to the US Censes 2000, African immigrants currently exhibit the highest level of education of any foreign-born resident, are better educated than US natives and hold managerial and professional positions that parallel the levels of European and Asian-born residents. However, the opportunities for these individuals to add to the academic discourse become limited with their transition to the United States. Separated by an ocean from their former institutions such as the University of Capetown and the Addis Ababa University, creative outlets for these scholars are not as readily available. The solution is an initiative to get their voices heard and their work into the public eye, with a specific approach towards, but not limited to, their world understanding that has been guided by their shared African heritage.
Founded in 2004 as an imprint of Tsehai Publishers, the African Academic Press was established to facilitate the publishing of scholarly works that do not usually get proper attention from the mainstream publishing houses. In this respect, priority is given to those works which provide the African perspective. Originally partnered with James Currey Publications, before James Currey’s recent acquisition, as well as the University of South Africa, the African Academic Press has continued to strive forward on its own, dedicated to becoming the leading source of academic publication from and about the continent of Africa.
Doing so is essential at a time when the American understanding of the African continent is stagnant, despite successful African expatriates moving to the US and a highly visible Presidential candidate with a Kenyan background.
The benefits to Africa are also a key part of the initiative. In the case of educated Africans moving to the United States, every gain for America is also a major loss to the developing countries that they leave behind. This ‘brain drain’ of educated people, possibly the continent’s most vital resource, can be debilitating at a time when experience is necessary for the construction of infrastructure, academia and community. The African Academic Press would serve as a conduit for returning the knowledge base that has emigrated abroad, working with universities in numerous countries to make sure that the published texts are available not just in the United States but in African libraries and classrooms as well. This would considerably lessen the blow of the ‘brain drain’ by trading experience and information across the ocean, creating an international network of scholarship and study.
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