On February 7, 2025, at the conclusion of the National Security Strategy and Rule of Law (NSSD-RoL) roundtable, the Africa Center organized an alumni engagement at the InterContinental Hotel in Lusaka, Zambia to welcome nearly thirty guests, including nearly ten retired and active Brigadier Generals, four Members of Parliament, former Ambassadors, Africa Center faculty, and the U.S. Defense Attaché to Zambia. Some of the alumni had been a part of the Africa Center community for the past twenty years and are now serving as a bridge between the Africa Center’s work and the region’s defense and security stakeholders.
This engagement created an opportunity for alumni to connect and strengthen relationships while reflecting on the progress made over the years. Plans to strengthen the Africa Center community chapters in Botswana and in Zambia emerged from the conversations.
Advancing Programmatic Priorities
Rooted in the Africa Center’s National Security Strategy Toolkit, this roundtable exemplified how the Center’s focused, alumni-driven efforts contribute to strengthening inclusive, democratic security institutions
across Africa. Alumni have been a critical part of producing the case studies and shaping the writing of the toolkits that faculty have developed. The Zambia alumni event also demonstrated how Africa Center programming supports U.S. policy goals to promote civil-military balance, good governance, and people-centered national security.
Through the event, participants left with a renewed commitment to responsible, rights-respecting security strategy implementation, fostering stronger institutions that can serve their citizens with integrity and accountability.