After ten months of extensive and diversified programming across metropolitan France and its overseas territories, hundreds of collaborations between French and African partner structures, thousands of events in the arts, sciences, entrepreneurship, this Thursday, 30 September 2021, the Africa2020 Season draws to a close. Announced as pan-African and multidisciplinary from the moment it was designed, this project was able to materialise to its fullest and achieve the ambitions it had set for itself despite the constraints imposed by the Covid.

AN OUTSTANDING SEASON, BOTH IN AMBITION AND FIGURES
N'Goné Fall, General Commissioner of the Africa2020 Season, sums it up well: From the early stages of the project, in 2018, the “past forty months have been spent in sprint and marathon modes, an intense period full of surprises…” This outstanding Season, inevitably marked by Covid-19, has nevertheless taken place. This was made possible thanks to the work of the Africa2020 Season teams, the Institut français, the unwavering support of patrons and institutional partners, and the creativity of partner organisations in France and Africa.

This period gave practical meaning to the General Commissioner’s invitation to the French people to “observe and understand the world from an African perspective”. For we have all learned, indeed, what it meant to work in an environment of uncertainty, to resist, to adapt, to be pragmatic… much like the peoples of Africa. And better yet, they are the ones who lead by example on how to function in such a context, thanks to their ability to adapt in the face of adversity.

“The Africa2020 Season is the sounding board for agents of change whose visions are at the core of a collective ideal of political, social, economic and cultural empowerment driven by peoples faced with the same challenges on African soil", explained N’Goné Fall. “The Season is centered around innovation in the arts, sciences, technologies, entrepreneurship and the economy. It puts the human being at the centre, places education at the heart of the programming, pays tribute to women, while being aimed first and foremost at youth.”

The Season is designed around thirteen major challenges of the 21st century and is based on 3 pillars: the "Africa2020 Headquarters", designed as temporary pan-African centres, a "Women Focus", which gives visibility to women in the arts, sciences and entrepreneurship, as well as an "Education" component, with hundreds of educational projects in schools across France, the hosting of young Africans in France for a civic service mission with partner structures, and the offer by France to make use of the educational tools drawn from the eight volumes of the General History of Africa produced by UNESCO.

AFRICA2020 SEASON, THAT’S…

? 210 cities in metropolitan France and overseas territories
? 422 partner structures in France
? 489 partner structures in Africa
? More than 1 500 events in the arts, sciences, and entrepreneurship
? 350 educational projects in school
? 12 Africa2020 Headquarters
? 30 « Women Focus » projects
? 11 African volunteers in a civic service programme in France
? More than 4 million participants took part in the Africa2020 Season

WHAT NEXT?
Leaving aside the balance sheet, this unprecedented Season has sowed many seeds, by way of collaborations between African and French partners, some of which will carry on. The Season has played its role as a collaborative platform for the production and dissemination of knowledge and know-how.
“The Africa2020 Season draws to an end on 30 September 2021 but this human adventure is not over. A new page will turn tomorrow because this Season is merely a chapter in the long history of a global movement that we have all inherited and are all making”, concludes the General Commissioner.

THE AFRICA2020 SEASON
Initiated by the President of the French Republic, the Africa2020 Season is an outstanding project designed around thirteen major challenges of the 21st century. This Season is an invitation to look at and understand the world from an African perspective. Dedicated to the entire African continent, the Africa2020 Season took place in the entire French territory (metropolitan France and overseas) from the 1st December 2020 to the 30th of September 2021.

The Africa2020 Season is operated by the Institut français with the support of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, public financers of the Season. The Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports, the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation and the Agence française de développement (AFD) also contribute to the financing of the Season.

The Institut français is the public institution in charge of France’s international cultural actions. Under the dual auspices of the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture, the Institut contributes actively to France’s cultural diplomacy.

For more information, please consult the Website of the Africa2020 Season and social media: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.