Andrew Young, former mayor of Atlanta, civil rights icon and ambassador to the United Nations, is scheduled to speak at a June 8-10 summit on pan-African economic development in Libreville, Gabon.

Mr. Young is one of more than 126 speakers comprised of former and current heads of state, entrepreneurs, nonprofits and other groups operating in the continent to address the summit sponsored by the New York Forum Institute.

John Hope Bryant, an Atlanta resident who runs Operation Hope, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit focused on financial literacy in underprivileged communities locally and around the world, will also speak at the event. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was listed as a speaker on the event’s website but will not attend, according to a spokesperson. 

The group says that the summit will help bring together leaders to help Africa address themes such as international business models, improvements to Africa’s security and governance, the role of Africa’s diaspora and other regional issues.

Gabon has a populatioin of 1.5 million and is the fifth largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa. The World Bank ranks Gabon’s gross domestic product at 115 behind the Democratic Republic of the Congo but ahead of Senegal out of 195 countries.

Gabon’s ambassador to the U.S., Michael Mousa-Adamo, visited Atlanta March 31-April 2 to meet with representatives of Emory University‘s medical school and members of the Southeast’s Gabonese community.

Mr. Mousa-Adamo toured Emory where he met with Mary Galinski, professor of medicine, infectious diseases and global health and a director of the International Center for Malaria Research, Education and Development at the university’s medical school. Dr. Galinski also is the founder and president of the Malaria Foundation International.

Additionally, Mr. Mousa-Adamo visited the nonprofit Medshare in DeKalb County, which collects excess supplies from the U.S. and sends them to developing countries.

He attended a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the founding Choi Kwang Do martial arts held at the Cobb Galleria in which several Gabonese 2nd and 3rd degree masters participated.

And he met with representatives of Global Marketing Partners USA, which has created a consortium of eight U.S. companies to work on major infrastructure investment and development projects. The consortium has been contracted to build 1,000 to 5,000 green energy affordable homes in a mixed-use community in Gabon.

Mr. Mousa-Adamo also toured the Martin Luther King Jr. Center and the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

 For more information, go to http://www.ny-forum-africa.com/en/home