In 2018, the Center for African Studies launched the Joseph Agyepong Distinguished Lecture on Public Health in Africa. This annual lecture is sponsored by the Harvard Center for African Studies and generously supported by the Center for African Studies’ Advisory Board Member Joseph Agyepong.
The Joseph S. Agyepong Distinguished Lecture on Public Health in Africa was generously endowed by Joseph S. Agyepong, founder and executive chairman of JOSPONG group of companies in Accra, Ghana. Established in 1995, Jospong is one of Ghana’s leading diversified holdings companies. Its holdings include companies active in building and construction, printing and publishing, information and communications technology, waste management, mining and quarrying, oil and gas, automobiles and equipment, skill development, financial services, public health and safety, logistics and supply chain, transportation and haulage, manufacturing, and business facilitation.
This lecture provides a platform for the Harvard University Center for African Studies to explore topics related to public health in Africa, engage leaders, policy makers, researchers, and academics on tackling Africa's health and development goals. The Harvard Center for African Studies sought to endow a lecture on the theme of Public Health in Africa to continue, in perpetuity, contributions to a global repository of knowledge, development of actionable solutions for policymaking, and inspiration for new directions in academic research. The lecture series builds upon an existing CAS research initiative in Climate Change, Agriculture, and Health, which convenes scholars from across Africa and Harvard University to evaluate current data and policy interventions, develop innovative collaborative research projects, and convene working groups in recognition of the ongoing changes in global climate that threaten agriculture across the globe and threaten human health.