Tana High Level Forum on Security in Africa

History

The Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa (also known as the Tana Forum) is an independent platform for discussing peace and security issues in Africa. The Tana Forum is an independent initiative launched in 2012 by a group of renowned Africans including the former president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo and the late Prime Minister of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi. President Obasanjo is the current Chairperson of the Forum’s advisory board, which includes former President Thabo Mbeki and other African personalities. The event takes place each April on the shores of Lake Tana in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Operations

The Tana Forum is an informal setting; over two days, heads of states, academics, experts, policymakers and members of public society discuss African-led solutions to peace and security challenges in Africa. The setting is inspired by an old African tradition, "talking under the baobab". The Baobab tree is the emblem of the forum and each year President Obasanjo removes his bobo (traditional hat) after his opening remarks.

The increasingly prestigious invite-only meeting prides and sells itself on blunt and frank talk about the causes of African conflicts, and innovative ways to tackle them [1]. "This prestigious event" (In Kofi Annan's words) [2] brings together many distinguished participants who share a deep, mutual interest in the security and well-being of Africa. The forum is said to be a frank, relevant, immersive and candid platform, the forefront of initiating an informal platform for political dialogue in the area of peace and security. The continent's policymakers and policy influencers gather to exchange and debate on the continent's peace and security challenges. The forum entertains open, truthful and vigorous debates that are meant to result in the emergence of a distinctive African voice. It marries the worlds of academia and research with real-world, real-time experience. In order to enlighten and educate, the forum is preceded by months of research on the years’ theme that culminates in an academic paper. Now in its fifth year, it does not make decisions but prides itself on its informality and conversational style, allowing leaders to speak with a bluntness that is absent from official forums [3].

The Institute for Peace and Security Studies, a center of education and research at the Addis Ababa University, serves as the forum's Secretariat.

The annual themes are chosen by an international panel of experts and academics:

Tana Forum Board

A number of eminent figures in the world of politics, policy, and academia selected for their outstanding contribution to the realisation of African-centered solutions make up Tana Forum Board, which list is published on Tana Forum Website. The 2012-2016 Board is chaired by former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Olusegun Obasanjo. Others board members include: Former President of South Africa, Thabo Thabo Mbeki, Former President of Burundi and High Representative of the African Union in Mali and the Sahel, Pierre Pierre Buyoya, the Adviser to the Prime Minister with the rank of a minister and Deputy Chairperson of the Tana Board, Prof. Andreas Esheté, The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Former UN and Arab League Envoy to Syria and Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria, Ambassador Lakhdar Brahimi, World Bank's Director for Fragility, Conflict and Violence and Former State Minister for Water Resources in Uganda, Betty Betty Bigombe, Former Senegalese Minister for Social Development and former Minister for Women, Children and Family Affairs, Ndioro Ndiaye, the Executive Director of the Institute of Social Research (Makerere University), Prof. Mahmood Mahmood Mamdani, as well as the Founding Director of the African Leadership Centre at Kings College, London, Prof. Funmi Olonisakin.