Ghanaian rapper M.anifest has announced that he will be speaking at Harvard University’s Africa Development Conference (ADC), scheduled for April 11 and 12, 2025. The musician shared the news on his official X page.
The Africa Development Conference is an annual student-led event at Harvard that focuses on issues affecting the African continent.
Each year, the event brings together speakers from across Africa and the world to discuss development, share ideas, and propose solutions. The 2025 edition is themed, Africa by 2040: The Future of Africa’s Youth.
The theme is set to focus on the role of Africa’s youth in shaping the continent’s future. The conference will feature discussions on challenges and opportunities across several sectors, including governance, education, health, business, law, technology, sports, and culture.
M.anifest will speak alongside other invited guests from various fields, including Abdou Souleye Diop, Managing Partner at Forviz Mazars; Adegoke Olubusi, Co-founder and CEO of Helium Health; and Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, Correspondent at ARISE News.
The list also features Amb. Dr. Namira Negm, Director of the African Migration Observatory; Amb. Frederic Gateretse-Ngoga, Senior Adviser on International Partnerships at the African Union; and Benny Bonsu, Director of Content at Olympic Channel Services.
Dr. Ernest Ofori Sarpong, Founder and Chairman of Special Group of Companies; Dr. Nadi Albino, Deputy Director and Global Lead on Partnership at UNICEF; Elizabeth Adeyemo, Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Notre Dame; Franck Kié, Managing Partner at Ciberobs Consulting; and George Opare-Addo, Ghana’s Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment will also be there.
American football player Joshua Uche of the Philadelphia Eagles, Art Basel’s Africa VIP Representative Kami Gahiga, artist Kaneza Schaal, Koye Adeboye of the United Nations Spotlight Initiative, attorney Marvellous Iheukwumere, Endsight Consulting President Matthew McLean, Michael Kwesi Ofori of Investor Hub Ghana, Editor-in-Chief Oluwamayowa Idowu of Culture Custodian, and sculptor Omodamwen Kelly will also feature.
M.anifest has been seen as an intellectual in the music and academia space over the course of his career. He was even jabbed for it by Sarkodie in his 2016 diss song Kanta, in which he asked him to venture into lecturing instead of rap music.
In 2023, he was invited to speak at Howard University in Washington, D.C., during a special event marking the 50th anniversary of hip-hop.
The event, organised by the university’s Centre for African Studies and School of Business, was part of a global series celebrating hip-hop’s impact.
Source: yen.com