Diplomacy & Public Service
Landmark
Arikana Chihombori-Quao
The African Union's ambassador to Washington, and its sharpest public voice on colonialism
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Why they are here
A Tennessee family doctor for twenty-five years who became the AU's representative in Washington, and made the Berlin Conference a subject ordinary people argued about again.
Arikana Chihombori-Quao is a Zimbabwean physician, diplomat and Pan-Africanist who served as the African Union's Permanent Representative to the United States from 2016 to 2019.
She qualified in medicine in 1986, spent three years in general surgery in New York and twenty-five in family practice in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and chaired the African Union–African Diaspora Health Initiative from 2012 to 2016. As ambassador she became widely known for arguing publicly that the divisions imposed on Africa by the Berlin Conference still shape the continent. Her tour of duty was ended in October 2019, prompting a public petition and considerable protest across the diaspora.
She qualified in medicine in 1986, spent three years in general surgery in New York and twenty-five in family practice in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and chaired the African Union–African Diaspora Health Initiative from 2012 to 2016. As ambassador she became widely known for arguing publicly that the divisions imposed on Africa by the Berlin Conference still shape the continent. Her tour of duty was ended in October 2019, prompting a public petition and considerable protest across the diaspora.
- Wikipedia — Arikana Chihombori-Quao
- CNN — Arikana Chihombori-Quao: AU faces backlash after terminating diplomat's appointment
- African Union — Communiqué on the end of tenure of Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Quao
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