CSIS Names Oge Onubogu Senior Fellow and Director of Africa Program

WASHINGTON, DC – August 12, 2025 – The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is pleased to announce that Oge Onubogu has been named senior fellow and director of the Africa Program.

Onubogu is recognized as one of the world’s preeminent experts on U.S.-Africa relations, bringing to CSIS a long record of shaping American engagement with African governments. Her two decades of practical experience spans work with civil society, academia, and the U.S. and African private sectors.

“Africa’s geopolitical importance is higher today than it has ever been. Africa is critical to the future of global institutions, great power competition, and the changing balance of power,” said Victor Cha, president of the CSIS Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department. “CSIS will benefit enormously from Oge’s dynamism, her deep networks across the continent, and her creative approaches to Africa’s future on the international stage.”

Onubogu recently served as director of the Africa Program at the Wilson Center and prior to that was the director of the West Africa program at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP). Throughout her career, she has led dynamic programs at the intersection of governance, democracy, development, and security.

Under Onubogu’s leadership, the Africa Program will produce forward-thinking analysis to help stakeholders navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Africa, identify the geopolitical trends that are shaping Africa’s relations with the global community, and foster debate and informed decisionmaking to strengthen U.S.-Africa relations.

Onubogu said, “I am honored to lead the Africa Program and build on CSIS’s record of scholarship and policy engagement on Africa and U.S.-Africa relations. As the United States reevaluates its foreign policy and engagement with Africa, it is a pivotal time for policymakers to understand the trends that are transforming and shaping the African continent’s future.”

“By 2050, more than a quarter of the world’s population will be African. Africa’s potential and strategic importance demands sustained engagement and informed leadership,” said CSIS President and CEO John Hamre. “Oge has spent her career engaging directly with the people, institutions, and systems that are shaping the continent’s future. We are fortunate to have her lead our work at this pivotal time.”

Onubogu earned an MA at Brandeis University, and a BA at the University of Oklahoma. She is completing a doctorate in international affairs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).

Read Onubogu’s full bio here, and visit here to learn more about the Africa Program at CSIS.