22/08/2023
Opportunities and Challenges of the African Continental Free Trade Area
Meet the Panelist:
Awan holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and International Studies and a Masters degree in Communication Studies from the University of Calabar.
He is the Chairman of the Sponsor Board of Paul Awan Initiative for Development, an organisation engaged in conflict resolution and conflict transformation through negotiation, mediation, and peace education.
Based in the southern Nigeria-Cameroon border area, the organisation carries out peacebuilding programmes and development of peace infrastructures through national and regional forums known as Inclusive Dialogue and Education (IDEs). As a custodian of the vision and values of the organisation, he is the Host and Editor-at-Large of its IDEs.
IDEs have been established in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, India and Cameroon.
In Cameroon, Awan has worked extensively, tapping from his established ancestral, social, and research links in the conflict-affected area (the Anglophone conflict area).
Given his extensive work in the area, as well as in the border communities in Nigeria which host refugees of the crisis, he is recognized as the established authority in the area which for research purpose, has been designated as Ekpokpa Development Entity (EDEN).