Experts on Africa
The Africa Faith and Justice Network offers a variety of Africa Experts who have worked both in the U.S and in Africa on Africa-U.S. policy. If you are interested in learning more about a particular area or would like to speak with one of our experts please contact communications@afjn.org.
Nelson Adjei-Bediako
SMA, Executive Director January 2021-July 2021
International Relations / Conflict Resolution / Justice, Peace, Integrity of Creation
Rev. Fr. Nelson Adjei-Bediako, a member of the Society of African Missions (SMA), former Executive Director to the Africa Faith and Justice Network (January-July 2021). Fr. Nelson was the Local Superior of the SMA in Takoma Park, MD, and the Coordinator for the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation for the SMA Fathers Province (January 2018 – December 2020). When Fr. Nelson was the Pastor of St. Theresa Parish, Adamavo in Lomé, Togo (2014-2016), he established a micro-finance project for the parish community.
From January 2009 to October 2013, he was elected Superior (provincial) of the Gulf of Guinea District. As Superior, Fr. Nelson established a working relationship with the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar along with the bishops in the Economic Community of West Africa Region. He also coordinated the activities of the SMA Fathers in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Togo; served as liaison between the SMA Fathers and the Dioceses in the afore-mentioned countries. He also supervised the construction of the SMA Formation Centre of Agodeke in Lomé, Togo. Fr. Nelson was a Councilor for African District in Formation of the SMA Fathers, a unit responsible for all of Africa, from October 2007 to November 2008.
He was ordained Roman Catholic priest on July 18, 1998 and sent to the Northern part of Nigeria where he served God’s family in St. James Parish, Gombe; St. Giles Parish, Gambar in Bauchi State; St. Peter Parish, Sabon Tasha, Kaduna and Holy Family Parish, Life Camp – Gwarimpa, Abuja. He has extensive pastorial experience – counseling, preaching, motiving, leadership, adminstrative and experience in community development.
Fr. Nelson also holds a Masters of Arts in International Relations in Conflict Resolution from American Public University System, Charles Town, WV (May 2018) and a Bachelors of Theology from the major seminary Saint Cœur de Marie in Anyama, in Ivory Coast (June 1998).
Eucharia Madueke
SNDdeN, Coordinator, African Women Project
Women Empowerment / Faith-Based Advocacy / Human Trafficking
Eucharia Madueke is a Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur (SNDdeN), Nigerian Province, and the Coordinator of the Women Empowerment Project at the Africa Faith & Justice Network (AFJN). Prior to joining AFJN, she was an associate and grassroots mobilizer at NETWORK, a Washington DC-based National Catholic Social Justice Advocacy organization focusing on social action on behalf of the less privileged. Her other work experience includes teaching at Howard University, Washington DC, teaching at Lumen Christi Boys Secondary School Uromi Edo State, Notre Dame Girls Secondary School Oro, Kwara State, Notre Dame Novitiate, Ilorin, and Notre Dame Postulate Agenebode, Edo State in Nigeria. She also served as Provincial of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Nigerian Province.
Sister Eucharia Madueke received her First Degree in Education and Religion from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, Masters Degree in Social Work from The Catholic University of America, and a Ph.D. in Development and Public Policy from Howard University, Washington DC. Her skills are in the area of formation and administration, community organizing and development, policy analysis and advocacy, grassroots mobilization, and leadership development. Her other interests include: faith and public policy; education and governance, and women in governance. She has written articles for the Global Sisters Report, focusing on cultural dynamics in African society as well as about Catholic Sisters services in Africa.
Rev. Aniedi Okure
Sociologist / US-Africa Policy Expert / Faith-based Coalition Building
Fr. Aniedi Okure, OP is a Consultant for AFJN’s Women Empowerment Project and the General Promoter of Justice and Peace and Permanent Delegate to the United Nations for the Dominicans. Prior to becoming General Promoter, Aniedi served as the Executive Director of AFJN and as a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at The Catholic University of America. His key engagement at AFJN focused advocacy for just US-Africa policies and on formation and training of Civil Society Groups based on Catholic Social Teaching, the techniques of contextual social analysis, and mobilizing the groups for practical advocacy on issues that impact their communities. He also served as the Coordinator of Ethnic Ministry at the United Stated Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and as Vicar Provincial for North America and the Caribbean of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph the Worker, Nigeria and Ghana.
Ntama Bahati
Policy Analyst
US-Africa Foreign Policy Expert / Cameroon / D R Congo / Good Governance
Ntama Bahati joined Africa Faith and Justice Network in 2007. Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, he witnessed the invasion of the DRC by Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda from 1996-2000 and worked in the field of post-war relief. He co-founded the Association des vieullards abondonnes in french Association for Abandoned Elderly (AVA) which addresses the increased number of elderly people begging on the streets of Bukavu during the conflict in DRC. He holds an undergraduate degree in Philosophy (2000) from La Ruzizi in Bukavu/DRC, a Masters of Divinity (2006), and Masters of Arts in Ethics (2007) from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
Since joining AFJN, he has written and spoken in different circles across the US on the socio-political issues of the DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi. He is the author of Tribe not an Idea, but a True Identity, a piece published in Recherches Africaines. L’Afrique et son vecu vol. 21-22, and co-author of the paper Promoting International Support for Community-Based Justice Mechanisms in Post-Conflict Burundi and Uganda (2009). Policy papers of his include Two Rebel groups, One solution (2008), and Evaluating peace and stability in DRC (2009). He has been a guest of Africa Now, a radio program of WPFW in Washington DC and Voice of America TV. His work at AFJN is informed by his passion for social justice as well his personal commitment to making this world a better place for all people.
Rev. Barthelemy Bazemo
M.Afr, Washington, DC
US-Africa Foreign Policy Expert / Land Grab / Good Governance
Fr. Barthelemy Bazemo is a member of the Society of the Missionaries of Africa. Born in Ivory Coast and raised in Burkina Faso, West Africa, he has training in peace support operations, conflict studies, international politics, human rights, and diplomacy. Fr. Bazemo serves as a policy analyst and assists the Executive Director in AFJN-SECAM (Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) relations. He spent many years in Eastern Africa, mostly in Kenya and Tanzania studying and engaging in active urban apostolate, centered on nurturing Christian values, youth animation, developmental activities, and dialogue with other faiths. He was an active member of Christian Professionals of Tanzania (CPT), a forum for advocacy, human rights, and social ethics in the public square; and Wabunge Think-Tank for specific issues related to constitutional debate, the rule of law, good governance, and peacebuilding. Fr. Bazemo studied at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), Tangaza College, Hekima College Nairobi Kenya, and Centre Supérieur de Philosophie, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. In 2010 he studied at the National Peace Academy (NPA) at Wilmington College. He holds a Ph.D. in African Studies with a specialization in Africa in World Affairs, Governance, and Foreign Policy. His Masters degree is in Peace Studies and International Relations. He also holds an STB in Sacred Theology, a graduate diploma in Communications, and Certificate in PPI (Peacebuilding Peacelearning Intensive); He speaks and writes French, English, and Swahili.
Rocco Puopolo
SX, Holliston, MA
Former AFJN Exe. Director / Former AFJN Board Member
Fr. Rocco Puopolo, Former AFJN Board Vice Chair is a Xaverian Missionary Priest, served for twelve years over a 26-year span of time in Sierra Leone, West Africa. There he was an administrator of the local primary schools, a teacher in high school, a university chaplain, National Youth chaplain for the Young Christian Students and Catholic Youth Organization and director of a National Pastoral program that offered a variety of programs that equipped people for Integral Human Development, particularly peace studies.
Upon his return to the US, he served as director for the Xaverian graduate student study program in Chicago and a chaplain for a variety of youth retreats and service projects. In 2006, Fr. Rocco served as the Executive Director of the African Faith and Justice Network until 2011 when he returned to his native New England to co-direct a new youth initiative of the Xaverian Missionaries, the GYM (Global Youth Mission Services). He is a member of Xaverian Missionaries governing Board, Member of local Metro West and Fatima Shrine Pax Christi, as well as a State Board member for Pax Christi Massachusetts. He holds a Masters in Divinity with Cross Cultural Specialization from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago. Fr. Rocco was a research fellow at the Institute of Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia in 1994. He resides in Holliston, MA.
