A WELCOME MESSAGE FROM THE TRUSTEES

Africa Research Institute was founded with a grant from Richard Smith, an industrialist with a longstanding interest in Africa.

“Over the years I have been a regular visitor to Africa, and I never fail to be impressed by the dynamism of this diverse continent. The pessimism and gloom in the media often ignore this. My experience is that Africa is also a land of energy and optimism.

Citizens of the West want Africa’s people to enjoy a degree of comfort and security that is currently denied them. But the facts stand out clearly that the governments of rich nations have struggled to find policies that can help Africa get to its feet. In purely economic terms, much of the continent is worse off today than it was thirty years ago.

I am a businessman based in the West of England, where I run a group of companies manufacturing electronics components for the aerospace industry. The financial support of my family’s charitable foundation to launch the Africa Research Institute reflects my interest in both policy issues and charities. In 1996, I founded Martha’s Trust in Hereford, a residential centre that provides life-long care for profoundly disabled young people. One of my companies designed and now manufactures a wheelchair for disabled children. I have personally written policy papers on the need for new approaches to charity and disability.

My hope is that the Africa Research Institute will encourage fresh, constructive and practical thinking. We aim to find new ways to convey the experience of the many successes in Africa today to key decision-makers, both in the rich nations and within Africa.”

Richard Smith
Chairman of the Trustees


Howard Flight is a former Member of Parliament and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. He was joint founder and Managing Director of Guinness Flight, an asset management firm based in the City of London. Previously, he lived and worked in India where he set up the investment banking division of HSBC. He serves as an adviser to Investec, the South African investment banking group, and is a director of Investec Asset Management and of several other companies.

“My interest in Africa was triggered, principally, by Investec taking over Guinness Flight in the late 1990s. I began to observe that many of the positive things happening in Africa, often way beyond Southern Africa, had the business backing of Johannesburg.

It was also brought home to me that the best-performing African economies tended to have more sound legal systems and more democratic governments. During my time as a Member of Parliament I had become somewhat disillusioned by the shallowness of some of the “aid politics” and a tendency to rather patronising assumptions about “how the West should help Africa”.

My great interest is, therefore, in identifying the things that have worked well and succeeded in Africa, both economically and politically. Citizens of Africa need to suggest to the West what measures and assistance are helpful and work – and those which have not worked.

Largely by coincidence – and arising from the increasing “global scramble” for raw materials – I believe Africa’s time may finally have come. I hope the Africa Research Institute will play a useful role in channelling this new interest in Africa, in ways which will contribute to economic and political success”.

Howard Flight
Trustee