Africare history

Africare permanently incorporated in Washington , D.C. May of 1971.

Gaining Notice and Funding: 1972-89

Following a recommendation of the African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) was established on 24 February, 1976 in Yaounde, Cameroon.

By 1978 Africare had ventured into South Africa for the first time, and continued to expand throughout Africa.

The building was purchased in 1981 from a public auction for $159,000 cash, but rather than taking out bank loans, the driven homeowners-to-be drafted a campaign to generate nearly $2 million needed to fix, furnish and equip their new Headquarters.

For his extraordinary efforts on behalf of Africa, Lucas was given the 1984 United States Presidential End Hunger Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement, bestowed by then President Ronald Reagan.

In 1987 Africare began a critical healthcare initiative to combat the epidemic of HIV and AIDS in Africa.

1989: The Career Development Internship program is launched in South Africa.

In his honor, Africare established the Bishop John T. Walker Dinner and Humanitarian Award in 1990.

In order to allow its cedants to share the Corporation's fortune and participate more closely in its affairs, one-third of Africa Re's capital was opened up in 1992 to insurance companies with a majority indigenous shareholding.

The year 1994 brought about the extraordinary, as former prisoner Nelson Mandela was elected the first president of South Africa.

In 1995, for the first time in its history, Africare was touched by controversy through a sizable donation from Democratic businessman Johnny Chung.

Key among them was South Africa's first "digital village," which was established in Soweto in 1997.

In 1998 Nelson Mandela was named Africare's Honorary chairman of the board, the same year Africare began a new crop initiative in Uganda, growing pest-resistant plants, helping villagers plant small gardens, and building roads to get harvested foods to nearby markets.

Also, in 2001 it was decided that the Corporation's capital be increased to US$ 100 million and opened to non-African investors so as to have the required strategic partners.

In late 2002 Africare's annual fundraiser was awash in controversy when its honoree, Harry Belafonte, made inflammatory remarks about Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice several weeks before the October event.

Upgraded to a Regional Office in 2003.

As a result, four (4) non-African Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) subscribed and paid for a total of 21% of the capital of Africa Re (end 2010), bringing the number of AAA rated shareholders to Five (5) and accounting for 29% of the corporation's shareholding.

IRB-Brasil Re, the leading reinsurance company in Brazil became a shareholder of Africa Re in 2012.

The Corporation had two new shareholders in 2015 namely, AXA – the leading French and global insurer and FAIRFAX - a Toronto based holding and group of insurance and reinsurance companies with subsidiaries around the globe.

The four DFIs that were shareholders of Africa Re until 2016 are:

To date, more than 100 insurance and reinsurance companies are shareholders of Africa Re with a 32.85 % combined stake (2017).

PanAfricare is an independent non-profit organization, established in July 2020, with its Headquarters in Dakar, Senegal.