The International Conference on the “History of Islamic Learning and Scholarship in Central and West Africa”, organized by the Government of Cameroon through the Ministry of External Relations and the Ministry of Arts and Culture jointly with the OIC General Secretariat and IRCICA, was held from 31st August to 2 September 2024 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The conference was placed within the series of OIC events that were hosted by the Republic of Cameroon under the auspices of the President of the Republic H.E. Mr. Paul Biya during the period of the 50th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC Member States starting from 29 August 2024. The opening of the conference was addressed by the representative of the Minister of External Relations of Cameroon, the representative of the Minister of Arts and Culture, the Secretary General of the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC), as well as the representative of H.E. the Secretary General of OIC, the Director of Cultural Affairs Dr. Lhoucine Rhazoui, and the Director General of IRCICA Ambassador, Prof. Mahmud Erol Kılıç. The opening session was followed by a keynote presentation on the conference theme delivered by Prof. Hamadou Adama from the University of Ngaoundéré, Academic Coordinator of the conference. The panels received specialized paper presentations by scholars and experts from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Senegal. The general themes of the panels were as follows: Intellectual tradition and Islamic scholarship in Central and West Africa; Prominent Islamic learning centers in Central and West Africa; Muslim scholars and their contributions to training and development; The Islamic economy and merchant networks; Scholarship and Islamic intellectual networking; Islamic scholarship, media and diffusion of Islamic culture. Each session was preceded by the preparatory work of a specialized committee. The closing ceremony was marked by lively discussions on the conference topics conducted by Mrs. Astadjam Haman Saoudi (representative of Cameroon in the Governing Board of IRCICA) on behalf of H.E. the Minister of Arts and Culture; Dr. Lhoucine Rhazoui, Director of Culture at the OIC General Secretariat; H.E. Prof. Aboubacar Abdullah Senghore, Assistant Director General of IRCICA. The papers of the conference will be published under the coordination and editorship of Prof. Hamadou Adama. The IRCICA delegation at the conference included Dr. Gassim Ibrahim from Cameroon, researcher at IRCICA. The delegation established contacts with delegates from governmental departments and universities, introducing them with the Centre’s activities.
