Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said at City Hall that the African continent would be “at the forefront” of the city's international agenda during 2014 coinciding with Africa Atlanta 2014, a citywide year-long series of events.

“As the city's presence grows on the international stage,” he said. "I am honored to be an honorary co-chair of the Africa Atlanta 2014 program."

The Africa Atlanta program is to include a wide variety of artistic, business and educational events, and began in earnest with the opening of the "Mapping Place: Africa Beyond Paper," an exhibition at Georgia Tech's Robert C. Williams Paper Museum featuring hand-drawn and colored 16th century paper maps among other African artifacts.

Mr. Reed cited both the city's historic ties with Africa and the continent's emerging growth as reasons for highlighting present ties and encouraging new ones.

Joining the mayor for his endorsement of the program were its organizers Jacqueline J. Royster, dean of the Georgia Institute of Technology's Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, and Genevieve Verbeek, consul general of Belgium in Atlanta.

Read the full article at GlobalAtlanta.com.