MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale
MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies at Yale
Council on African Studies

Elie Imani

African Studies MA Student and Lindsay Fellow
Council on African Studies
Academic Year: 2026-27

Project Title: Beyond “Win-Win”: Elite Framing, Bargaining, and Infrastructure Governance in Kenya and Tanzania

Project Location: Kenya and Tanzania

Elie Imani is an MA student in African Studies at Yale University’s MacMillan Center and a social entrepreneur. He earned a BA in Political Science from North Central College. His primary focus is Sino African relations, with additional interests in development across Africa, especially in the Great Lakes region. His recent fieldwork in Kenya examines how external finance and large infrastructure shape sovereignty, markets, and accountability. He leads Safari Strives in Rwanda, building enterprises that create jobs and support community programs. At Yale he plans to extend this research and deepen his entrepreneurial work so that scholarship and practice inform one another. He also serves as a Teaching Fellow.