The foundation was a spin-off of the for-profit Made in Africa, which had been founded by Savile Row tailor Ozwald Boateng, a Ugandan prince Hassan Kimbugwe, and barrister Chris Cleverly in 2005.
[4] The foundation was established in 2011 (and incorporated in the UK in March 2012[5]) by Boateng, Nigerian businessman Kola Aluko and Nigeria-based oil and gas company Atlantic Energy to support transformational and large scale African developments and infrastructure projects.
"[8] In a January 2013 BBC HARDtalk interview with Zeinab Badawi, Boateng discussed African diaspora returning to develop enterprises in the region, and urged more to do the same.
(Made in Africa has previously linked with significant African American figures including Jamie Foxx, Chris Tucker, Mos Def, Isaiah Washington and Herbie Hancock.
[11][12] Contributors included Liberian and Gabonese presidents Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Omar Bongo Ondimba, Mo Ibrahim, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, Director-General of UNIDO Kandeh Yumkella and British architect David Adjaye.
[20] The PIDA initiative aimed to further the socio-economic development of Africans, by improving the continent's nascent power, transportation, water, and ICT infrastructure.