A ground breaking pre-Congress Regional Conference for West Africa, involving renowned African and African American scholars, activists, local and regional bodies, civil society organizations, investors and top government functionaries took place in Bamako, the capital of Mali between March 14 and 16, 2024.
The Conference, which is a prelude to the 9th Pan-African Congress that will take place in Lomé, Togo from October 29 to November 2, 2024, had as its theme “Diaspora, Afro-descendants and Development.”
Besides the acclaimed activists and scholars from different parts of Africa, the Americas and beyond, who participated in the Conference which took place at the Hôtel de l’Amitié, the participants met with the Head of the Transition Government of Mali, Colonel Assimi Goita and the Prime Minister and Head of Government of the West African country.
Among the Conference participants were renowned pan Africanist, Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba of Kenya, Dr. Akil Khalfani, a Professor of Sociology and Director, Africana Institute of Essex County College, Newark, New Jersey, USA, Dr. Daryl Zizwe Poe, Professor of History, and Coordinator, Black Studies Program, Lincoln University, Dr. Frannie Leautier, Ph.D. Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA, a Tanzanian Civil Engineer, academic, international finance and development consultant as well as CEO, SouthBridge Investment, Kigali, Rwanda, and Luci Elizabeth Murphy, an American singer, political activist, community organiser and language expert.
The Conference, among others, acknowledged the significant financial contributions of African diasporas towards the development of different sectors in the mother continent, which is believed to exceed the touted official development assistance granted to all Third World countries by the western world.
Admitting that much more still needs to be done, the Congress also noted the deplorable conditions under which Blacks all over the world still operate, including in the Diaspora, stressing that “indeed, throughout the world, people of African descent are among the poorest and most marginalized sections of the population, whether as descendants of victims of the transatlantic slave trade or as more recent migrants.”
In spite of the declaration, by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 68/237 of December 23, 2013, designating January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent, with the theme “People of African descent: Consideration, Justice and Development,” organizers of the Bamako Conference regretted that findings and studies carried out by national and international organizations show that “people of African descent continue to have limited access to quality education and health services, as well as to housing and social security.
“Their situation is often ignored, and their efforts to remedy the conditions in which they live are not given sufficient weight or respect. They are often subject of discrimination in terms of access to justice, and face alarming rates of police violence, in addition to racial profiling. Their
participation in political life often remains low, whether in terms of voting or holding political office.”
Against these backgrounds, discussions at the Conference centered on questions such as the challenges and issues related to productive investment by the diaspora and Afro-descendants; how to identify, develop and harness the continent’s investment potential; how to overcome recurrent constraints, such as legal issues, insecurity and bad governance as well as whether the incentives put in place to attract investments are sufficient and how they can be bettered.
Equally considered are the questions of whether the role of the diaspora and Afro-descendants in productive investment are sufficiently
being taken into account, and how, beyond financial and material investment, the link between the mother continent and the diaspora and Afro-descendants can be strengthened to encourage their harmonious inclusion in Africa’s multifaceted development.
Balla Diabate, the younger brother of Sidiki Diabate, also played the kora masterfully at the Bamako meeting that also stressed the critical role of art and culture.
Pictures here show some of the dignitaries that graced the Conference.
