New Chairman, African Consuls General Group, holds first meeting; Welcomes Nigeria, South Africa CGs, GPNews, others

….Society of Foreign Consuls, New York; Africa Chamber of Commerce; Global Patriot Newspapers, address meeting

The new Dean (Chairman) of the African Consuls General Group (ACGG) in New York, United States of America (USA), His Excellency Abdelkader Jamoussi, has hosted the first meeting of the Group under his leadership successfully last Thursday, September 12, 2024, with two new Consuls General (CGs) participating.

Participating in the meeting of the 54 member-strong Group for the first time, were the new Consuls General of Nigeria and South Africa in New York, His Excellencies Abubakar Jidda and Simon Cardy, respectively.

Another major highlight of the meeting, which took place at the Nelson R. Mandela Hall of the African Union (AU) Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in the Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza in New York, USA, was the welcoming of guests to the meeting, in keeping with the new Dean’s strategy of closer engagement with major stakeholders operating in the Group’s area of coverage.

Among the guests who addressed the meeting were the Consul General of Malaysia in New York, His Excellency Amir Farid Abu Hassan, who is also the President of the Society of Foreign Consuls in New York; the President of the New York Africa Chamber of Commerce, Busie Matsiko, and the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Global Patriot Newspapers (GPNews), Simon Ibe.

His Excellency Consul General Abdelkader Jamoussi, in his inaugural welcome address paid tribute to the immediate past Chairman of the ACGG New York, former Consul General of Senegal in New York, Monsieur El Hadji Amadou Ndao, and the other CGs of Nigeria and South Africa who have recently been posted out of New York.

He warmly welcomed their replacements and wished them successful tenures of office while calling on them and all the other CGs in New York to sustain the unity of purpose that had so far characterized the Group.

His Excellency Jamoussi, who is also the Consul General of the Kingdom of Morocco in New York, used the opportunity of his address to recall some of the immediate past engagements of the ACGG in New York, the events lined up for the near future and the programs that his leadership of the Group would champion.

The Dean also paid tribute to some of the leaders within their area of coverage who had been collaborating with them in one area or the other, including New Jersey Governor, Phil Murphy, New York City Mayor, Eric Adams and the President, Bronx Borough of New York, Vanessa L. Gibson. Gibson, only last Saturday, hosted the African Heritage Festival where the Moroccan Consulate played an active role.

His Excellencies Jidda and Cardy took turns to address the meeting and pledged their readiness to contribute their quota to the advancement of the ACGG in New York, as well to the development of the African continent.

While Consul General Cardy spoke of the need for the African continent to look inwards and begin to gain full value for the critical minerals that abound in its countries, Consul General Jidda stressed the need for Africans to be able to tell their own stories to the global community, insisting that the continent has a lot of advantages to market, including it’s burgeoning population.

Consul General Jidda, who noted that there are projections that Nigeria alone could, by 2050 have a population of over 400 million people,  thanked His Excellency Jamoussi for inviting the President of the New York Africa Chambers of Commerce and the Publisher of GPNews, as according to him, there is need for engagement with critical stakeholders in different areas, especially the economy and the media. He insisted that Africa must properly begin to tells its own story.

Consul General Hassan, the President of the Society of Foreign Consuls in New York, introduced the Society which will be celebrating its centenary (100 years) next year, and invited the Consuls General who are not yet members of the Society to join the body. He also took time to explain the Society’s activities to them as well as what they stand to gain by becoming members.

Matsiko explained the reasons behind the formation of the New York Africa Chamber of Commerce, “a bridge for businesses aiming to connect globally.” She said that the Chamber was formed to also serve as “a catalyst for economic synergy,” and invited members of the ACGG New York to the launch of the organization on September 27, 2024 at 3 E 43rd St, New York from 11am to 1.30pm.

Ibe, among others, pointed out the need to empower African media practitioners to begin to, more effectively, tell the continent’s story, acknowledging that there is a big gap between how the media operates in Africa and how it operates in the West, and that the gap needs to be bridged in the interest of all.

He used the opportunity to invite members of the ACGG New York to a virtual program being packaged by GPNews for Friday, September 20, 2024 from 3pm (EST), on “The Media of the Future: Bridging the Gap Between the West and People of African Descent,” which is a side event of the African Futures Summit, coming up on the side lines of the UN Summit of the Future.

While inviting the top Diplomats to the program, which will feature leading African and African American media practitioners as well as scholars, diplomats, activists and other critical stakeholders, Ibe also introduced an International Conference scheduled for the first quarter of 2025 on mobilizing Diaspora capital for the rapid development of Africa.

Oyiza Adaba, an award winning filmmaker and CEO of AfricRelated, an integrated media and movie making organization, who was also part of the meeting, restated the need for the ACGG New York to collaborate with African media practitioners to promote the continent through multimedia channels.

Sir (Architect) Linus Korieocha, a community and public opinion leader, equally attended the highly successful meeting, which officially flagged off the tenure of Ambassador Jamoussi as the Chairman of the ACGG in New York, as a guest.

Pictures: Courtesy AfricaRelated, and Charles Emmanuel (AU)