A revival of the Pan-African Identity: The Global African Diaspora Summit
Published Date: Monday, Oct 01, 2012
May 25th, 2012 saw the hosting of the Global African Diaspora Summit held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg. Formally held by the South African Government under the guidance of the African Union, the Summit saw the participation of over 500 delegates, including 64 presidents or officials of African countries present. 76 “Eminent Speakers” were also invited to the summit which included Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Thabo Mbeki, former presidents of Nigeria and South Africa respectively. Pan- African icons such as the late ambassador Dudley Thompson and Dr. Marcus Garvey were also remembered during the Summit. The revival of the “Pan-African identity” will in theory do a lot of good to the African Diaspora which has found roots in most countries since their departure as slaves 500 years ago. An Integrated Draft Declaration that was adopted had four basic elements. The first was a political declaration embodying vision, purpose and objectives. The second was a Program of Action that highlighted areas and programs required to support the implementation agenda. Third were implementation and follow-up mechanism embodying the instruments that would be employed to facilitate implementations of the outcomes and fourthly, five legacy projects such the production of a Skills Database of African Professionals in the Diaspora, the establishment of the African Diaspora Volunteers Corps, the African Diaspora Investment Fund, a program on the Development Marketplace for the Diaspora, as a framework for facilitating innovation and entrepreneurship among African and Diaspora; and The African Remittances Institute, which would give immediate, urgent and practical meaning to the Declaration. Whether any of these will actually be implemented is another matter altogether.