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LET’S REBUILD AFRICA
...African Americans beckon Afro Caribbean Britain.
by Isaac Amo-Kyereme
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Africa needs partners, who can bring skills, expertise and resources to the problems and challenges it faces and defines. It is through these partnerships that Africa can realise its full potential. This was the underlying theme that runs through the seventh Leon H.Sullivan
Summit held in Abuja from the 17-20th of July, 2006.
The summit under theme “Africa: A Continent of Opportunities- Building Partnership for Success,” attracted Africans from the continent and from parts of the Diaspora, including Europe, Latin America, North America and the Caribbean. Also in attendance were the many Friends of Africa including the former president of the United States of America, Bill Clinton who gave the key note address.
Delivering his opening remarks in the mould of the Kwame Nkrumahs, the Nnamdi Azikiwes and the Julius Nyereres who fought long and hard to upgrade lives on the continent, President Clinton stressed the need for targets to be set for the continent "We need to say where we want Africa to be in five to 10 years from now," Clinton said. "So that every boy and girl living on this continent has a chance to live his or her own dream....If you look at the miracle economics of Asia it is not only hard work but the opportunity to be part of a system that will reward your intelligence and hard work. Such a system must be designed to improve life, improve per capita income, and improve agricultural productivity, health, education, energy, as well as water and sanitation." He added.
Presidents from more than 20 African countries as well as the former Prime minister of Jamaica, Percival Pateson and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Andrew Young were in the Nigerian capital of Abuja with executives from companies including Chevron Corp, Coca-Cola Co., General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler AG at the Summit to forge closer ties amongst Africa and it’s citizens in the diaspora.
The host President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria added "we must take partnerships between the African Diaspora and those on the continent more seriously" in the era of globalisation. With rapid positive changes in Africa, he added, it is essential to establish and straighten opportunities and platforms for greater co-operation.
He stressed the importance of exchanging ideas, experiences and resources to reposition Africa for security, peace, growth, development, and democracy. The Summit, he stated, does not just represent a bridge that transcends the search for ethnic roots for the Diaspora, but "is an effort to assert the vision that Africa is a strategic partner of the United States and the rest of the world."
The next summit scheduled for 2008 is to be hosted in Tanzania. For details visit
www.thesullivanfoundation.org.
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