PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has advised the Sullivan Foundation to bring more Africans in the Diaspora to the African renaissance move, especially those residing in Europe. He gave the advice when giving remarks to officially open the Eighth edition of the Leon H. Sullivan Summit here on Monday evening.

``Let us expand and deepen the Summit constituency. Let us think about the inclusion of the African Diaspora in Europe,`` said Kikwete in a long, but eloquent speech before an over 3,000 audience, including world renowned activist, Rev. Jesse Jackson, former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo and former Jamaican Premier Percival Patterson popularly known as P.J. Patterson. ``We need to create a mechanism that will leverage our strengths in numbers and human capacity for shared prosperity. My message today is that opportunity is before us here in Arusha to anoint the Sullivan Summit process as that people- to-people mechanism, `` he said. He reminded them that the original African Diaspora was born from tragedy. Africans were forcefully taken from “these shores,`` including Tanzania, under the most wretched conditions. “Through it all, the Africans in the new world survived. But physical survival was not their only hallmark achievement. The real achievement was that a part of Africa survived within them despite the trauma of bondage of slavery. The resilience of spirit, that is inherently African, prevailed and freedom from slavery was attained,`` said the President, adding: ``But, to be relieved of the daily chores of a slave is one thing, and to be treated as an equal human being with the concomitant respect and dignity that equality bestows is another matter. And, on this one too, through the civil rights movement in America, the Pan-Africanist struggle against colonialism in Africa and the Caribbean, and the fight against apartheid in South Africa, we prevailed.``

However, he said now Africa had arrived at the third stage of a common struggle: economic emancipation, and a fair opportunity to participate and share the global prosperity so that it too could live in dignity and prosperity.

``The nexus must be built on the realization that the social and political status of Africa and its Diaspora remain closely intertwined. Many of the economic and social challenges facing one also face the other,`` he said. He called for the strengthening of efforts to make the people of African descent in charge of their destiny.

``This time the challenge, ominously real and omnipresent, is economic liberation – the ultimate dividend for all the rights we fought for.`` Welcoming Kikwete, Co-chairman of the Sullivan Foundation Andrew Young credited Tanzania for maintaining peace, unity and political stability in a subregion closer to countries wrecked by chaos, instability and civil strife. In his remarks, the US secretary of the Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, said the Summit whose goal is bringing together African and American entrepreneurs and investors, should help meet the development needs of Tanzania and Africa.

``Already great progress has been made in meeting the goal-strengthening the bonds between America and Africa,`` he said, adding: ``We want to see an Africa where sustainable economic development transforms lives, values, natural resources, and provides the type of opportunities that move people from poverty to prosperity.`` The US secretary added: ``While there is still much work to be done, Tanzania’s success thus far stands as an example to other countries in the region and all of Africa.`` The American ambassador to Tanzania, Mark Green said: ``We got something to celebrate: Africans and Americans are standing together like never before engaged in great causes, and making a difference.