Why The African Diaspora Need To Unite Their Effort for African Development
A united Africa and the African diaspora can overcome any obstacle on their way. In 1963, Kwame Nkrumah, Former President of Ghana wrote a book, titled “Africa Must Unite”. Many years later, the discussion in that book continues to be relevant today.
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Unlike no other people in the world, Africans are faced with a monumental challenge, the total liberation of their homeland and the humanization of their population. The social economic and developmental challenges facing Africa and Africans today are something that requires the efforts of all Africans, both at home and abroad.
This is the reason for the combined effort of Africans to save themselves because there is no better alternative out there.
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Understanding the African Diaspora
Scholars and historians in this century have over time used the term African diaspora, primarily in their research works. However, this common term was adopted largely during the 1950s and 1960s to allude to those Africans that live outside their ancestral homes.
This term, diaspora, consistently used in our everyday lives, has its root in the Greek word meaning spreading or dispersal.
In simple words, we can refer to this African diaspora simply as the dispersal of Africans to different parts of Europe and America.
In giving a concrete, more academic definition of the term ‘African diaspora,’ Joseph Harris, a phenomenal historian, in his words defined the term as the voluntary and involuntary dispersion of Africans throughout history.
In this definition, the word involuntary referred to by scholars and historians in this topic of discourse is the Trans- Atlantic slave trade, which was a watershed in the history of Africa as a whole due to the depletion of human resources. That’s not to say that there wasn’t a migration stream that Africans commuted voluntarily.
Also, the African Union (AU) defined African diaspora as “peoples of African origin living outside the continent, irrespective of their citizenship and nationality and who are willing to contribute to the development of the continent and the building of the African Union.”
Recently, much attention concerning the dispersal of Africans to Europe and America is framed to the 15th century Trans- Atlantic slave trade, which shipped the most vibrant populations of the west and central Africa to work in sugar plantations abroad.
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Aside from this recent area of focus for most historians, there existed migration streams of the African populace to the Middle East, Asia, and Europe, which, indubitably, warranted the creation of black Africans in places like India. Colin Palmer, a notable historian, in one of his monographs, classified the African diaspora into six.
Three migration streams occurred in the premodern times, which include the great exodus of about 100 000 years ago, and three in the modern times that includes the Atlantic slave trade, the Indian Ocean trade to most parts of Asia, and the more recent migrations of Africas to different parts of the world.
However, the recent exodus of Africans to different parts of the globe is vivid as a result of the poor economic conditions of African states, which bad leadership and corruption orchestrated.
This stirred skilled and intellectual Africans to flee from their home countries for a better standard of living and actualization of their dreams and aspirations.
As the dispersal of Africans to different parts of the globe continues, the struggle to have a United stand amongst them still surfaces.
On so many occasions, these Africans have suffered the evils of racism and colonialism that stripped their human rights, and its continuance led to the creation of the Pan-African movement.
An idea that emanated consequent to the struggles of enslavement and colonialism sought to unite peoples of African descent as one and also stage a protest against enslavement, colonialism, and racism.
At the inception of this pan- African movement, one of the early activists, Henry Sylvester, a Trinidadian lawyer, held its first conference in London in 1900. Many other activists like W.E.D Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, George Padmore, etc. contributed to the popularity and success of the movement in the 1900s.
Till today, African diasporans still seek to create a formidable group where they can unite as one and share ideas on ways they can facilitate the development of their home countries. The Federation Of United Global Africans (FUGA) is an example of such a strong group that intends to string all diasporans together.
Why African Diasporans Need to Unite Their Effort
Africa has a myriad of talented diasporans who have experienced some changes in their adopted countries, which they can use to pivot Africa into a more developed continent.
Some of these individuals have gained ground in their residing countries that they can serve as role models to African youths who pursue ultimate peaceful nation-building.
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On that note, instituting changes in Africa requires diasporans to unite their effort, which can be feasible through forming organizations and unions, where they can share ideas and possibly funds that will help create basic infrastructures such as schools and electricity, health facilities, etc.
It’s also from that medium of uniting their efforts that they can hand down the technical knowledge they gained overseas to African youths in their home countries and spark their minds with ideas on how to invent some technologies in the African states.
Additionally, it’s important that diasporans unite so they can interact and enlighten the misinformed Africans about their rights as well as watch out for their breaching.
How African Diasporans Can Better Contribute to African Development
More recently, the increased migration of Africans to other countries is a result of bad governance, which has been a hurdle to the development of African states.
Now, to facilitate the development of African states, diasporans have major roles to play. Obviously, the internet has made connection easy that one can connect, and drain information from wherever they reside.
Diasporans should capitalize on using social media to stay updated with recent happenings in their home countries. Also, they should empower youths by handing down some skills they acquired overseas through e-learning. Luckily internet made inter-connection.
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Diasporans also should fund their home youths that are looking to start a venture; this, of course, can be provided in the form of loans and grants.
It’s a known fact that Africa is endowed with natural resources, but venturing into production using these resources has been a mirage. Diasporans should help their home countries to plod into production, where consumable goods can be made available – leading to the distribution of wealth and improvement in the standard of living.
Simply put, diasporans should ensure that African activities are based chiefly on production and distribution.
Diasporans should learn to bury their wealth and resources in their home countries; this can be done through investments and entrepreneurship. Through this entrepreneurship, massive job opportunities will be created for the unemployed populace.
Download the first chapter of The Storytelling Series: Beginners’ Guide for Small Businesses & Content Creators by Obehi Ewanfoh.
