We are delighted to make this very important work available as part of our resources. AFFORD’s Gibril Faal and Onyekachi Wambu provided information on remittances, and “valuable insights into the issues under study.” It’s available here.
Giving Back to Communities of Residence & of Origin Read More »
Governments and the private sector have traditionally viewed the diaspora as both ongoing providers of financial capital at the micro level, and, as consumers. While recognition of the diaspora’s role in ‘doing development’ has grown, and the diaspora are increasingly seen as important development stakeholders, they are still not viewed as significant social investors by governments, the private sector, or indeed the diaspora themselves. This represents a missed opportunity for harnessing and seeking to scale up diaspora investments for socio-economic growth, especially given the gap in financing available to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We are delighted to announce our paper examining prospects and trends in this field, written by Paul Asquith and Stella Opoku-Owusu has been peer reviewed and is available to download here.
Diaspora Investment to Help Achieve the SDGs in Africa: Prospects and Trends Read More »
For #BlackHistoryMonth2020 Facebook and we at AFFORD are proud to celebrate a day of recognising where we are as a #diaspora, where we want to go and how we can get there collectively. In this digital world social platforms offer us a way of connecting with our diaspora family all over the globe with the click of a button. We have seen how an idea can spark a movement that creates a shift in mindset and a recognition of the collective power groups have. Examples can be seen in the Black Lives Matter movement sparking interest in creating practical and material change through initiatives like Black Pound Day. There is a saying I am, because we are. This BHM we will have a day exploring how our heritage shapes our identity and impacts on the actions and decisions we make. The role of technology in this cannot be ignored or understated, to look at ways of how diaspora and Africa can work more cohesively we should look to technology as a means to strengthening links and exhilarating actions for change, growth and progression. We have an amazing roll call of speakers. For more details and how to register, head here.
Black History Month UK Read More »
Open Society’s Mai Lynn Miller Nguyen recently spoke with Onyekachi Wambu, our executive director, about why the restitution of cultural heritage is so important. What is restitution, and what are the goals of the movement behind it? Demands for restitution are part of a series of connected movements, led by Africans and diasporic communities, in response to the economic, social, cultural, political, and spiritual legacies of slavery and colonialism and towards constructing a more just future. By calling for restitution, we are asking for the return of objects that were taken from the African continent through conquest, plunder, theft, and colonialism. We also believe that objects that were taken through legitimate-but-unfair trade deals need to be reassessed.
Racial Justice & Restitution Read More »
Our latest campaign from the AFFORD Institute #returnoftheicons features in Gary Younge’s illuminating special feature The Empty Cases on BBC Radio 4 this week. Ranging from the Black Lives Matter to the detoxification of British Museums, he also talks about our report and seminar we conducted last month with Professor Dan Hicks from the Pitt Rivers and Tristram Hunt from the V&A amongst others. You can listen back here. You can also read our full report here
Return of the Icons Read More »
AFFORD gives evidence in report calling for fair visa policy, lower remittance costs and more trade The House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee has criticised the lack of a coherent UK strategy on Africa saying the current approach is just a collection of broad ideas with little clarity on how to put them into action. In a new report published today – The UK and Sub-Saharan Africa: prosperity, peace and development co-operation – the Committee calls on the UK Government to develop a new approach to African countries and regional institutions such as the African Union, based on ‘genuine partnership’. Onyekachi Wambu, AFFORD’s Executive Director, and Professor Gibril Faal OBE, former Chair and current member of AFFORD’s Investment and Bond Advisory Committee, were among scores of individuals and organisations – politicians, NGOs, academic institutions, thinktanks – who gave evidence to the committee as it compiled the wide-ranging report.
House of Lords committee criticises UK’s Africa strategy Read More »
Update AFFORD would like to thank our AD3 partners UNDP and Chatham House for enabling us to hold such a well-attended and interesting event despite the current circumstances. We would also like to thank all of you for attending. For those of you who missed it, you can watch it here. There is also an event brief capturing the key points that came out of the event which you can find here. We are very grateful for the robust and thoughtful questions and comments that were shared. AFFORD in conjunction with our partners Chatham House and UNDP will host African Diaspora and Development Day (AD3) 2020 on Friday, 3 July, at 14:00 BST. The theme this year is Scaling Fences: Exploring New Pathways for African Migration and the event will explore UNDP’s Scaling Fences – Voices of Irregular Migrants to Europe report. Register for the event here.
African Diaspora and Development Day (AD3) 2020 Read More »
AFFORD is today launching two landmark publications in the Return of the Icons project, our programme to achieve restitution of stolen African artefacts and human remains from UK museums and other cultural institutions. The full project mapping report sets out the findings of research undertaken by AFFORD from January to May 2020 to map communities of practice in the UK in relation to the restitution. 184 diaspora community members responded to an online survey, as well as via three online focus group discussions. 22 semi-structured interviews were completed with museum professionals, diaspora professionals and African government stakeholders active in this area. The research findings show examples of good practice within UK institutions andamong diaspora communities. It also shows that diaspora respondents are overwhelmingly (approximately 80% of all respondents) in favour of the return of stolen African artefacts and human remains to their countries and communities of origin. ‘Many of these icons are masterpieces of the human imagination and creativity. Each icon represents sophisticated ideas about art, cultural production and African history – at a time when so little is understood by Africans and others about our history,’ said Onyekachi Wambu, AFFORD’s Executive Director, as the documents were published today. ‘Each iconic masterpiece also represents a story about how and why it was created, as well as the colonial story of how it was, in most cases, violently looted. As we have seen with the toppling of the statue of the slaver, Edward Colston, cultural items provide opportunities for wider conversations about the past and the future we wish to construct. ‘Ordinary Africans, students, and scholars need these icons to stimulate those conversations for change and renewal.’ The shorter policy brief, Key issues around the restitution of stolen African artefacts, explores the policy and legal issues around restitution.
AFFORD publishes guiding documents in Return of the Icons campaign Read More »
A statement by AFFORD’s Executive Director Onyekachi Wambu. On 25 May, the killing of an African American man in the USA triggered a wave of anger and uprising which many are describing as a kind of African Diaspora Spring. Like Arabs during their Spring, many people of African descent, who understand the commonalities and tropes of social, economic, legal oppressions spread across the Western Atlantic civilisational space, have been at the forefront of the calls for change. This space, unleashed by Columbus, has been the most important geo-political reality of the last 500 years – the gold, land and free labour of the conquered and enslaved – transforming the fortunes of the European world, turning small and medium-sized countries into super powers. People of African descent have played critical roles in co-creating this civilisational space over the last 400 years but have rarely enjoyed the benefits. George Floyd’s killing by the police was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. It was the moment fear evaporated.
African Spring: Building a Bridge of Solidarity Read More »
Commencez-vous à envisager un avenir dans les affaires en Afrique ? Avez-vous pensé au Bénin ? L’agriculture, le tourisme, le textile sont quelques-uns des secteurs clés au Bénin. Si vous souhaitez en savoir plus pour vous impliquer, ABC Connect est l’événement qu’il vous faut. Ce jeudi 28 mai 14:00 BST Suivez le lien ici pour plus de détails et pour savoir comment vous inscrire.
ABC Connect: Opportunities Benin Read More »
