News

AFFORD attended The 2019 Mo Ibrahim Governance Weekend on 1st – 4th April in 2019.  in Abidjan, Ivory Coast Our business club manager, Elvina Quaison participated in the Mo Ibrahim residential school with SOAS and gave a lecture on ‘Diaspora Impact on Localization and Governance’. The presentation was well received by the 20+ students from across Africa participating in the fellowship. More info here

The AFFORD Business Club (ABC) in partnership with Morrison & Foerster LLP, an international law firm, is providing a free event for businesses, charities and social enterprises to give you insight into what you need to know and do legally for your business in relation to contracts and employment law on Thursday 18th April 2019.

We are very excited to announce the return of the ABC Legal Clinics! The AFFORD Business Club (ABC) are offering ABC Members access to an exclusive series of Legal Clinics with experienced lawyers from an internationally-renowned law firm, Morrison and Foerster LLP. The Clinics will be an opportunity to have a one-to-one consultation with a specialist lawyer in your area of work, who will provide pro-bono advice and guidance on any legal concerns or queries you may have. This could cover any of the following topic areas:

You are exclusively invited to participate in a webinar hosted by the AFFORD Business Club (ABC), which will be focused on Doing Business in Zimbabwe. The speakers will include Na Ncube of The Global Native, Busi Bango of EMPRETEC and Denise Rawls of AFFORD UK as a facilitator. 

On January 10th in London and 11th in Coventry the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Rwanda High Commission (RHC) and the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) co-hosted these events in the UK for the Rwandan community to present findings and recommendations from a recent study of Rwandans in the UK and gather feedback and comments on the content; to provide an overview of Rwanda’s diaspora policies, initiatives and opportunities; and to showcase individual diaspora engagement experiences from Rwandans living in the UK. The events also provide an opportunity for networking and wider discussions on diaspora engagement within the Rwandan community in the UK.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of AFFORD’s former Board Member Efua Taylor. Efua Taylor left us on the 15th December 2018 at the age of 80 years old. Efua Taylor was an active and integral part of AFFORD’s board for 11 years from 2003 to 2014, mainly serving as Secretary. A caring and committed figure, she devoted a large part of her life to charitable and volunteering activities, including being on the board of Voluntary Action Camden for 20 years, and the board of Age Concern Camden between 2002-2005. Never slowing down, she enrolled in an alternative therapy degree course at Middlesex University in her 70s, showing great passion for the subject and enjoying re-entering student life. We remember her as a source of great knowledge about Pan-African history, and she saw her contribution to AFFORD through this prism of delivering effective grassroots Pan Africanism. Efua contributed immensely to the development and governance of AFFORD, especially between 2008/12, during a period of transition for the organisation. We offer our deep condolences to her children and other family members.

The AFFORD Business Club (ABC) are working in partnership with Morrison and Foerster LLP, to provide ABC Members with access to pro-bono business legal consultations. This takes the form of monthly Legal Clinics and webinars held at the London offices of Morrison and Foerster, where members are given dedicated one-to-one time with lawyers assigned to them to provide assistance with their particular legal query. The consultations cover a range of business topic areas, including tax regulations, employment law, intellectual property and contract formation.

United Nations Intergovernmental Conference Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration Marrakech, Morocco, 10 December 2018 ‘Promoting action on the commitments of the Global Compact for Migration’ African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) The African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) was founded in the United Kingdom in 1994, with the mission to expand and enhance the role of the diaspora in Africa’s development. Amongst other things, AFFORD undertakes job creation, enterprise development and diaspora investment programmes in Africa. AFFORD aligns itself to the civil society statement on the Global Compact for Migration.

On Thursday 6 December, AFFORD, welcomed the Minister for Africa Harriet Baldwin MP and representatives of leading Africa diaspora organisations and entrepreneurs in the UK to a Business round table, held as part of the organisation’s Diaspora Investment and Policy Forum (DIPF).AFFORD Executive Director, Onyekachi Wambu, stressed the positive impact that African diaspora contributions are having on Africa giving example of the power of remittances which outstrip bilateral aid flows. Over $40 billion was sent to Africa, last year impacting education, healthcare and much needed employment, as well as lobbying on ending harmful practices – like FGM/C and education for girls.  Twenty-five per cent (or $10 billion) of the remittances represent investment of some kind, which could have more impact through better structured financial instruments and products such as the Remitplus Rwanda diaspora bond which AFFORD is launching in 2019.