I spent the day in London yesterday at the Africa in Action conference. The event was was an opportunity to highlight the contributions of UK-based African diaspora organisations and activists to international development.
We had some amazing speakers throughout the day and some of the important messages to have come out of the day include;
- Africans are poor but the continent of Africa is rich
- Africans in the diaspora have to become ambassadors of their countries of origin to ensure that the negative narrative about Africa is dispelled
- Money is important but it is not the be all
- Remittances are important but we must leverage our networks and share our skills for the development of Africa
- Africa is rising but inequality persists
- Africans in the diaspora contribute more money that what is given in aid are not calling the shots when it comes to development
- Poor leadership in Africa causes corruption and stunts growth and development
If you missed the conference here the tweets from the day