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Fesman2009

The African Diaspora and its relationship with Africa
imagesMore than a group of people of African descent, living out of Africa, the African Diaspora represents hope for the continent's development. But who are they, these people constituting the African Diaspora? Where do they live? What is their contribution to Africa? These are the types of questions that will lead the colloquium organised on the theme of "African Renaissance, cultural diversity and unity" within the framework of the FESMAN.
According to Ferdinand Mayega, a journalist from the African Diaspora in Canada, “the African Diaspora must help to promote ethics, integrity, responsibility, respect for laws and rules, respect of the rights of other citizens, the love of work, the effort to learn and the investment in Africa, the desire to do well, punctuality, love for his continent and the desire to live in peace”.

In order to better understand the words of Mayega, we must first define the term "diaspora". The word "diaspora" derives from the Greek "sporo" which means "seed" and "Speirs" which means "to sow". This term has long been used to name the dispersion of Jews in Antiquity, today it includes all members of a community, dispersed in several countries.

The African Diaspora is one of the largest diasporas of pre-modern times. It refers to the population resulting from the deportation of Africans during the slave trade from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century and their descendants throughout the world. However, many socio-economic difficulties that African countries face and that cause brain drain, the departure of sportsmen, illegal immigration and the exile of qualified persons, are other important factors which contribute to the expansion of this diaspora.

The Africans, who have been deported or have migrated to different parts of the world, constitute the so-called "African Diasporas". According to the estimates of the African Union in 2007, these diasporas comprise approximately 112.6 million people in South America (mainly in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela), 39.2 million people in North America (U.S. and Canada), 13.5 million people in the Caribbean and some 3.5 million people in Europe (especially in France).

In the definition that it gives to the African Diaspora, the African Union stresses the contribution of the Diaspora to "the development of the African continent and the construction of the African Union". Indeed, the African Diaspora plays a vital role for Africa. According to many experts, the assistance of some African Diasporas to their countries of origin is considerably higher than public aid to development. According to a report realized by the World Bank in 2005, the Africans living out of the continent reinvest every year 4 to 6 billion dollars in the direction of sub-Saharan Africa via remittances.

At the Regional Consultative Conference for the African Diaspora in Europe held in Paris on September 11th and 12th 2007, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Africa, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, focused on his desire to reunite Africa and its Diaspora, in the following way: "One of the crucial elements in our quest for the reunification of Africa and its Diaspora is the need to recognize and accept our diversity as Africans, as well as we can adhere to the quest for greater unity. Africa is vast and includes many countries, nations, nationalities, religions, tribes and challenges. "

This desire for the reunification will gather intellectuals from Africa and the Diaspora who will discuss the contribution of the latter to the motherland at the colloquium of the FESMAN.