Africa Gathering - Thoughts
As with the previous two Africa Gathering’s I have attended, there was a common theme running through. Don’t spoon feed Africa, don’t patronize Africa, leave your ego behind so you can partner with communities to find ways to co-create solutions to their objectives. Julia has written a rather good summery of the event. You should read it here
Technology was the focus, but the emphasis was definitely on the people aspect of technology, and the recognition that technology is just one element within a much larger picture.
Africa is asserting itself. It is about time and it is right. It is becoming a pervasive message. So pervasive that it is having the effect of creating some uncertainty among a group of people who are dedicated to the sustainable development in Africa and who not only have valuable skills, thoughts and approaches to Africa, but also an amazing amount of genuine good will towards the continent.
I had a few conversations where Non African people, who clearly had an interest in working in development, for the right reasons, (attending Africa gathering in itself puts them in the right context) where questioning their goals and wondering if they should indeed bother as Africa clearly wanted to go it alone.
Yet how else are we to get people to listen? How else are we to get the message across? People love controversy and they love to label. We all do it; it is the way we are structured. Shifting the debate from “Africa is poor, I have a photo to prove it, the West is not, therefore we need to show Africa how to not be poor,” to “Hey, don’t discount me, I have a valuable contribution to make” has to be a good thing.
The crucial element here is either getting drowned out or lost within the momentum of the message. Partnerships. It is about partnerships. This brings with it notions of respect, trust, understanding and equality. Effective partnerships are built upon a multidirectional knowledge transfer and mutual participation. A partnerships objectives are shared objectives.
Thank you to all the speakers from this year’s event. I truly learned much. It is wonderful to be caught up in the collective conscious, movement and vision of an empowered Africa.
This is a great site, and I’m really pleased the bajillion Google alerts I have set up for everything Zimbabwe-related finally led me here 🙂 The idea of the Africa Gathering is excellent – people with ideas and who are passionate about Africa getting together and talking about how they can empower themselves, and each other. Because of course we can, and that is something that gets very lost in the African dialog – probably because we as Africans, and I am talking as a Zimbabwean, don’t drive the dialog or take part in it enough, until there is some sort of crisis. And by then it is too emotive and, sometimes, too late.
Hello @Fountanians
Thanks for stopping by. I have three sisters who all went to Chisipite school. It was always a pleasure visiting Chisi!
Africa Gathering is indeed a great idea. With so many of us Africans in the Diaspora, and the millions of Africans throughout Africa finding their voice, it is good to have forums in which to share ideas and spread the positive elements of our continent.
How I missed this post is beyond me! I only wished I had attended that Gathering with you. You already know some of my thoughts on this issue. Currently reading a book entitled ‘Africa Rising’ – eye opening I must say. It makes you think and see the obvious. It also makes you realise that we are not the only ones watching Africa. As you once stated in a previous post and in this book I’m reading, we will find our way using our own African methods but we are indeed ‘open for business’. Gatherings like this are so crucial for sharing of ideas,etc and I only wish we had some sort of livestream that day so we could all participate in some way. Next time I suppose…I enjoy reading your posts!