Africa Diaspora Development Day (AD3) - London

“Business and Education – Leadership and Skills for Development”
Hosted by University of East London School of Education

Date: 7th July, 2007

Venue: University of East London (UEL), Docklands Campus (Cyprus Station on DLR)

Time: 9.30am – 6.00pm

Fee: None,

but we would appreciate it if participants would contribute £10 towards the cost of the African Refreshments that will be served. Nobody will be turned away because of an inability to pay

Please inform us on the booking form if you will need a crèche for the event.

‘Business, Education, Leadership and Skills for Development: African Diaspora and Development Day (AD3)’ will continue the exploration of ways in which UK based Africans can develop themselves to enhance job prospects and development in Africa.

AD3 is returning to the University of East London (UEL) Docklands Campus for 2007. This is where, in 2000, AFFORD first pioneered the AD3 concept of bringing together Africans in the diaspora to add value to their existing contributions to Africa’s development. Since then AD3 has become an innovative fixture on the diaspora calendar.

In 2007 UEL’s School of Education is taking the AD3 concept further - bringing together its undergraduates, graduates and postgraduate students (about one third are Africans), members of diaspora groups drawn from African Voices for Africa’s Development (ADVAD), as well as Resource Persons from AFFORD’s Supporting Entrepreneurs and Enterprise Development in Africa (SEEDA) project to help define the role of the academy in supporting the diasporas’ contribution to development, to validate and energise ‘ebony towers’, to build healthy partnerships between business, education and the third sector.

It will explore how to build on on-going business, skills and education development projects such as:

• How can education deliver the understandings, personal and professional skills Africans in the Diaspora need to enhance their contributions to development in Africa – listening to the voices of students and staff from UEL and other ‘Ivory Towers’.


• Supporting African students who have aspirations to establish businesses (including education establishments and services on their return home)


• Networking and strategic planning for ADVAD’s members


• Enhancing the effectiveness AFFORD’s (SEEDA) project


• Strengthening the networks of Africans focused on sustainable development

You will find the event particularly useful if you are:

• An African student at UEL looking to enhance your personal and professional development


• A member of ADVAD


• A SEEDA resource persons who wants to explore ways of making the programme even more effective


• A member of the African diaspora already contributing or interested in contributing to development in Africa


• Are contributing to development in Africa

For information contact:

Reese Lee-Ellis or Kavita Teja at The School of Education Help Desk (020 8223 3112) to request further information.
Please note they will only be able to forward enquiries and please be patient, the desk normally handles student enquiries and there is only one line,
or Jasbir Panesar, Community Development Co-ordinator (020 8223 4356)

To register online use http://www.uel.ac.uk/ad3/index.htm
To see the programme click here.

Re-dominination: The Saga continues

As the 1st July approaches, news on this exercise still meets criticism.

I first spoke about this exercise on the HYPERINFLATION: The End??? post last month. Since then I have come across the following articles.

On MyJoy online many articles regarding this exercise can be found, however this article, "Use local languages in re-denomination campaign" struck a cord with me. It talks about a farmer, Mr. Kobena Oguan, who has appealed to agencies engaged in public education on the cedi re-denomination exercise to use the local languages instead of English. A sorry state of affairs eh!! Surely if Ghanaian television broadcasting recognises that local language broadcasts are necessary, then surely one would expect that this be the model for all publicity that requires national attention.

Requests for the literate to educate the illiterate seems is what Professor N. Nsowah-Nuamah suggests after he toured parts of the Makola market in Accra to ascertain how far traders understood the exercise and their readiness for the new currency. The article written by Phyllis D. Osabutey called Ghana: Market Women At a Loss , goes on to address the professors findings and illustrates how the ongoing re-denomination exercise with various media and other public education campaigns seems to have created much awareness about the new currency, but little information with regard to the conversions.

Stock Market watchers have also expressed concern. This is reported in the Business Week article Another Way Out for New Cedi on GSE . Not being a financial expert, the conversion solution does appear to make sense. However, I feel an informed solution is still needed.

A much older article talks about how the biggest battle for this exercise is in the open markets of Makola, Mallata, Kaa Djaano, Kumasi Dwem, Kejetia, Asafo-Market, Kotokoraba, Abofour and Techiman Dwem where 80% of business takes place. Conceptualization - the biggest problem of the cedi re-denomination written by Kwesi Atta-Krufi Hayford talks about his view on how this exercise should be performed.

Being a simple person, I was happy to see a teenager making her request for better education of this exercise. 16 year old Anita Manatey from Shiannoh JSS in Apenkwa puts her view across as well. Whilst Use Re-Denomination Of The Cedi - What Kids Say may not draw much attention to viable solutions, it still brings a smile to your face.

My biggest question is, if this is what is going on in Ghana, how on earth are the diaspora supposed to know as well. For example, if you regularly send money home, how will it be converted? For information on that, so far I come across mixed messages that only reflect the disillusionment of those back home.

Ah well, lets wait until July the 1st ehh!!!!.

TEDGlobal: Ideas worth spreading

I first came across this inspiring speech by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first female Finance Minister in Nigeria on the Annansi Chronicles .

Her speech most definitely delivered a positive presentation of Africa to a wider audience. She talks about the Africa we don’t know in terms of anti-corruption practice; makes a request for embezzled funds sitting in accounts of developed countries to be returned back to developing countries; and the basic fact that Africa is full of opportunities, supported by Carol Pinneau's Africa Open for Business.

However, I had to wonder what she had chosen to push and hold back through her eloquent delivery. It is only natural, that she must be seen to be plugging Nigeria; however she may have taken it a little too far.

Making statements such as "... if you are not in Nigeria, you are not in Africa; I want to tell you that...” come on!!!!

I suppose that is just her sense of humour, and natural pride for her nation, I even laughed as she said it. As she went on to talk about Housing initiatives, and women to invest in, she definitely held back.

She could have easily mentioned Stephanie Baeta-Ansah, Managing Director of the HFC Bank in Ghana, who has successfully created housing finance opportunities. She did not though, so here is some of the footage filmed in Ghana from this documentary. And to be fair I have included Nigeria too!!!

Africa Open for Business: Ghana





Africa Open for Business: Nigeria





Africa Open for Business: DVD trailer




You can watch the other countries featured in this documentary on YouTube, just type in "Africa open for business" in the search field.

If you have any problems viewing Ngozi's speech then watch it directly on the TED Talks site.

Calling for ideas to support a UK Ghanaian Film Festival

As the name implies Black History Month (BHM) has always been concerned with the presentation and remembrance of events relevant to the history of Black communities. All founders and organisers of these events have mostly had one purpose in mind, that being the collective establishment of roots, that serve to encourage a healthy future for the descendants of this community.

This natural and hopeful consequence is the major force behind the programme for this film festival. Its focus on Ghanaian films coincides with celebrations of Ghana Independence for 50 years, an event that marks the beginning of Pan African Freedom.

Since independence, Ghana has had its highs and lows; today it is still viewed as a nation in much need of development. Recent debt relief promises and conditionalities have advanced and hindered progress, but for the most part Ghanaians are optimistic about their future.

For the black diaspora on UK shores however, unless you want to know of developments in Ghana or Africa for that matter, you have to make it your business. For those who naturally rely upon the naturally available media such as news, press, radio etc; such information doesn’t always display the optimism of Africans.

I believe that Ghana is at a point where emphasis on the reinforcement of identity is stimulating investment in Ghanaian culture and arts. As developments in this area rapidly develop within Ghana, links need to be establised, that connects this progression to an audience here in London.

It is with these points in mind that support is needed for a festival during the BHM celebrations, that aims to showcase films that addresses the following:

Filmic presentation that deliver optimism within Ghanaian culture;

Bring awareness of those that are working towards development in Ghana as well as those who aren’t;

Attract attention to possible solutions that may aid the development of Ghana.

The festival, a totally free event, would aim to be a focus for young Ghanaians, but will also aspire to attract a much wider audience than that. So now I call for any suggestions of films that may be suited to any of the categories listed below.


Categories of film submissions

Looking back to look forward/Reconnecting established roots:
Films in this category will adopt a Sankofa (Return and get it) approach. The aim would be to attract a major feature that reflects a message of identity revival and is also representative of the classic age of Ghanaian filmmaking.

Popular Entertainment:
This is intended to be an open category

The realm of the physical and spiritual:
Looking into how the occult forces impinge on the visible world, has been popular entertainment for some time now, it deserves a category of its own.

A trans-national affair:
The difference in the quality of films with differing production base (e.g. Ghana versus the UK, Germany or US) has been an issue. This is intended to be a category that looks at whether the gap is still evident or closing. It will also extend to films whose plotlines are set in Ghana and a developed nation.

Showcasing talent:
A chance for film students from Ghana and the UK, to present their high quality productions.

Issues of development:
This category is for showcasing films that chart the development of Ghana, both past and present.

The bigger picture:
This is the category suited to films that address possible solutions towards improving African infrastructure. Success stories will be appropriate here.

Looking forward to receiving these suggestions, keep posted for news on this event.