“Africa Must Do Things That Allow Her To Be Recognized Without Her Saying So” – PLO Lumumba at the Africa-Diaspora Investor Conference
“One of the problems we have in Africa is that when one comes up with an initiative, we want to start yet another one, and we must not do that if we are going forward. We must embrace a good idea and energize that idea, notwithstanding the source of that idea. The beauty of this assembly is that we are now weathered to the realization that we have spoken for too long. That doesn’t mean that we will stop speaking, we will. But as my good friend and sister say many times ‘’the mind is where the battles must be fought at once’’.
Professor PLO Lumumba at the Africa – Diaspora Investor Conference in Columbus, Ohio
Africa – Diaspora Investor Conference is organized by One Voice Consortium (GDDF) in partnership with the African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI) and the PLO Foundation (PLO-F). The event was held in Columbus, Ohio and Professor PLO Lumumba was the keynote speaker of the event with a special appearance by Ambassador Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quan president and founder of the African Development Institute and the pioneers of the Wakandan City of Return, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Africa – Diaspora Investor Conference was held to discuss investment opportunities in Africa and the significance of investing in the continent. A host of Africa’s bright minds were present at the event to present their valuable ideas and solutions to the problems hindering the development of the continent of Africa.
Professor PLO Lumumba in his speech referred and emphasized Marcus Garvey’s ideology that the only way in which we are going to be recognized is to do things that change people’s lives. Professor PLO Lumumba continued by urging the African Diaspora community to invest in Africa. Professor PLO Lumumba also went on to give the importance of embracing one idea before the other. He said “one of the problems we have in Africa is that when one comes up with an initiative, we want to start yet another one, and we must not do that if we are going forward. We must embrace a good idea and energize that idea, notwithstanding the source of that idea.”
Professor PLO Lumumba continued by saying that for Africa to “regain her lost glory” it has to be “through investment”. He urges Africans to start doing and stop doing as he referenced China’s path to success “today, the Chinese are gaining recognition throughout the world not just because of what they say, but because of what they do.”
But the Professor was not the only one that gave a brilliant speech at the event, former Permanent Representative of the African Union Mission to the USA and the president and founder of the African Development Institute Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quan was also present at the event and as usual, gave the audience bold speech perfected with bravery.
Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quan talked about the Wakandan City of Return and its significance in connecting persons of Africa origin to the West African country of Ghana where the Wakandan City of Return will be built. She made a key comparison between the Israeli diaspora and that of the African diaspora. She added, “there are 50 million Israeli diasporas and over 400 million African diasporas. 400 million African diasporas and 50 million Israeli diasporas, but look where we are and where they are”.
Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quan added, “it’s all about money. If we do not put our funds together, if we do not strategize, we’ll always be noisemakers”.
Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quan continued her pleas to the African diaspora to invest their money in Africa, and why they should not be afraid to invest their money in building the Wakandan City of Return.
The African Development Institute in a memorandum with the government of Ghana plans to build the first of its kind Wakandan City of Return. The Wakandan City of Return is an ultra-modern smart city proposed by the African Development Institute and the government of Ghana that would be home to the people of African descent and origin whose great grandfathers and grandmothers were held in chains packed like sardines and sold to slave buyers in Europe and the Americas to work on plantations, which undeniably gave Europe and America the development they’re enjoying. The Wakandan City of Return would welcome these descendants of Africa origin with open arms and give them a reason to start afresh where they belong.
The CEO of The African Dream and Dal Ak Jamm Demba B Ndiat was present. He made some key points in his short but concise speech. In his speech, he urges Africans to look into technology and allow African kids to involve in technology as technology is one of the pillars of any strong nation in this 21st century. He referred to how Israel thrive through investing in technology, and how kids as young as five years old should be taught the importance of technology and be trained at an early stage.
The African diaspora is one of the largest diaspora communities in the world. Every year billions of dollars of remittance from the African diaspora community. Remittance flow to North Africa is estimated to be US$56 billion in 2020 alone. Sub-Saharan Africa received an estimated 42 billion dollars from remittance in 2020. These monies play a great role in the economy of these African countries, but has much be done by the African diaspora to uplift the continent of Africa?
