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Economic Commission for Africa African Development Forum '99 Discussion List Summary, The Role of African Digital Diaspora in |
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Economic Commission for Africa African Development Forum '99 Discussion List Summary, The Role of African Digital Diaspora in |
The discussion on the role of the African Diaspora in accelerating Africa's movement into the Information Age ran from 13 to 19 September 1999 and was opened with the moderator's brief definition of the African Digital Diaspora -Africans now living in developed countries who by education and work experience have acquired skills (and perhaps capital or ready access thereto) that could be helpful in accelerating Africa's movement into the Information Age. In order to focus the discussion, the following questions were raised by the moderator: What are some of the ways that could be used to attract the participation of the African Digital Diaspora, what concrete experiences have already been acquired in this regard, what actions should be sought to actualize this, and what sort of mechanisms should be employed repatriation or remote consultation. The postings made by various participants have been summarized below: Categories of the African Digital Diaspora A participant categorised the African Digital Diaspora into three groups: (i) people of African descent residing outside Africa but with few or no direct links to the continent; (ii) people of African descent living outside but with regular contacts with the continent and (iii) the Africanist community. Need for the Services of the Diaspora A consensus has been reached on the importance of the role of the African Digital Diaspora in facilitating the meaningful movement of the continent toward the Information Age, and most of the Africans in the Diaspora are willing to participate in African development projects. A participant informed list members that there are many people of African descent who have not so recently been moved to other continents are a highly undervalued resource of people who would be quite willing to contribute, because of their own sincerely and deeply held feelings and desires for connections. However, clearing the "two way misconception about Africa among Africans on the continent and the African-Diaspora" and creating a "reciprocal awareness", among Africans in the continent and those in Diaspora, was noted to eliminate the negative attitude of the former towards the latter. Ways of Attracting the Diaspora Improving social and political situations in Africa has been stated as a major step forward to attract Africans in Diaspora to extend their contribution to the development of the continent. To improve Africa-Diaspora relationship, it was noted that "the primary step towards long-term effective networks of Africa and Africa-Diaspora will be to generate and disseminate positive knowledge of the African existence to counteract the misconceptions. The positive values, principles and knowledge of African community societies could be animated and digitized as instructional tools to disabuse minds in the Diaspora and vice-versa". Some prerequisites were put forward for the movement of the continent into the Information Age: some said that the "government and the African Diaspora have to trust each other and work together within the given sector mandated by law" and while others stressed that "the government or the professional bodies in Africa must show seriousness that they need to tap into the knowledge of these people". Experiences Regarding African Diaspora Services Information was given on the functions of International Organisation for Migration (IOM) Africa Programs which is assisting peaceful African countries, as opposed to "boiling countries" like the Congos and CAR, to "reduce the gap between their undergoing economy and the fast growing international market" by using services from their citizens in Diaspora. The Return and Reintegration of Qualified African Nationals Programme (RQAN) "offers assistance in returning to employment or self-employment in target or non-target African countries, in sectors of priority to the recipient country?s development". Some, however, disclosed that the programs of RQAN have failed to attain the goal set simply because the funds available from the program were insufficient to support the project intended to be accomplished by the returnees. Actions Required Some suggested that establishing the African Digital Diaspora organisation (ADD) in North America or Europe with branch offices in the continent could help the Diaspora "work very closely with government agencies and professional organisation to identify areas where these interactive bridges must be built". Some showed scepticism about forming an organisation for reasons that Africans in Diaspora were more interested to work for their own country than for other countries, and each country has peculiar challenges and strategic priorities for development. They suggested that there should be more of a consortium that would enable exchange of experience on various challenges, strategies, success and failure stories obtained along the process of development. In this connection, the effort being made by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to stage the African Development Forum (ADF) was praised. Developing "a database of people with expertise in key areas and key institutions [and] organizing basic information systems to enable the right people to be in the right place at the right time with the right information [and] develop the institutional support they will need" was described as a good strategy to facilitate the intervention of the Diaspora in development endeavors of the continent. It was pointed out that "it is essential to co-ordinate the willingness and effort of the Africa-Diaspora in a manner which will be meaningful to how ordinary Africans make living in their homes and communities". It was declared that Africans abroad are Africa's largest "aid donors". Thus the issue needs to be how can we capitalise and best utilise the "intellectual capital" contributions of the Diaspora regarding ICT development and utilisation in the continent. It was noted that the key responsibility of the ADF'99 Diaspora working group includes "feeding back to African organisations in the Diaspora the contents of the specific national communication plans [to] ensure that these national communication policies identify where a Diaspora input would be most useful [in] supporting telecenters [and ] help with monitoring positions adopted at the WTO" Possible Areas for Intervention of the Diaspora Manufacturing computers and computer related products such as motherboards, sound cards, modems, video cards, etc. and network products such as cable, hubs and other accessories have been indicated as possible areas of intervention for Africans in the Diaspora. The Diaspora can also participate in providing remote data processing services over the Internet. The need for Repatriation A participant wrote that if the continent wants to rise from its knees, repatriation is not only necessary, but a must. For this to happen, it was pointed out that trust needs be developed between the Diaspora and the government, and the return of the Diaspora should not be taken as a threat to the local elite; it should rather be considered as a reinforcement of the efforts that have already been exerted locally. Some negated this and pointed out that repatriation is somehow controversial in that "considering many of the Africans in the Diaspora may have chosen their present countries of residence seeking relief from the asperity in their countries of birth/origin; whether these asperities are of political, social or economic origins (or a combination thereof)". In this connection, some pointed out that the choice to come back to Africa or to stay behind and work closely with the continent should be left to the Diaspora itself. Some of the participants felt the using the intellectual capabilities of the Diaspora does not necessarily mean bringing them back home, it means that drawing the most out of their knowledge and experience and putting it into "home service". They rather suggested that governments give permission to the Africans in Diaspora to obtain dual citizenship, and added that consultancy assignments must be given to them instead of the Europeans and Americans who "get paid fat salaries and turn around and ask advice from the African intellectuals". Contribution of the Diaspora to ADF Member of the ADF-preparatory committee pointed out that the African Digital Diaspora's role with regard to improving the continent's competitive position in ICT needs to be seen from short and long term perspectives. The short term tasks need to focus on making meaningful contributions to ADF deliberations in terms of ideas, technology and finance, while long term efforts should be geared toward creating real impact on the use of ICT to harness African development. Some optimism has been expressed about the contribution of theAfrica-Diaspora to the four themes of ADF, especially the Diaspora in US must be viewed as "part of the investment community" and every possible effort needs to be exerted by governments to foster credibility and transparency, which the forum in October needs to consider seriously. The need to utilise the skills, knowledge and experiences of Africans in Diaspora for trade and others negotiations has also been highlighted. ICTs and the Role of the Diaspora In the event where the Diaspora chooses to remain behind and contribute whatever it is possible, it was noted that "it is important to utilise ICTs to tap the resources - human and material- of these groups (the Diaspora) through a co-ordinated network building scheme in order to provide a solid base for forging partnership for common objective". Some pointed out that we need to convince the Diaspora about the value of contributing via the internet. Others stated that the basic issue is not to question the role of the African Digital Diaspora in bringing the benefits of ICT to Africa but how best to utilise ICTs to enhance their contribution. It was noted that the efforts that are being made to expand and sustain telecenter initiatives in Africa can be augmented by African civic organizations operating all over the world. URLs On Web of Information for Development Initiative http://www.undp.org/tcdc/index2.html On Technical Co-operation among
Developing Countries INRES expertise databases On IOM programs On African Diaspora Organisations
Summarised
Copyright © 1999
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) |
