AfrICANDO
2002 Communiqué
May 12, 2002
Miami,
Florida, U.S.A. – The AfrICANDO
Trade and Investment Symposium (May 8-12) has ended after five days of
workshops and roundtables; matchmaking and networking activities; exhibitions
of African, Caribbean and American goods and services; a Diaspora film
festival; musical and other cultural performers from the Caribbean, Latin
America, Africa and America, and a Diaspora fashion show.
Hundreds of participants came to Miami to take part in the business
and cultural discussions, as well as display their goods and services
and make ongoing business partnerships.
Over two days, hundreds of customers came to the Bayfront Park
on scenic Biscayne Bay to listen to music and see other cultural performances
and to buy products from the vendors.
AfrICANDO
2002 began unofficially on Tuesday (May 7) with the first night of the
Diaspora Film Festival. Over
three nights, the festival presented a series of African and African-American
films, concluding with the showing of the abridged version of Discovery
Channel’s “The Real Eve,” a documentary tracing of the population of the
Earth through the descendants of an African woman.
On Wednesday
(May 8), AfrICANDO featured a buyer’s workshop.
Representatives of the International Accreditation Registry, Quality
Services International and Money Makes the World Go Round Associates explained
how vendors could improve the quality of the items they produced through
the use of internationally accepted accreditations and certifications.
Moreover, more acceptable packaging and marketing of goods, presenters
explained, could ensure success in the sophisticated U.S. market.
Later
that same day, networking and matchmaking activities began to help attendees
find American partners. Dozens of African businesses were counseled by
staff of the City of Miami International Trade Board on how best to present
their goods and services in order to achieve long-term business partnerships.
A database is being created by the Foundation for Democracy in
Africa, in conjunction with the Board and other government agencies and
private entities to facilitate the linkage of American, African and Caribbean
businesses. Linkages and
sales both took place at AfrICANDO. For example, Association Art Negré, an African firm, sold all their
goods in one day, and Sacha Cosmetics, a Caribbean-based firm, reported
at least five contacts they believe will lead to ongoing sales.
AfrICANDO
officially began with a reception Wednesday night, during which Miami-Dade
County (Florida) Mayor Alex Penelas cut the ribbon on the exhibition,
and Miami-Dade School Board Member Dr. Robert Ingram announced a joint
program with the Foundation to initiate an innovative Miami-Africa school
exchange program involving both curricula and students.
The workshops
began on Thursday (May 9), including a session on Doing Business in Africa,
an explanation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act and a panel on
U.S. Government trade assistance programs.
Ross Connelly, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer
of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, began the day with a discussion
the important trade initiatives of the Bush Administration.
He assured the participants that the commitment to U.S.-Africa
trade remains strong and that there will be sufficient resources available
to ensure financing of trade deals.
U.S. Government
agencies, such as the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Overseas
Private Investment Corporation, the U.S. Small Business Administration,
the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Agriculture
explained their programs to assist U.S.-Africa-Caribbean trade.
While billions of dollars in trade finance, risk insurance and
other assistance is available, the conferees were told that foreign companies
could only take advantage of these programs if they have U.S. partners.
At an
awards luncheon that day, the Foundation presented its 2002 Medal of Glory
Award to outgoing Mali President Alpha Oumar Konare for his years of efforts
to restore and maintain democracy in his West African nation.
Miami-Dade County gave awards to several persons.
Miami-Dade Commissioner Jimmy Morales presented the awards to President
Konare; luncheon speaker Manuel Rosales, Assistant Administrator for International
Trade with the U.S. Small Business Administration; Ross Connelly of OPIC;
Mamadou Lamine Tounkara, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry
of Mali; Donald Muncy, Senior Democracy and Governance Adviser in the
Bureau of Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development, and
Foundation President Fred Oladeinde.
On Friday
(May 10), AfrICANDO featured panels on U.S. Government trade finance programs,
transportation issues and a roundtable on U.S.-Africa trade.
Miami, the closest U.S. city to the African continent was promoted
as a potential gateway to Africa due to its rapid access to North, Central
and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
The more than 530 weekly flights from Miami to Latin America and
the Caribbean alone was described as an attractive point of access for
African nations interested in broadening their reach to potential international
trading partners. Through
the efforts of the Foundation, the Port of Miami-Dade has signed sister
seaport agreements with Dakar, Senegal, and Lagos, Nigeria, and Miami
International Airport has signed a sister airport agreement with Murtala
Mohammed Airport in Lagos.
Participants
in the business roundtable confirmed the interest on both sides of the
Atlantic in U.S.-Africa-Caribbean trade, but the difficulty of obtaining
visas for African business people was a repeated issue.
Businesspeople from several African nations reported problems in
obtaining visas that limited their numbers attending AfrICANDO.
In some countries, such as Nigeria, the waiting list to get a visa
interview is six to eight weeks, and delays in obtaining visas often meant
compounded problems in getting on one of the limited flights through Europe
to the United States.
On Saturday
(May 11), there was a panel on the dimensions of the African Diaspora
and cultural issues, and panelists included noted Pan-African scholar
Dr. Tony Martin of Trinidad and Tobago.
The panelists and participants offered several recommendations:
- The scientific tradition among African peoples must be revised among educational institutions, and Diaspora academics must do more quality research and disseminate their findings as widely as possible.
- Traditional medical treatments should be studied, and findings on such studies must be publicized in an effort to identify effective treatments at a lower cost than modern medicine now offers, and greater collaboration between traditional medical practitioners and more modern medical practitioners must be encouraged.
- There must be an enhanced system of knowledge-sharing developed, especially in the raising and teaching of children about the history of African people throughout the Diaspora, as well as African-based traditions, in order to better ensure self-determination.
- Dialogue on African cultural practices such as rites of passage and forced marriage must be held to determine those practices that are of continuing value and those that are counter-productive.
- An examination of the past and present spiritual development of African peoples must be conducted in order to learn lessons for the future.
- Africans in the Diaspora must hold one another accountable for actions detrimental to their people wherever such actions take place.
- There should be respect for the right of Africans in the Diaspora to return to an African nation of their choice to assume dual citizenship as guaranteed by Organization of African Unity Resolution 518.
- The media must be used in all its forms: television and other broadcast media, print and Internet to facilitate an ongoing dialogue on issues of concern to the Diaspora.
