Arrangements are in top gear for Nigeria to host the Global African Diaspora Symposium (GADS) in Abuja.
Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), stated this at a joint World Press Conference to midwife the GADS in Abuja.
She also said Africa must take its pride of place on the global map, as it cannot be relegated to the background anymore, given its huge human and natural endowments.
As contained in a release e-signed by Gabriel Odu of the Media, Public Relations and Protocol Unit, NiDCOM, Dabiri-Erewa, was a co-chair of the press conference.
The NiDCOM boss noted that, like most African diaspora-related programmes, GADS was birthed by the declaration of the 2012 Global Diaspora Summit.
She said it was targeted at Africa to form impactful engagements with its Diaspora and the African Union’s (AU) first African Global Diaspora Summit in 2021, which encourages partnership among member states.
In addition, she said the Symposium was built upon the first African Diaspora Symposium (ADS-2020), held in Nairobi, Kenya in December 2020, as well as, the maiden outing of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Diaspora Forum in Luanda, Republic of Angola on December 7, 2022 for its 10th Summit Edition, to establish a chance for Africa to engage with its Diaspora.
According to her, the theme of the Symposium, “Building Stronger Connections between Africa and the Global Diaspora”, was designed to address and proffer workable solutions to Africa’s most pressing issues.
She added that it was also to create necessary partnerships between key Diaspora leaders, especially in the African Continent to achieve successful results.
The NiDCOM chairman informed that the two-day hybrid Symposium has been slated to hold from 27-28, April, 2023 at the Rotunda Hall, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja.
She called on the general public to register at www.gadsafrica.com, to have a full experience of the programme.
In the same vein, Ambassador Rabiu Daigari, Director General, Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA), said the programme will integrate all Africans worldwide together and fasttrack the reconnection process for Africa’s development.
Dr. Malcolm Beech, a member of the Global Diaspora Organising Committee in America, stated that the Symposium will serve as a catalyst for Africa’s renaissance and reawakening to change the narratives.
Prof Chika Anyanwu, an academia based in Sydney, Australia and Dr Bashir Obasekola, NIDO Continental Chairman based in Russia, said the GADS will Africans, home and abroad, time to showcase themselves to the world and the continent as a progressive and the last economic frontier to the world.
The GADS is organised by the African Diaspora Alliance (AfDA), Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nigeria (MFA), NiDCOM and the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA).
Chairman, Local Organising Committee (LOC), Mrs Ibukun Odusote, said the objective of the Symposium, among others, is to create an interface for networking among African and other Diaspora all over the world, as well as promote the spirit of pan-Africanism among Africans globally.
