We are Committed to Africa’s Economic Transformation and Development+Prime Minister of State of African Diaspora Assures
By Raymond Enoch
The Prime Minister of the State of African Diaspora (SOAD), His Excellency Dr Louis-Georges Tin, has said that his government is committed to promoting African economic transformation and Africa’s development Agenda.
His Excellency Dr Louis-Georges Tin made this disclosure while having an exclusive interview with Paradigm News.
This exclusive interview touches on wide-range of issues that pose threat to African development today. The Prime Minister of SOAD, in the interview, spoke on several subjects of topical importance.
We have provided below in verbatim some issues of the economic development plans and initiatives of SOAD, Economic Development, Immigration challenges, Repatriation Questions, Youth and Women, Institutional Challenges, Mechanisms to address them and long terms objectives of SOAD, all for your readership, in order to capture the whole and fundamental essence of SOAD.
On emergence of SOAD, he revealed that the African Diaspora was unanimously recognised by African Heads of States in 2003 as the 6th Region of Africa. Based on that decision, the President of the African Union gave him a mandate to create a structure to « give substance » to the 6th Region. That is how the State of the African Diaspora was launched on July, 1st, 2018 during the Summit of the African Union. The African Diaspora includes the people who left the continent one, two or three generations ago, as migrants, and also the people whose ancestors were deported from Africa two, three, four centuries ago or more, in a context of slavery. The 6th Region includes about 350 millions people.
The mission of SOAD is to reinforce Africa through the Diaspora, and the Diaspora through Africa.
When asked how SOAD is going to bring about economic development in Africa and also tackle brain drain so as to retain best manpower in the continent, His Excellency Dr Louis Georges Tin had this to say :
“SOAD has numerous development programs. The most important is the smart cities program. To date, we have signed more than 30 cooperation agreements to build cities in Africa, from Liberia to Madagascar, including Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, the two Congos, Tanzania, South Africa and many others. In each of these cities, there will naturally be housing, shops, markets, offices, schools, hospitals and so on. We have secured the land – that is the first stage; we have found the financing – that is the second stage; we are now in discussions with the central banks of the countries to ensure that the funds can be safely invested – that is the third stage. Soon, we will be able to begin feasibility studies and physical work. This program will create hundreds of thousands of jobs across the continent. This is an example of the development the State of the African Diaspora is working on at the moment.”
On tracking brain drain he pointed out that
” We believe that all the development programs we are putting in place will require the expertise not only of Africans on the continent, but also those in the diaspora. For example, at the moment, we are building several medical complexes, which will include large hospitals (400 to 800 beds), with medical faculties, pharmacy faculties, nursing schools and so on. It is also a message to doctors and carers in the diaspora: we have modern infrastructure and decent salaries on the continent. You can now return home to care for your people while enjoying good material conditions. You do not need to stay out in the cold and be discriminated against all day long. Come back home”, he asserted.
On African dependency on Foreign Aid for its development, the Prime Minister asserted that “Africa and the Diaspora have enough money to meet the needs of their people. Development aid is not aid. It is loans with double-digit interest rates. It is not the world helping Africa, it is Africa (forcefully) helping the world ; Africa developing the world, and the world under-developing Africa. We must put an end to this system. Instead of working with countries that once colonized the continent and enslaved its people, African leaders should work with the diaspora, because the diaspora is family. According to the World Bank, the diaspora sends USD 70 billion every year to the continent. This represents 13% of Senegal’s GDP, 26% of Liberia’s GDP and 70% of Sudan’s GDP. That is a lot of money. But we can do even better, and act even more autonomously and effectively. That is what we need to increase the level of interactions and cooperation between the African Union and the State of the African Diaspora.”
Asked about the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) and the SOAD contribution to the process, he asserted that “SOAD signed a cooperation agreement with the Parliament of the African Union. One of the articles of this text stipulates that the two parties will organise every year the Africa-Diaspora Summit in the Headquarters of the Parliament of the AU. The first one will be in 2025. It will be a historic first. In this context, there will be a round table on finance, economics and trade. On this occasion, SOAD will be presenting its chamber of commerce, and a number of other important initiatives to promote trade, such as ports and railroads, for which financing is also available”, he assured.
On Youth and Women in the Continent, the Prime Minister said
“Concrete example : one of our action programs is the City of Youth. This City will be run entirely by young people. This is unprecedented. Africa is the youngest continent. It is only natural that we should put our trust in our young people, and seek to give them more responsibilities. Another example, this time regarding women. At the moment, with our Minister in charge of Women’s Economic and Social Development, we are working on creating the Women’s Empowerment Bank. I do not want to say too much for the moment, but because women are discriminated against in so many ways, especially in the area of economy, we believe that financial empowerment is one of the best ways to empower them in general”, he said.
On tracking the question and challenges of immigration and African around the world he said: “We are all affected by the thousands of people who die in the Mediterranean Sea. Not to mention those who arrive in Europe or the United States, living in poverty, working in discrimination, mm and exposed to police and administrative violence. That is why one of our cities will be built in North Africa: it will be Haven, the City of Migrants. We will say to travelers: you can cross the sea if you like, but we suggest you rest here. You will find free housing, accessible jobs, decent wages, and you will be able to help your families if you wish. So why go any further, taking unnecessary risks, when you can already find solutions for yourself and your loved ones in here, in Africa ?”, he suggested.
When asked by our correspondent, His Excellency Dr Louis Georges said that “Repatriation is a very important agenda for us. In fact, the ministerial portfolio of the SOAD No. 2 in our government, Vice Prime Minister Keturah Amoako, is « Restitution, Reparation, Repatriation and Restoration ». This shows the importance we attach to the subject. For example, we managed to get restitution of the artifacts of Benin, which were then repatriated to Cotonou. That was a historical achievement, and President Talon thanked me in the name of his country. Now, for repatriation of people, we have also created an initiative with Julius Garvey, the son of Marcus Garvey, the father of the « Back to Africa » movement. It is a cruise, designed to enable people from the diaspora to visit the coasts of Africa, the areas from which their ancestors were deported. They can visit the places, and later on decide to live there, or at least invest in the region. Our inspiration for this is the Black Starline, the company Marcus Garvey once created As another example, we advocated that Benin adopt a law in this area. It was passed and promulgated a few months ago. It provides that citizens of the historic diaspora, whose ancestors were deported as slaves, can now acquire citizenship in Benin. This law, which was passed unanimously, is a historic first, and we are proud to have been part of this initiative.
On challenges faced by SOAD on its engagements with international organizations on promoting African development, he had this to say: “I have to say that the main problem of Africa is not exploitation, neo-colonialism, disease, war, poverty or global warming. All that is very real is dangerous, of course. But in my view, the biggest problem in Africa is bureaucracy. It wastes a lot of our time. Any problem, no matter how serious, can be solved efficiently if it is dealt with quickly. But conversely, any problem, no matter how small, can become very serious if not dealt with in time. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the bureaucracy that reigns in many countries of Africa is the main enemy. You can overcome it, but you lose so much time. And time is money, and even a matter of life or death. While we are wasting time on bureaucracy, there are people who need care, and who end up dying. Administration is absolutely necessary, but in many ways, bureaucracy can become deadly”, he concluded .
His Excellency the Prime Minister of the State of African Diaspora Dr Louis Georges Tin spoke about the long term goals of SOAD and how Africans of good will can connect with SOAD. He had this to say « My aim is to promote African integration, and to work to ensure that within 50 years at most, Greater Africa, i.e. Africa and the Diaspora combined, will be the world’s leading power. This is absolutely realistic. It is never said, but do you know that Africa’s GDP is greater than India’s? Of course, Africa is made up of several countries, but we have the same population as India, 1.4 billion. So if India is the 5th world power, that means that Africa is already the 4th world power. And I have not included the subsoil or the diaspora in my calculation. When you are in 4th position, you are not far from being on the podium, a bronze medal, a silver medal, and soon a gold medal. Don’t you think so ?”
