Diaspora Bank concept

Make A Change - For Africa

Why Africa?

by kaboyo julius, Rwanda

Why should it be Africa,

where children starve amidst food,

people die evil deaths without cause,

war wipes out entire communities and commodities

and causes panic inside our intestines--

leading to miscarriages that discourage

our courage?

Why we,

they say, our soils are fertile,

our land is the richest without reach,

yet we languish in biting poverty,

sickening solitude of absolute hunger,

as if there is no one to help?

Our life span is below God's promise,

our culture is decaying beyond rotting.

What have we done to deserve this?

Why we,

who were the beloved of the world,

whose culture stood firm like the Muvule tree,

whose children saw no sickness and agony,

us that bore the courage of giants--now

we are marked with fear and fright to flight

from our own father's land?

We, whose beauty was bound to no bolting

but brood beyond horizons--now

opt for imported beautification.

Us, who believed in love and unity,

now tear each other like tigers.

Why we,

who cherished chastity and honesty,

but now believe in immorality and betrayal?

Tell me brother--who triggered us to this

treacherous, treasonous life,

punctuated by misery, pain, hunger,

death, deprivation, despair, disillusionment,

and degradation from our captors?

Who should we blame for this?

The gods, the invader, the era, or ourselves?

Who will help us?

Diaspora Bank concept - outline

See a short description of the Diaspora Bank concept HERE.

Join a new discussion on the Diaspora Bank concept

This discussion "INNOVATION CHALLENGE: DEVELOPING AN AFRICAN DIASPORA INVESTMENT BANK" is going on within SICU INNOVATION group, started by Ian Bentley.

Concept proposed: DIASPORA BANK

Over the past few weeks a fascinating discussion has been taking place in the LinkedIn group, ‘Africa - All Things Business’. The discussion thread was started by Paul Kibuuka. It has focussed on ‘Africa’s Greatest Strengths’ and to date it has attracted 230+ contributions.

The group is made up largely of professional and business people with close links to Africa, and as the thread has illustrated ... a great deal of love and passion for the continent

The highly perceptive posts in the thread have effectively begun to develop into a SWOT analysis of Africa. It has provided participants with a glimpse of the magnitude of the problems faced by the continent and her people. At the same time it has revealed massive opportunities for those with the foresight to recognise them ... and the vision to realise them.

During the course of the discussion a number of suggestions were made as to how the situation could be turned around. It is critical that this time the ordinary people of Africa get to reap the benefits ... and not only the ruling-class elite who have to date largely continued the colonial tradition of leeching the continent dry.

It was agreed that for the continent to compete successfully on the global stage, it must not only explore new avenues of opportunity and new ways of doing things ... Africa in fact needs to completely reinvent and reposition itself.

Being a ‘business’ group, one issue that predictably surfaced was the difficulty that entrepreneurs (with bold, original ideas) experience when attempting to source funding for innovative new projects.

I proposed a solution to this problem to the group in the form of a DIASPORA BANK ... in essence a bank funded by the 60 million-odd displaced Africans around the globe with the express aim of financing disruptive new business ventures that would ordinarily struggle

Visit SICU INNOVATION

By Ian Bentley

This anouncement was first published on SICU HUB.

Thinkers, Dreamers and Doers

Brooks Atkinson an American theatre critic who worked for the New York Times described the reasons for America’s greatness. He stated, “This nation was built by men who took risks-pioneers who were not afraid of the wilderness, business men who were not afraid of failure, scientists who were not afraid of the truth, thinkers who were not afraid of progress, dreamers who were not afraid of action. Which African nation can boast of such characteristics? We need to cultivate such qualities in our future leaders.

Why are African nations incapable of escaping poverty? When will we start to compete with the rest of the world in science, innovation, and economic might? Why is it that in over fifty years of independence we have not changed from primary producers to manufacturers of finished goods? Where have we gone wrong? How do we change our predicament?

Kwame Nkrumah, a visionary African leader would be turning in his grave if he was alive, to witness the anarchy in some regions on the continent. East Africa, a former powerhouse on the continent has morphed into a region of instability, war and terrorism. Nkrumah’s dream was to create nations that were not only a “pool” to source raw materials but an economic force with its own industrialized bargaining power. Many African countries are living below the breadline without the basic human necessities like: access to clean water, sanitation, accommodation and education. In fifty years we have failed to produce many shining examples of fair, honest leadership. Our continent has been marred with dictators like Idi Amin Dada, a former British army lieutenant who later styled himself as “His Excellency President for Life”. Then there was Mobutu of Congo, Charles Taylor who is currently on trial for crimes against humanity at The Hague. Most of these dictators had a common trait. They were once the darlings of their country, seen as liberation heroes, but somewhere down the line lost their way.

How does a continent begin to heal from decades of bad governance? How do we purge the continent of leaders with archaic ideology, corrupt leanings and self- enriching tendencies? How much blame rests on the shoulders of each African?

We are guilty of not standing up and demanding truth and transparency for fear of retribution. There are not enough dissenting voices driving the need for change. A nation with a weak civic society is a nation setting itsel up to fail. African youth have to fill this gaping hole of civic responsibility, acting as watchdogs and challenging the status quo.

Succession-planning and grooming of young future leaders with the right qualities is imperative. African governments should make this a priority and include it in their policies.

Young Africans have little interest in participating in matters concerning politics. The youth expend their energy on attaining materialistic possessions, forgetting that in order to secure their aspirations, their country needs to have sound governance. African youth must serve as the voice of society. They ought to become the conscience of a nation reminding its leaders that another generation will follow and therefore decisions made should be of benefit to future generations. The youth of Africa need to create an organisation powerful enough to influence policies in government and leadership positions.

We need to bring about change. We need a generation of strong-minded youth similar to the generation who helped to fight for our independence decades ago. We need a revolution!

I want to extend a challenge to African youth to develop our abilities to dream, think and act. We need dreamers who can dream up visions of a future far beyond our imagination. We need innovative thinkers who are not afraid to push the boundaries and challenge societal norms. Finally, we need doers to act on the dreams and innovation to create concrete plans with a vision to build and develop Africa.

This is the time for the Youth of our continent to become part of a shift in mindset and social conscience.

Written by: Kate Nkansa

Watu Afrika project was born on October 16, 2010

Watu Afrika project is an open collaborative network to raise Africa to dignity and to prosperity. It was the initiative of Ian Bentley.

t!b!