Africa’s Emerging Economies, Vast Resources, and its Pivotal Role in Shaping the World’s Future.
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Boma of Africa 2022 Live on Dominion Television
A PRECURSOR OF THE BOMA 2022
From extreme left: Fiona Achieng, Rita N.A. Arthur, Jesse Akosa, Nana A.A. Afful and Mark Atitsogbui
Following the Boma of Africa, which took place today, July 8, 2022, a precursor to the festival was hosted at the Dominion Television studios. The show’s hosts were Fiona Achieng and Mark Attitsogbui, both of whom are staff at the television station.
A session with some of Ghana’s promising youth
The guests, Jesse Akosa, a business development officer and trained data and financial analyst, Rita Nana Adwoa Arthur, a writer, poet, and filmmaker, Nana Akua Asante Afful, an artisan and second runner-up at the 2017 Ghana’s Most Beautiful, shared their opinions on a variety of themes, including but not limited to the changes they observed in their respective industries ten years ago as compared to the changes they hope to see in the next ten years, as host, Fiona Achieng remarked, “Ghanaian food is a work of art,” in addition to what they celebrate about Africa.
The team from Dominion Television went out into Accra’s streets in anticipation of the great event, Boma of Africa 2022, to find out what people’s opinions were. As they discussed why they believed corruption should be tackled at the festival, they praised the Boma of Africa as a fantastic event.
Boma of Africa; The festival of Ideas
The Boma’s first section was devoted to the establishment of a continental digital trading corridor to assist in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement through terminal emulator interoperability systems across traditions of the AU Member States, a digital ecosystem of connected e-government and private apps, and a single online business repository and a social credit system for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and startups, as the Hub was launched by the President of Niger and AfCFTA Champion, H.E. Mahamadou Issifou.
H.E. Mahamadou Issifou, President of Niger. Photo credit: onpolicy.org
Following a spoken word, Cynthia Gnassingbe-Essonam, Senior Advisor at the AfCFTA, gave the opening comments at the Boma of Africa, and Wamkele Mene gave the keynote address. More information on the AfCFTA’s role in integrating the African market was provided by H.E. Wamkele Mene, who also noted that the AfCFTA’s launch had advanced since the previous Boma with the help of the Afreximbank.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
- Based on the number of participating nations, the AfCFTA is the largest free trade area in the world since the World Trade Organization was established.
- Among its many goals is the creation of an internal market for products and services, which has the potential to raise intra-African trade by 52.3%.
- It intends to bring together all 55 African Union member states, spanning a population of more than 1.3 billion people with a developing middle class and a total gross domestic product of $3.4 trillion.
In keeping with previous Boma tradition, part two of the gathering included several dignitaries, including Heads of State, continental businessmen, and world thinkers, who discussed important topics affecting Africa’s long-term plan for structural transformation.
The discussion topics covered creative solutions to Africa’s current financial and supply chain issues, youth and gender empowerment, and the potential for cross-border trade and new technology to be resilient in the face of pandemics and resurgent major power rivalries.
The event’s peak occurred during its third segment. With assistance from international partners like the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Kingdom, Australia, The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), The United States of America, the European Union, the Government of India, Singapore, and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Africa CDC launched a continental eHealth backbone that brought together African Union departments and agencies, as well as its African Vaccine Passport module.
As part of their promotional relationship, the African Union and AfroChampions were in charge of organizing The Boma of Africa. The AfCFTA Hub Network and the continent’s business community were also sponsors.
“Dominion TV partnered with AfroChampions to broadcast this exciting event live on Dominion TV; Africa’s Christian Lifestyle Network for Inspired and Empowered Living. We believe such content will inspire our audience towards living a more empowered life and positively impacting their communities” – Nosisa Doe, General Manager, Dominion TV Ghana
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Closing Africa’s Infrastructure financing gap – Rosa Whitaker at the 2022 AAM in Cairo
Rosa Whitaker, Vice-Chair and President of Dominion Television, gave a passionate contribution to closing Africa’s infrastructure gap as a key panelist at the 29th Afreximbank Annual General Meetings (AAGM2022) in Cairo, Egypt, in the presence of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi, a transformative leader of our time.
Whitaker detailed the actions required to accomplish this goal and shared her vision of a unified Africa inclusive of all members of the diaspora. “It is time for us to come together as one Africa, putting aside our differences and working towards a common goal.” She emphasized that if there is unity within the Diaspora and the Africans on the continent, our community would be a potent force by merging elements, resources, and strengths- both economic and cultural, that bring us together. “In the United States, when I look at the African American community, we have 1.6 trillion dollars in consumer spending in income”, she stated.
Bridging The Financial Gap By Leveraging The Private Sector And Tax Incentives
Rosa Whitaker shared that to bridge the gap, Africa should leverage their relationship with the United States by tapping its greatest strength, which is its bond market. She adds that “President Biden has proposed a similar initiative for infrastructure for Africa and the G7 group,” that the echo chamber must be traded around since it is a method for America and Western nations to advance without necessarily increasing their budget deficits.
One solution proposed by Whitaker is providing tax incentives to encourage the private sector to invest in businesses in Africa. Rosa Whitaker gave an illustration by noting that if an American business invests in infrastructure in Africa, it will be able to bring its earnings back to the US tax-free and receive some tax breaks.
Rosa Whitaker appreciates the African Export-Import Bank for hosting an outstanding Afreximbank Annual General Meeting (AAGM2022), complementing the occasion as an excellent forum for the exchange of innovative ideas and showcasing remarkable work that is already in progress.
The 29th Afreximbank Annual General Meetings (AAGM2022) was held in Cairo, Egypt from June 14-18, 2022.
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An Interview with Melvin P. Foote, President and Chief Executive Officer of Constituency for Africa
Many people who have worked to improve their country and the globe can be found among the Peace Corps Returned Volunteers from Ethiopia and Eritrea. Melvin P. Foote served in Eritrea and Ethiopia from 1973 to 1976 and was moved from Eritrea to Ethiopia during that time, and like many volunteers, he had a life-changing encounter that continues to have a significant impact on both his personal and professional life.
Early life
Melvin P. Foote, President, and CEO of Constituency for Africa (CFA). Photo courtesy of africabusinessportal.com
For more than 40 years, Melvin P. Foote had worked in Africa and on African concerns. He is the founder and president of the Constituency for Africa (CFA), a 25-year-old network of businesses, associations, and people in Washington, D.C., dedicated to the development and empowerment of Africa and Africans everywhere. The goal of the Constituency for Africa (CFA) is to increase public and private support for Africa and to influence U.S. policy toward the continent. The President’s Emergency Response to HIV/AIDS in Africa (PEPFAR), African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and President Barack Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) are a few of the US government programs focused on Africa that were directly established by Melvin Foote and Constituency for Africa.
Achievements
Melvin P. Foote worked as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer and instructor in Ethiopia and Eritrea from 1973 to 1976 before establishing CFA. He worked as Africare’s representative in Somalia from 1981 until 1984. He served as Director of Constituency Development at Africare’s Washington headquarters from 1984 to 1994, which resulted in the establishment of CFA. Melvin Foote took part in several high-level missions to Africa, serving on a White House delegation in 1994 to ascertain the genocide in Rwanda, as the mission’s leader in 1994 to forge a comprehensive peace agreement, on a well-known team in 1998 that decided to seek to put an end to the war between Ethiopia and Eritrea and a member of a Presidential mission to five African nations in 1998 to endorse U.S. trade with Africa and the African Growth and Opportunity Act, as the mission’s leader to forge a comprehensive peace agreement in Sudan in 2001, and the head of a mission sent to South Africa in 2003 to evaluate the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), a continental program to advance economic ties and growth.
Awards and honors
The “Order of the Lion” Award, the highest honor for public service bestowed by the government of Senegal, was given to Melvin Foote in 1998. He also received the Diggs Award for Foreign Affairs from the Congressional Black Caucus’ 2001 Annual Legislative Conference in appreciation of his exceptional dedication to and success in addressing problems and concerns relating to Africa. In addition to being a prolific writer of essays and editorials that are published in newspapers and publications throughout America, Melvin Foote is an often-sought speaker on radio and television.
Impact
To put an end to the war that had claimed about ten thousand (10,000) lives, Melvin Foote traveled to Ethiopia and Eritrea in 2010 with a representative of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers which included Hon. John Garamendi, a current California member of congress, the late Michael McCaskey, whose family owns the Chicago Bears NFL team, and Circuit Court Judge Bill Canby. The delegation met with the leaders of both major parties and pushed them to think about a way to peace.
Constituency for Africa (CFA)
Melvin P. Foote. Source: nkafu.org
Melvin P. Foote who is the President and CEO of Constituency for Africa (CFA) has for many years pioneered a widely acclaimed series of Town Hall Meetings on Africa, which have taken place in several cities and towns across the United States. Constituency for Africa (CFA) organizes the Ronald H. Brown African Affairs Series and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Annual Legislative Conference, both of which take place in Washington, D.C., in September each year. The series has persevered in offering a particular platform for Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) officials and their staff to connect with entities with an African concentration, African diplomats and government policymakers, and grassroots community leaders.
The Ronald H. Brown African Affairs Series was held in mid-September 2020 by Constituency for Africa (CFA), and one session will be of interest to Returned Peace Corps Volunteers and prospective recruits. The African American Peace Corps function in the post-pandemic Peace Corps. The collection bears the name of the late Ronald H. Brown, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and US Secretary of Commerce under the Clinton administration.
Along with Dr. Darlene Grant, who was recently hired by the Peace Corps as the Senior Advisor to the President to help with the strategic development and address issues of diversity in the institution, featured presenters scheduled for the event included Congresswoman Karen D. Bass (D-CA), Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and Chair of the House Sub-committee on Africa and Global Health. Sadly, Hon. Bass had to leave for a crucial meeting, but he did attend the meeting on September 18 with Dr. John Nkengasong, the head of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to review a briefing on the COVID-19 outbreak in Africa.
The discussion was timely despite being always pertinent, but it was especially so in light of recent occurrences like the worldwide evacuation of over 7,000 Peace Corps Volunteers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the resultant Black Lives Matter demonstrations that took place in many different cities across the United States and the rest of the world. As a result of these incidents, issues of racism and diversity have come under scrutiny inside the Peace Corps as well as other branches of the United States government.
The speakers and panelists presented their thoughts and suggestions for policy reforms as the Peace Corps reemerges after the COVID-10 pandemic passes, reviewed strategies for expanding the recruitment of African Americans and other minorities and discussed ways for doing so.
Melvin P. Foote’s Interview in Ghana
On Dominion Television, Melvin P. Foote speaks with Ama K. Abebrese about his career life and journey within the Diaspora. Dominion TV; Africa’s Christian Lifestyle Network for Inspired and Empowered Living.