AFRICAN DIASPORAS: A NEW LOOK IS NEEDED

Scattered throughout the world, the African diasporas constitute, like the African continent, a heterogeneous component, hence the use of the plural to designate them. The motivations behind this dispersion are as multiple as the aspirations of the said diasporas vis-à-vis their countries of origin and adoption. The same applies to their contributions to the said countries. In this regard, whatever the generations, they are all strongly involved in the socio-economic, political, cultural or even scientific life of their adopted countries. At the same time, they demonstrate strong ties with their continent of origin.

African diasporas, bridges and smugglers towards new horizons of shared prosperity

The important involvement of the African diasporas in the prosperity of the countries of adoption as well as their manifestations of attachment to their countries of origin now inspire both States and international organizations with various projects and initiatives. The objective pursued in these frameworks is, in particular, to involve the African diasporas in cooperation policies and programs of all kinds. For the countries of adoption of the African diasporas, it is a way of associating them with the challenges of transformation linked to global changes; which makes sense all the more so since now, and more than ever, Africa is the continent of acculturation to change on the one hand and of hope on the other. If the natural role of gateway seems to be regaining renewed interest, that of smuggler remains to be built towards new horizons of shared prosperity. The Covid-19 crisis, while shaking our certainties, amplifies the need to build a new, just and equitable world, ecological and necessarily co-constructed, because it is interconnected both by the scourges it suffers and by the prosperity to which the people aspire.

This utopia to which we aspire and invite the countries of origin, the countries of adoption, as well as the diasporas themselves, commits each of these stakeholders to a real paradigm shift on themselves and their reciprocal relations.

African diasporas would benefit from changing their view of themselves

The stories of conquest teach us that looking at oneself constitutes a powerful vector of emancipation and transformation of one’s condition in the world as well as of the response of the world to oneself. Driven by a spirit of universalism, the diasporas would benefit from employing a lucid and transparent look at themselves to identify and name their nature on the one hand and to project the experiences they wish to live as well as their contribution to the humanity on the other hand. It is by fully embodying and inhabiting their true aspiration(s) on the one hand and relying on the richness of their plural cultures on the other hand that they will contribute to naturally spreading the flavor salt of their potential. Play the role of bridge between several cultures, several generations and several territories requires a state of mind of openness to the field of possibilities, of agility, of fluidity, of co-construction, but also of constantly operational reflexivity. The unprecedented period we are living in, which upsets the balance and challenges certainties as to the solidity of established macro and micro-systems, challenges the diasporas to introspection in order to shed light on their identity and their contributions with regard to their countries of adoption as well as of their countries of origin whose footprints they bear, consciously or not.

African countries would benefit from changing their relationship with the diasporas and cultivating a relationship of trust with them

In several parts of the continent, the reading grid with regard to the African diasporas must be broadened so as to make them true allies. In a world where the State must be more of a strategist, intelligence imposes the need to involve the diasporas as active stakeholders in the construction and realization of an ambitious vision of economic, political and social progress for the benefit citizens. The vibrant share of African countries in their diasporas legitimizes their aspirations to act for the prosperity of their countries of origin. The internal contexts of these countries, as well as international ones, very often confine them to reducing their capacity to act in the transfer of funds. Public powers, African economic actors and civil societies would benefit from engaging in a real catharsis to identify (recognize) the reasons behind the departures of the diasporas and to question the different levels of responsibility in the misunderstandings/misunderstandings with them. This would make it possible to create the conditions for a new alliance and dynamic, creating win-win values ​​with their diasporas.

In this dreamed-of new era, the diasporas would be the “ambassadors” in the adopted countries with peoples and opinions, institutions and authorities, as well as in the academic, scientific and economic worlds.

Adopted countries would benefit from reviewing by and for themselves their stories with African diasporas

It is at the end of the old rope that we weave the new. But it is by knowing what the old one is made of that we minimize the risk of weaving a new one which would only be a carbon copy with equally disastrous consequences. The question of history and memory must be the subject of profound work imbued with human dignity. It must be initiated by the countries of adoption of the diasporas who would benefit from questioning, identifying and highlighting the contributions of the African diasporas as well as the contributions of their countries of origin to their prosperity (economic, cultural, political, scientific, etc.) ; amplify within their institutions, their territories, their companies as well as their civil societies, the work of building new relationships (egalitarian, fair, respectful, win-win…) with the diasporas and in so doing also with their countries of origin; in turn make diasporas, translators and ambassadors of their internal evolutions on the subject of memory and of their wish to build on new bases, new relations with Africa. This would contribute to the elevation of their own consciousness and therefore to a beneficial change for them in the perception they have of the African diasporas and beyond Africa.