By Sofia Achame
As a volunteer for Think Africa Week, I was excited to attend #TAWeek19 “The Diaspora Impact” hoping to observe and understand the works of Africans and to participate in a platform to discuss the life of African in Finland.
The week was decked with events that were set to capture diverse areas of African diaspora contributions and impact.
I managed to attend all of the events with the exception of one – “Sustainable market entry into African countries” (Day 3) , which unfortunately coincided with the “Finland-Africa Research Stories” event. In total about 500 participants attended the week-long program. Historically, this is the best attended Think Africa Week since the initiative began in 2013.
My highlight of the week was being able to experience a holistic view about Africa.
In as much as the events presented covered a myriad of perspectives and topics; it was recognised and attended by representatives of Governments. The event featured an urgency to bring structural changes to accommodate the significant role and contributions of the African Diaspora in Finland. Hence, accepting the fact that many Africans have made Finland their home.
The Opening Ceremony held on November 18th 2019 highlighted the enormous impact and contribution of the African Diaspora on Finnish society and culture and brought it to the “Limelight”. It was adorned with inspiring speeches from keynote speakers and some of the African Ambassadors in Finland (Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia). I especially liked the two panel discussions held during the Opening as they created a platform for sharing experiences and personal narratives of Immigrants in Finland. I also enjoyed the cultural elements of a Rwandan traditional dance group and the live musical performance from a Senegalese band.
Rwandan group ‘Les Etoiles Brillantes des Porvoo’ performing at the Opening Ceremony
Impact of the African Diaspora in their countries of origin was also echoed by one of the speakers Opunimi Akinkugbe, (CEO of Bestman Games Limited), who cautioned that “The African Diaspora ought to maintain a connection with Africa as an asset in order to forge new ideas and work towards best solutions for the good of one’s country”. Furthermore, the AU’s Citizens & Diaspora Directorate (CIDO) via a video message (Opening Ceremony) encouraged the African Diasporas to “speak different languages, but with one voice”.
The Think Africa Week event included sessions focused on stories, narratives; exchanging ideas and enhancing collaboration with the continent of Africa.
The above mentioned aspect was particularly exemplified at the Slush side-event (Day 2) organised in collaboration with SAIS, Futurice, and UNTIL. This session created an opportunity to discuss investing in, and partnering with young African innovators. At this event I was able to meet passionate youth entrepreneurs from Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia, who are using technology to enhance the lives of their communities. One specific added value from this year’s Slush side-event was particularly the presence of many Africans promoting their work and partnering with Finnish companies. The event created a good opportunity for me to know about current innovations that are taking place in African countries.
Photos with some of the innovators present at the event.
On the third day, I participated in an engaging roundtable discussion on the role of research in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I had a chance to meet with Professor Frej Stambouli. Professor Stambouli was very pleased with the event and commended the use of research to amplify stories and solve societal issues. At this event, I was also able to present a poster of my research and had in-depth discussions with attendees. Exhibiting my work enabled me to get feedback from the audience and be inspired by ideas for further research.
At the roundtable discussion.
Making an impact begins with feeling at home and settled in the host society. Day 4 of #TAWeek19 focused on the fundamentals of well-being, health, mindset and coping mechanisms necessary in taking care of oneself. The value of this event was expressed by one attendee who said “events like this are crucial as they give a chance for the opinion of the African Diaspora to be heard”.
Day 6 of Think Africa Week was designed to create a safe space where Africans could discuss among themselves about the African identity. The personal and shared aspect of identity necessitates for the continuity of having discussions in the African Diaspora community.
TAWeek19 adequately showcased the unique and diverse talent pool of the African Diaspora; the impact made thus far and highlighted how to best engage with the African Diaspora in Finland.
Think Africa Week confirmed that there isn’t a fixed recipe for impact.
Overall, TAWeek19 gave value to the urgency to empower the African Diaspora and work together to alleviate discrimination faced by people of African descent in Finland.
The overall feedback I gathered from talks with participants during the week was extremely good and embedded in desires for more depth and continuity of the thematic areas covered during the “Diaspora Impact” event of 2019.
One of the issues frequently pointed out was the imperative for the African Diaspora to be engaged and invited to participate in the discourse and decision making process during the formulation of Finland’s Africa strategy (2020).
There is a clarion call for collaboration with or between EU organs and the African Diaspora about concrete contributions to the European Union – Africa discourse.
A constant challenge faced by the African Diaspora is being afforded possibilities for devising functional mechanisms to work proactively, and be engaged with Finnish society on key stakeholders issues in creating structures that would enable us to access opportunities to conduct concrete dialogue with various European governments.
Furthermore, in order for the African Diaspora to thrive in Finland, “supporting their development initiatives” is crucial. Such would increase the impact and potential of the African Diaspora. Peter Kariuki, a Senior Specialist at the Finnish Ministry of Justice, in his keynote address at the Opening Ceremony said:
“changing attitudes towards the diaspora will ultimately change the image of Africa.”
This is one of the reasons, I am part of Think Africa, as I see it as an organisation that is providing a platform and enabling Diasporas to participate in this process. Looking forward to what TAWeek2020 will bring.
For more pictures capturing the event, visit here.
