Africa looks to reap development benefits from diaspora

Africans living outside the continent who remain committed to its development are considered its "sixth region," according to the organizer of an upcoming summit designed to tap the diaspora who spoke at a May 18 Newsmaker.

Ambassador Mbulelo Rakwena of the Africa Multilateral Branch of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation said the meeting will bring together leaders from politics, business, culture, civil society and other sectors of the diaspora, together with their counterparts from the African continent.

The event, which will be held in South Africa, will "put flesh on the bones of the idea that the diaspora is the African 'sixth region," Rakwena said. It also will focus on the launch of "bankable projects" and other initiatives advocated by the African Union in its sixth-region concept. The diaspora would join the other regions -- North, West, East, Central and Southern Africa.

The African diaspora is distributed mostly in North and South America and the Caribbean.

South Africa's ambassador to the U.S., Ebrahim Rasool, said the summit, for which a date has not yet been set, comes at a time of "heightened interest in the ways in which the diaspora can generally contribute to the prosperity of their countries of origin."

In today's highly globalized economy, Rakwena said, "diasporas are increasingly seen as a vital resource for the nations and regions from which they originated. The knowledge, connections, savings and solidary of diaspora populations have delivered enormous benefits for countries such as China, India, Ireland and Israel."

Remittances, he added, "underpin the growth of many emerging economies."