Hundreds gathered for the 7th annual Africa Open for Business Summit during the General Assembly of the United Nations, hosted by Djibril Diallo, president of the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network.
Held in the Trusteeship Council Chamber of the UN, this was the largest side event for Africans, convening older and younger leaders across the diaspora for dialogue about a host of topics.
At the start of the summit, Diallo asked attendees to stand and hold up their red cards as a show of solidarity with the mission of protecting women and girls from discrimination and violence.
In an interview with the Amsterdam News, Diallo said the mission has two main objectives: “One, to reinforce the global movement against gender-based violence; number two, to have what we call ‘positive masculinity’…men as partners in the struggle for gender equality.”
During the three-hour summit, participants discussed tourism and economic development in Africa, and bridging the gap with African Americans.
Curtis Smith, a representative with the African Tourism Union, said Black Americans spend up to $20 billion a year on travel and less than 2% goes to Africa. He said miseducation is the main reason.
“[When] most people think of tourism in Africa, they think of animals or they think of poverty tourism. They don’t think of Africa for skiing. They don’t think of Africa for some of the top beaches in the world. They don’t understand the luxury hotels that are available in Africa,” Smith said.
Smith said African countries must “market” their countries better, highlighting countries like Senegal, which has attractions like the African Renaissance Museum, taller than the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty, among other highlights.
“We have to show people what’s there, and then they’ll come,” Smith said.
Other topics included climate change and access to education.
Wantoe T. Wantoe, a Liberian climate and education activist and executive director of the Center for African Policy, was one of the youth panelists who spoke about his work in climate advocacy and the importance of amplifying youth leadership.
“Youth inclusion is not just about the future—it’s about creating solutions for the challenges we face now,” Wantoe said.
Awards were presented to leaders, including Ambassador Cheikh Niang, permanent representative of Senegal to the UN; Olivier Laouchez, founder of Trace Africa TV; and Dr. Kenneth Harris, president and CEO of the National Business League, which is based in Tuskegee, Ala.
Many guests from various countries and professions were able to network with each other during the summit. One was Zainabu Sesay-Harrell, 47, an appointed lecturer in Sierra Leone and professor in New York who was invited by Diallo. Sesay-Harrell said it was “overwhelming” to be a part of the Summit.
“It’s thrilling to know that we’re having dialogues on this level about Africa in the UN space, and that you have people from all walks of life attending, and they’re interested in what the conversation should be sounding like from people African descent, or people who are partnering with people from Africa, or people who are just interested in coming to Africa and doing business with Africa,” Sesay-Harrell said.
Among the special attendees were actor Richard Gant, Queen Mother Delois Blakely, African Ancestry co-founder Dr. Gina Paige, and Pan-African scholar and former chair of Black Studies at City College of New York Dr. Leonard Jeffries.
“These buildings were not constructed for us, but when you have them built, you can see what it pulls together: an enormity of the African community worldwide,” Jeffries said during his remarks.