Excerpt from issue 135 of April 2022 of Hommes d'Afrique Magazine. Pages 57-59

The Africa Mundus:

In the early 2000s, under the name of Africa Mundus, of which I am the author, I designed a professional training program for African diasporas and ''afro-descendants'' living in Great Britain . I have taken up this term to give it a more general meaning, namely the grouping of 6 regions: the 5 regions of the African continent to which is added the 6th region made up of the national diasporas of Africans and “Afro- descendants'' distributed throughout the world. Regarding this familiar shortcut, according to the term used by the United Nations, it should be said: People of African descent. This 6th region is recognized by the African Union.

The term Africa Mundus aims to show:

– The paradoxes of the African continent: mineral wealth and natural resources versus endemic poverty

– The sixth region: diasporas and Afro-descendant populations

– The economic importance of remittances/Remitt@nces: The economic importance of continental African diasporas and ''Afro-descendants'' via remittances to the country and region of origin as well as their contribution to all economic, scientific, technological and cultural sectors of the host countries.

– The NegroEvolution: a concept that puts an end to clichés

The paradoxes of the African continent

With regard to the African continent, there is a paradox that must first be stated: how can we explain that the populations of several countries whose natural and mineral resources are important, even considerable, and even essential to the economy and to the technologies of the rich countries, are obliged to come mainly to Europe to escape endemic poverty? If we want to slow down the exodus of economic migrants, international companies that draw unlimited resources or have vast territories to cultivate plants (flowers, fruits, vegetables, etc.) for the West must finance the development of the countries where they are located. In 2018, the European Commissioner for the Economy and Finance embarked on a crusade to tax and charge GAFA in Europe as well as other international Asian groups in the sector. Should such an initiative not be able to apply to foreign companies and their subsidiaries? In addition, a tax or an “Eco-grant” on exported raw materials, raw or semi-processed, could be levied at the time of air, rail, river, sea and road boarding. For the moment, it is the remittance of money from members of the African diasporas that largely irrigates local economies. For example, according to the World Bank, “remittances from its national diasporas to sub-Saharan Africa soared by almost 10% in 2018, to $46 billion, on the back of strong performance in developing countries. high income. In terms of gross domestic product, Comoros takes the lion's share, ahead of Gambia, Lesotho, Cape Verde, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Togo, Ghana and Nigeria”. Even if this contribution is not negligible, it alone cannot finance the essential infrastructure. While waiting for reforms and other decisions to be taken in the direction of true equity on an international scale, we must welcome migratory movements for humanitarian reasons, but also out of necessity. Indeed, whatever some French candidates for the presidential office of March 2022 say, the aging West cannot do without this contribution of young people, often qualified and adaptable since they are already trained in new technologies. A distinction must therefore be made between economic migrants and refugees, whether for political or climatic reasons.

The Diaspora, the sixth region of Africa, has nearly 350 million people. She has enormous abilities.

The economic strength of a specific diaspora: the sixth region

It is made up first of all of Afro-descendants dispersed in the Americas and the Indian Ocean, that is to say all those who came from the mass deportation of nearly 8 million men and women bought or captured on the west coasts of Africa during three centuries of slave trade, to which are added Africans imported from the colonies for economic reasons, then those who have been fleeing poverty or wars for half a century. They have adopted, integrated, even assimilated the local cultures, habits and customs while transmitting to the following generations their ancestral traditions brought back from Africa.

These men and women, black-skinned or mixed and of Negroid type, alone form a 6th region that the African Union has decided to add to the 5 continental regions. Although virtual, it brings together nearly 350 million individuals according to certain international organizations, all from African, national or Afro-descendant diasporas spread across the four corners of the world such as Meso-America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Indo-Pacific and even in Asia. The members of this large composite diaspora now irrigate all sectors of activity, whether cultural, political, technological, financial, scientific... and participate in an interpenetration of interregional experiences, skills and knowledge.

African National Diasporas

English-speaking, Arabic-speaking, French-speaking, Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking Africa is perceived as an inexhaustible source of basic raw materials: cobalt, copper, lithium, gold, diamonds, graphite, uranium, oil... but also as a source inexhaustible supply of a flexible and quickly mobilized workforce. The European Union is made up of ancient nations that deported millions of people for 3 centuries to enslave them in the production of precious woods, cotton, sugar, coffee, cocoa, tobacco, indigo and other spices on other continents . In the 19th century, these same nations colonized Africa Mundus. During the 2 world wars, African nationals and Afro-descendants served as cannon fodder. After the independence of the 1960s, neocolonialism implemented, under the guise of development aid, political and economic interference that maintained the economic advance of the West and enriched European entrepreneurs. From now on, several African countries want to emancipate themselves and choose their partners. While waiting for better days, many left behind flee misery and insecurity to emigrate to the West, mainly. These migratory flows lead to racist and negrophobic attitudes on the part of Westerners. When we examine the location of African diasporas, we see their presence in all continents: Asia – Japan and China, America and South and North: Brazil, USA and Canada and especially Europe: France, Great Britain, Belgium, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and Russia. This set of diasporas irrigates all economic sectors and at all levels of skills, from the worker, the artist, the engineer, through the teacher, the doctor, the researcher, etc.

Not only do they generate what I called Remitt@nces which are sent to the countries of origin, but also participate in the economy of the host countries in the form of taxes and other taxes, social security contributions , etc. This is why, in 2006 in Moscow, as general rapporteur of a plenary conference of civil society of the G8 chaired by Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, I carried, as a recommendation, the end of the monopoly of the companies remittances such as Western Union and lower exaggerated commission rates. This action, which benefits all those without distinction of origin or nation, who send money to their families back home anywhere in the world, was hailed by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lech Walesa, former President of the Poland, in the preface he wrote for my book which I entitled: Main basse sur l'argent des poors. Thanks to Remitt@nces.

''The phenomenon of remittances should be analyzed very closely as a process with close links to investment, solidarity and humanity''. It was with these words that I concluded my speech in 2007 at a civil G8 conference in Berlin, in the presence of Muhammad Yunus, another Nobel Peace Prize winner, originally from Bangladesh, known for his microcredit initiatives. , who had supported my advocacy at the same time as the former president of Benin Boni Yiayi. By receiving me at the Vatican in 2013, Pope Francis encouraged me for my action and my cause, which he considers of universal interest. On this occasion, I offered him a signed copy of my book.

I currently observe that in countries of the European Union, indigenous groups influence public opinion by putting pressure on governments because they blame migratory movements for insecurity and inequalities. This leads to social tensions and a rejection of the diasporas, whether they are African or not, temporarily or permanently. Also, to avoid unpopularity, governments are withdrawing from the quotas set by European Union authorities and abandoning the management of migrants to third countries in return for payment. South-north migratory flows will not cease in the years to come, notably for climatic reasons. Since this question is now part of the long periods of history, it is up to European and more generally Western countries, individually or collectively, to provide a response that is at once new, informed and coherent, and which commits to the sustainability of principles and actions.

EMMANUEL ARGO

Descendant of Africans deported and sold as slaves during the slave trade. Honorary teacher-researcher at the law faculty of universities in France. Elected, municipal councilor in France under Civil Society. President of the international virtual network: AMI/ Africa Mundus Institut. Member of Chatham House in England. Promoter of the United Nations proclamation for the International Decade for People of African Descent 2015-2024.