(ThyBlackMan.com) I can’t speak for everyone but reflecting on my experiences, I certainly am left with this question.
For the last several years I had all but convinced myself that Black Americans could care less about Africa – in terms of travel. It sounds shady, but can you name three Black Americans, that you know personally, who have been or want to go?
I’ll admit that when Black Americans discover my wanderlust has taken me to their ancestral homeland, the responses are usually a mixed bag of “Really? Or Why?” Questions like, “Do they have paved roads over there, or “did you see giraffes and elephants,” typically follow.
However, when White people learn of my travels, they light up and ask
“Where?” Responses like, “How amazing” or “I would love to go there” typically follow. Oftentimes, they have an associate or friend who has travelled to the continent for work or leisure.
One time during a holiday party, a co-worker I met over casual conversation, invited me to coffee, simply so that we could swap Africa stories. I was shocked watching him as he remembered the language and his experiences quite fondly. But I no longer find these kinds of encounters bizarre. Because each time I descended on the continent I quickly realized that oftentimes, I was the only person on the “non-resident” customs line that was Black. Everyone else was, well, “Other.”
Through my ongoing travels however, I quickly realized that Africa was more than a failing rural place, in constant need of saving from super hero NGO’s who come to save the day. Instead it was the place where you can use cell phone credits to pay for a cab, find self taught, teenage engineers, and tap into several of the world’s fastest growing economies.
In fact, Africa’s developing success has less to do with NGO aid and more to do with the investment & development opportunities. And the explosive growth of multinational businesses as well as the burgeoning expat population on the continent is proof. However it’s not just big business and expats enjoying the perks of a booming economy – No sir.
During my visits to Nairobi Kenya, one the world’s fastest growing economies, it was normal to see African professionals donned in corporate attire switching off between their Blackberry phones and martinis, while unwinding to the sounds of a live band inside lounges, identical in style, to those of Manhattan, New York
On a Friday night you can find the chic and elite on the glitzy rooftop of Nairobi’s five-star Sankara hotel, chatting about local and international politics, business ventures, and upcoming travels.
On Saturdays, local clubs are filled with people of all age groups dancing to a mix of African Rumba. Congolese, Nigerian and American Hits. Some clubs even boast bands that sing old school hits from the 80s’ and 90s’ from America to Britain. Other bands cover everything from Jazz to Salsa.
On Sundays you can catch a dinner party of friends, poolside at the Windsor Golf Hotel and country club, a British style manor sprawled over acres of manicured grass with a full golf course and residential homes.
At the United Nations Headquarters, the grounds swarm with high profile pan-Africans, discussing strategies, in several different languages with their international counterparts.
And during the evenings we would walk across the courtyard of our gated complex to have dinner with friends, inside their modern, four bedrooms, three and half baths, wall to wall parquet flooring, and balcony apartment. No, this was not the Africa that the media was talking about at all. But it is the Africa that is taking shape.
Proof of this is in the 2012 Doing Business In Africa campaign. (DBIA) Approved by President Barack Obama
“Many Americans entrepreneurs and businesses are unaware of the tremendous trade and investment prospects in Sub-Saharan Africa or face challenges establishing business relationships in the region. The DBIA campaign seeks to change this by increasing awareness about the key sectors and markets in sub-Saharan Africa and opportunities to expand trade activities….”
President Barack Obama-
The industrialized development on the continent alone is proof that many countries have long since known what America is just catching on to. And that is, that as opportunity and accessibility push Africa further into the forefront of economic success, people from all over the world want to be there while it is still in its takeoff stages. And yet it is suggested, surprisingly perhaps, that Black Americans are amongst the least informed about the current progress of their ancestral homeland. I’m not certain but until then; I guess I’ll just continue swapping stories with those who are.
Staff Writer; Tess Rose
May connect with this brother via Twitter: http://twitter.com/9to5nyc.
Also visit the following blogs; http://9to5newyork.blogspot.com and http://101Africa.blogspot.com.