There are two things that I have come to believe very strongly. First, it is time to change the language used to talk about Africa - away from "charity", "aid" and "poverty", and towards "enterprise", "trade" and "job creation". In short, towards the language that African's themselves use to talk about Africa.
And second, it is time to recognise the enormous contribution that the Diaspora is making, and can make, through their remittances and skills. Governments and business should focus on how this can be facilitated.
It is for these reasons that I have been particularly impressed by the recent video produced by Afford - the UK Diaspora organisation. It documents the visit by a group of Diaspora to Sierra Leone to work as business advisers and mentors to Sierra Leonean entrepreneurs. We need more programmes like this.
To learn more about this author, visit Zahid Torres-Rahman's Website.
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