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“We convene Africans from the continent, the diaspora, and allies of Africa to create an ecosystem that nurtures their entrepreneurial spirit and mobilizes intellectual and financial resources toward a prosperous future for Africa and diaspora communities. Through strategic partnerships and innovative programs, we serve as a catalyst for positive change and growth in Africa and diaspora communities worldwide”
The African Diaspora is derived from two main waves of migration: – The first is related to the deportation of Africans in the context of the slave trade, whether it is the Eastern Trade (from the 7th to the beginning of the 20th century), or the Western Trade (from the 15th to the 19th century). The descendants of these populations are still living today in countries like Yemen or Iraq, or The United States of America and Brazil, for example.
-The second wave is an economic migration that pushed the African population to Europe, since the twentieth century, especially after 1945. These are African descendants in France or the UK, but also in many other countries of the world.
Today, the power of the Diaspora is Demographic, Political, Economic, Cultural and in Sports.
- Demographic: It brings together almost 350 million people.
- Political: The Diaspora includes people like former US President Barack Obama, Michaelle Jean, the former Secretary General of the Francophonie, Christiane Taubira, the former Minister of justice in France, and many others who have powerful positions, but these figures are disconnected from each other and have few direct connections to Africa.
- Economic: The Diaspora sends every year to the African continent over 65 billion dollars (US$ 65bn), which is much more money than is received in international aid, but these gifts to family or these 0% interest loans are dispersed and uncoordinated and have a limited impact in terms of development.
- Cultural: The African Diaspora has imposed itself, whether in the field of music (gospel, dancehall, tango, jazz, blues, rock, disco, calypso, zouk, reggae, kompa, etc.), dance, literature, visual arts, cinema, etc. But the companies making money behind are not African owned.
- Sports: Needless to mention the great successes of the African Diaspora also in this area, with winners like Pele (soccer), Mohammed Ali (boxing), Tiger Woods (gulf), Usain Bolt (running), Lewis Hamilton (motor racing), Michael Jordan (basketball), Javier Sotomayor (high jump), Teddy Riner (judo), the Williams sisters (tennis), Simone Biles (gymnastics), Surya Bonaly (ice skating), etc. But here again, the companies behind are not African owned.
So, the African Diaspora obviously has the talent and the resources. What is missing is just a little bit of structure and organisation.
For over 27 years, Almaz Negash has worked whole-heartedly and diligently to make a positive impact in various communities through leadership in business, academia, and nonprofit sectors. These cross-sector experiences have shaped her professional lens and ability to be particularly adept at building and strengthening communities through fostering partnerships and collaborations. More importantly, she believes in bringing people together to share ideas, knowledge, and resources to better the lives of humanity. And it is that ethos/belief that enabled her to found the African Diaspora Network A.D.N to facilitate direct collaboration with social entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders, and to invest and improve the lives of everyone on the African continent and the communities we all live in.
In her words “We convene Africans from the continent, the diaspora, and allies of Africa to create an ecosystem that nurtures their entrepreneurial spirit and mobilizes intellectual and financial resources toward a prosperous future for Africa and diaspora communities. Through strategic partnerships and innovative programs, we serve as a catalyst for positive change and growth in Africa and diaspora communities worldwide.”
The African Diaspora Network under the Leadership of Almaz Negash has accomplished the following feats:
- Convened more than 11,000 people on entrepreneurship, investment, innovation, and human capital development.
- Successfully completed nine African Diaspora Investment Symposiums (ADIS), held in Santa Clara County, California and virtually. Between our African Diaspora Investment Symposium and Impact and Innovation Forums, ADN has engaged 89 countries and 545+ speakers and industry leaders.
- Over the last six years honored 78 Builders of Africa’s Future (BAF) enterprises, who have demonstrated excellence in leading startups and NGOs that contribute to Africa’s development.
- Supported 30 Catholic Sisters through the launch of Start Your Social Enterprise, a preparatory training for Builders of Africa’s Future
- In 2021 launched the Accelerating Black Leadership and Entrepreneurship (ABLE) program which has supported 54 Black entrepreneurs who are addressing essential community needs and spurring sustainable growth.
- Launched the ADN Telehealth pilot
- 68+ ecosystem partnerships formed. ADN is a catalyst for building partnerships with leading organizations to enable more entrepreneurs to gain access to resources. Some of these partners include Bill.com, Stanford SEED, Stanford University; Conrad Hilton Foundation; Mastercard Foundation Scholars; Segal Family Foundation Africa Visionary Fellows; The Harambeans; Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Santa Clara University; MIT Lab; Africa America Institute; Ashesi University; and Frugal Innovation, Santa Clara University.
- Contributed to the Silicon Valley Diversity and Inclusion Ecosystem – we are known for our ability to bring global communities together
- Successfully raised funds from foundations, corporations, individuals, and community partners to help launch and scale our accelerator programs.
Harnessing the collective power of the global African diaspora is catalyzed to drive entrepreneurship, forge partnerships, facilitate knowledge exchange, generate social impact, and foster human capital development.
Culled in part from: www.africandiasporanetwork.org , Medium.com , State of the African Diaspora
