Hello AfriKili Family,

Happy Black History Month to our brothers and sisters in the United States of America.

Let’s explore our 3 Pan-African pillars: History, Business and Politics

HISTORY

Black History Month in the USA: How it all started

In the United States of America, Black History Month is celebrated every February to honor the contributions and sacrifices of African Americans who have helped shape the nation.

It first began in 1926 as Negro History Week, invented by African American historian, Carter G. Woodson. He envisioned a weeklong celebration during the second week of February, to encourage the coordinated teaching of Black history in public schools. Woodson wanted to designate a time to promote and educate people about Black history and culture. By the late 1960s, Negro History Week had evolved into what is now known as Black History Month.

Carter Woodson initially chose the second week of the month of February because it coincides with the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln, who was influential in the emancipation of slaves, and Frederick Douglass, who was a former slave and a prominent leader in the abolitionist movement fighting to end slavery.

Canada also commemorates Black History Month in February, while the U.K. and Ireland celebrate it in October.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/01/1075623826/why-is-february-black-history-month

BUSINESS

AfCFTA, the single continental African market

In June 2015, Member States of the A.U., the African Union, agreed to formally establish the AfCFTA, which is the African Continental Free Trade Area.

It is an agreement that aims to create a single African market for goods and services in order to increase the volume of intra-African trade and strengthen the economic integration of the continent. This agreement is supposed to remove trade barriers and make it easier for people to move across the African continent.

According to the World Bank, the AfCFTA could create the largest free trade area in the world, by connecting 54 countries and 1.3 billion people across Africa. It would also lift an additional 100 million people out of extreme or moderate poverty.

African presidents have decided to push the implementation of the AfCFTA all the way to the year 2063, as part of what they’ve called AGENDA 2063.

As of now, January 2022, 37 of the 54 African Union Member States have ratified it, making their countries official members of the AfCFTA.

Source: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/trade/publication/the-african-continental-free-trade-area

https://au.int/en/cfta

https://au.int/en/agenda2063/overview#:~:text=AGENDA%202063%20is%20Africa’s%20blueprint,global%20powerhouse%20of%20the%20future.

POLITICS

Mo Ibrahim and the Fight for Better Political Governance in Africa

Mo Ibrahim is the Founder and Chairman of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which he founded in 2006 to support good political governance and exceptional leadership on the African continent.

Prior to becoming involved with political advocacy, the billionaire businessman from Sudan was the founder of the telecommunications company Celtel, which he sold in 2005 for $3.4 billion. When Mr Ibrahim sold Celtel, the company was operating in 14 African countries and had over 24 million mobile phone subscribers.

After becoming a billionaire through business, Mo Ibrahim decided to shift his focus to advocating and providing tools to improve political governance across the entire African continent.

Mo Ibrahim is also the Co-founder and Co-chair of the Africa Europe Foundation, which was launched in 2020 to reset and bolster Africa-Europe relations.

Source: https://mo.ibrahim.foundation/about-us/board/mo-ibrahim

LET’S GET INSPIRED

Thomas Sankara on Strength, Empowerment and Uniting the People

“You can’t accomplish fundamental changes without a certain amount of madness. In this specific case, it comes from non-conformism, from the courage to turn our backs on old formulas, from the courage to invent the future. It took the fools of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those crazy people. We must invent the future.” (Thomas Sankara, Former revolutionary and President of Burkina Faso)

Source: https://www.babelio.com/auteur/Thomas-Sankara/85348/citations?a=a&pageN=2

Thank you for reading and please share with your network.

Let’s get to work!

AfriKili

Akili ya Kiafrika ya Kuijenga Afrika Mpya!*** African Intelligence to Build a New Africa!*** Intelligence Africaine pour Construire une Nouvelle Afrique!”