Africans Want Access to Corporate Business

by Issa Mansaray for Mshale

Martin Mohamed walks in and out of several stores at Karmel Mall, an eight year old mall in South Minneapolis that hosts about 300 Somali stores.

Mohamed is the chairman of the African Chamber of Commerce (ACC). He knows most of the shop owners and calls everyone he meets by name. A quick tour around the mall shows the growing number of small-businesses. Mohamed senses the financial struggles some of them are going through.

“There is a need for the African businesses to grow,” Mohamed says. “One is to do business with each other, enter the main stream American business, and to become a certified minority business provider.”

THE 5TH ANNUAL UMOJA CONFERENCE

The 2009 Umoja conference will be held at Macalester College from April 24-26. This conference is an annual program created by a network of African student organizations in the Midwest. The word UMOJA is a Swahili word that means “Unity”. The purpose of the UMOJA conference is to discuss pertinent issues concerning the African continent and African students particularly in the Diaspora.

The theme of this year’s event is “African Youth and Leadership

In addition to the student discussion and keynote events, there will be African dance competition on the theme “dreams”.

Cape Verdean Carmen Souza at the Cedar

Carmen Souza| Photo by Ricardo Quintas

Another Cape Verdean songstress is in the cities. Unlike Lura, whose music I love, I have not heard of Carmen Souza. She sounds jazzy and sultry. Simply divine. 

What are YOU doing this weekend?

by Nelima

Another weekend is fast approaching. If you haven’t got any plans, perhaps we can help out with that. We’ve got a coupla suggestions;

Arts:

• There will be a tour of the African gallery at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts on Saturday at 2pm.

Causes:

• One Twin Cities will be hosting a ‘Kick It to Malaria’ soccer game fundraiser on Saturday at 7201 West 83rd Street, Bloomington. Games go from 11am – 2pm and each player pays $10 which is the cost of a bed net. For more info click here.
• Join the rally for the Invisible Children of Uganda titled ‘The Rescue’ on Saturday at 3pm and stay the night until 10am. Everyone will meet at Rice Park then walk to the Capitol Building in St. Paul. For more info email Lindsey at lmluczkowiak@gmail.com.

Earth Day: WWWD? (What Would Wangari Do?)

by Nelima

Today is Earth Day and that means you will celebrate and appreciate Mother Earth. Africans have a lot to be thankful as our continent is resource-rich and our fauna and flora are diverse and equally bountiful. Anyhow what would ‘African Environmentalist Premiere’ and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai do on a day like this? Perhaps what she does best – conserve the environment or talk about conserving the environment. I thought I’d leave you with a clip from her documentary, Take Root – to keep you inspired for the day.

The Globalization of African Cities: The Case of Nairobi Kenya

by Nelima

Dr. Kefa M. Otiso of Bowling Green State University will be here April 24th giving a talk on Globalization of African Cities using Nairobi, Kenya as a case study.

When: April 25th, noon-1pm

Where: Macalester, Olin Rice 250

The globalization of African cities has grown significantly in the past two decades in responsto domestic and global economic, social, cultural and political forces. In particular, the World Bank-IMF’s Structural Adjustment Programs of the 1980s and 1990s played an important role in liberalizing the economies of many African countries to the benefit of domestic and global capital. As one of Africa’s most global cities, Nairobi has witnessed significant development and reinforcement of its global trade, transport, communications, financial, and investment linkages since the 1980s due to greater tourist flows to Kenya and the ongoing concentration of multinational corporations, international NGOs, and UN agencies in the city.

African Films at the Mpls – St. Paul International Film Festival

by Nelima

The 27th Annual Minneapolis – St. Paul International Film Festival is upon us peoples! The Festival which runs from April 16th – 30th features about 150 films from 63 countries of which the following are from Africa. I sifted through the calendar to pick out the African – themed films, but you can get more info on the festival here. Make sure you catch at least one film

RSVP for TC National Black MBA Association Leadership Event

On April 23rd the Twin Cities chapter of the National Black MBA Association in conjunction with General Mills will present their April Program; “Diverse Leadership in a Multicultural 21st Century”. This is a great networking opportunity and lots of HR people will be there. 

When:  Thursday April 23rd

Time: 5:30 – 8:00pm

Where:  General Mills Corporate Office

This program will feature a panel of 4 diverse senior level executives who will share their insights on leading a diverse workforce. The dialogue will focus on the challenges and issues that leaders face while leading teams that possess different ethnic, cultural, and/or age differences.

For more information click here.

Malaria, the forgotten disease

by Kawuma

HIV/AIDS continues to make the headlines, rightly so as the pandemic tearing apart Sub-Saharan Africa. However, behind the scenes is malaria, the most important parasitic disease affecting humans. One billion people are affected by malaria worldwide with over 3,000 children dying each day and one to three million deaths per year.  Although the burden of malaria is heaviest in sub-Saharan Africa, it also afflicts South Asia, Latin America, Middle East and some parts of Europe. Malaria has also been demonstrated to impact economic growth imposing an economic burden of over 12 billion dollars on African nations—-slowing growth by up to 1.3% per year.

As we approach the second annual World Malaria Day on April 25^th, it is a great opportunity to raise awareness about the plight of millions and reflect on why malaria continues to ravage many communities—-yet we know its cause, prevention and treatment. When drugs are used right, they can cure malaria, bed nets and insecticides can offer protection and environmental management can be effective in containing mosquito breeding. Why can’t these strategies be implemented to reduce the suffering? 

How another Liberian ‘Iron Lady’ is combating violence against women.

by Nelima

There’s another ‘Iron Lady’ in Liberia who goes by the name of Inspector General Beatrice Munah Sieh-Brown. She is the police chief of Liberia and last night I watched a short feature on World Focus , which was looking at her efforts in combating violence against women. Currently rape is the highest reported crime in Liberia’s capital city Monrovia and more than half the cases involve girls aged between 10 and 14. This gives credence to the discussion on sexual violence in post-conflict societies, which was the main topic of discussion at this year’s International Women’s Day at the U of M – I wrote an article about it here. Rape is often used as a weapon of war, but sexual violence does not stop when the war ends.