AFRICA AGENDA COMMUNITY FORUM: HOW NEGATIVE NEWS IMPACTS THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICA AND WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.

Saturday Jan. 17. 1pm-3:00 p.m. in the Celebration Center at St Paul Presbyterian Church. 18901 E. Hampden Ave, Aurora, CO 80013

Denver-With the recent news of a military takeover in Guinea and the suspension of the country’s constitution following the death of president Lansana Conte, news about Africa is back to discussions about dictatorship, conflict and war, characteristic of the 1980’s and early 1990’s.

It is unfortunate that talk about Africa is more about Darfur, Congo, and Somalia and less about significant progress in other parts of the continent. The continent is making strides in political and socio-economic development, marked by democratic transitions in many nations including Angola, Liberia, Nigeria and Ghana, and with growth levels around 5.5% for most Sub-Saharan African nations.

While the latest news about the worsening crisis in Zimbabwe is disheartening, the latest Africa Region Brief by the World Bank paints a more optimistic image of the continent as follows:

“At all times, but especially during a crisis, Africa’s uneven progress tends to be underplayed and slippages highlighted. The positive trends in school enrollment rates, improvements in service delivery in the health and education sectors, and the fact that Africa has been reducing poverty at a rate higher than South Asia are lost. Headlines about war, famine, disease and misery dominate and overshadow the kind of recognition deserved by the 13 African countries that have attained middle income status and the five others which are on the verge of reaching that threshold”

Why negative news about Africa dominates and overshadows efforts towards stability and economic development is a problem that needs a solution. This forum is about new trends and ways to reveal the resourcefulness of African societies in the twenty first century

Discussion leaders include:

Pastor Paul Neshangwe, native of Zimbabwe-Denver Presbytery of the PC-USA

Edwards Antonio (Ph.D.), native of Zimbabwe-Iliff School of Theology and DU

Lucas Shamala (PhD), native of Kenya-Metro State College of Denver

Wonderful Bere (Ph.D.), native of Zimbabwe-Metro State College of Denver

Roger Clandening, Retired Journalist.

George Bamu, native of Cameroon, moderator

Africa Agenda: Enhancing positive Images of Africa.
Web: http://www.africaagenda.org
Blog: http://blog.africaagenda.org
Email: office@africaagenda.org
Denver, Co 80237
Tel: 303-341-1301