Africa’s grand Pan-African celebration had been underway with a spectacular paraphernalia and jubilation in Addis Ababa. The event was held From November 6-10 delivering four unforgettable days of music, dance, fashion, cultural forums, city tours and more fulfilling its promise.
UNECA and the African Union have joined hands to host Africa Celebrates 2024, a massive pan-African festival that had taken place from November 6-10 in Addis Ababa. Set at UNECA’s prestigious headquarters, including the historic Africa Hall where the African Union was born, this event promised to be a celebration of the continent’s vibrant culture, innovation, and unity.
According to the organizers, the festival had featured a wide range of events, from the Africa Talks Business and Investment Forum and Tech and Innovation Summit to the Women and Youth Forum. Attendees could explore the latest in African fashion at the Africa Fashion Business Forum, could learn about health and beauty trends at the Wellness and Beauty Africa Expo, and joined creative discussions at the Afro Film Alliance. Adding to the excitement, the Deborah Foundation had run a special initiative to raise awareness about Down syndrome.
Alongside business and innovation, Africa Celebrates 2024 embraced the continent’s artistic and cultural heritage. Festival-goers enjoyed the Africa Peace Walk and Carnival, experience the Cultural Night filled with dance, music, and cuisine, and ended the evening in style at the Gala Fashion and Awards Night.
The event aimed to empower women and youth, promoting economic growth through trade, tourism, and investment. It culminated in a grand closing ceremony at the African Union’s Nelson Mandela Hall, bringing together participants from across Africa and beyond.
With its biggest edition yet, Lexy Mojo- Eyes, President/CEO of Legendary Gold Limited and the driving force of the event said Africa Celebrates 2024 was set to inspire, entertain, and connect the continent like never before.
Organizers of Africa Celebrates, a Pan- African cultural and economic festival, said that this year’s edition aimed to promote African unity and diversity, showcasing the continent’s rich cultural heritage while advancing economic integration through trade and investment initiatives.
Lexy Mojo-Eyes, President/CEO, Legendary Gold Limited, stated that since its debut in 2021, Africa Celebrates has grown significantly, and that this year’s edition was expected to be the largest with participants from across the continent and beyond.
He disclosed further that the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) had teamed up with the African Union (AU) to co-host Africa Celebrates 2024, one of the continent’s largest cultural, economic, and social festivals.
Pan African grand cultural, tourism, and trade festivals hold significant importance for the continent’s socio-economic and cultural development. What did the festival bring in for Africa?
These festivals provide a platform to celebrate and preserve Africa’s diverse cultural heritage, including traditional music, dance, art, and cuisine. They facilitate intercultural dialogue and understanding both within Africa and internationally, fostering unity and appreciation for the continent’s rich traditions.
Pan African Festivals of the current standard attract domestic and international tourists, anthropologists, sociologists, tourists generating revenue for local economies through accommodation, food services, and souvenirs. They provide a venue for local artisans and entrepreneurs to market and sell their products, promoting small businesses and local craftsmanship. The organization and hosting of festivals create temporary and permanent jobs in the tourism and service sectors.
Trade festivals offer opportunities for business networking, fostering connections between local and international businesses, which can lead to trade partnerships and investments. Countries and companies use these festivals to showcase investment opportunities, products, and innovations, enhancing their market presence. These events promote national pride for each participating country and social cohesion by bringing together people from different background in Africa to celebrate shared cultural values and history.
Festivals prepared in Africa encourage community participation and engagement, strengthening societal bonds and collective identity. Annual pan African cultural festivals can serve as platforms for peace building and conflict resolution by promoting mutual respect and understanding among diverse ethnic and cultural groups. Pan African cultural and trade festivals enhance diplomatic relations by building cultural bridges between countries.
Festivals educate attendees about the cultural and historical contexts of different African societies, fostering greater awareness and appreciation. Pan African cultural festivals engage young people in cultural activities, ensuring the transmission of traditional knowledge and values to future generations.
The already conducted pan African cultural event 2024 certainly helped to reintroduce vast African cultural heritages to the rest of the world amidst unprecedented global economic and political crisis in Europe, the Middle East and the Horn of Africa.
This grand event had been and the upcoming other African festivals will be instrumental in curbing cultural xenophobia against African cultures which has been under serious neo-colonial cultural oppression.
Cultural xenophobia on African cultural heritages refers to the fear, dislike, or prejudice against people from African cultures. This phenomenon often stems from ignorance, misconceptions, or a sense of cultural superiority. It manifests in various ways, including discrimination, stereotyping, and exclusion of individuals based on their cultural backgrounds.
People unfamiliar with African culture may fear or reject unfamiliar customs, traditions, and ways of life, perceiving them as a threat to their own cultural identity. Cultural xenophobia often involves forming negative stereotypes about other cultures, leading to biased attitudes and discriminatory behavior.
Individuals or groups from different cultural backgrounds may face exclusion from social, political, or economic opportunities due to cultural xenophobia. In diverse societies, cultural xenophobia can lead to social fragmentation, tension, and conflict, undermining efforts toward social cohesion and harmony.
Promoting cultural awareness and understanding through education helps dispel myths and foster respect for diversity. Encouraging intercultural dialogue and interaction can help bridge gaps, reduce fear, and build mutual respect. Governments and organizations can implement policies that promote inclusion and protect against discrimination based on cultural background Community-based initiatives, such as cultural festivals and exchange programs, can celebrate diversity and foster unity.
Cultural xenophobia hinders the development of inclusive societies and the benefits of cultural diversity. Addressing it requires collective efforts from individuals, communities and institutions.
The pan African cultural festival undergone and the events associated with it could help to promote the growth of African creative arts in various areas including poetry, paintings and related art works, cultural dances, cuisines and other items of pan African cultural resources. The event created an important forum in which African youth learnt about the vast cultural heritages of the African continent, related to each other and came up with regional strategies on how to preserve the cultural assets for the next generation of Africans.
Moreover, the pan African cultural festival provided the necessary cultural background for the creation of new economic order in Africa by promoting Agenda 2063, AfCEFTA and other forms of African economic integration.
What could Ethiopia gain from the current festival and how should the country exploit the events to promote Ethiopia’s national intrest? The author would like to deal with this and related issues over the following lines.
As the diplomatic and political center of Africa, Ethiopia can use the occasion to market on Ethiopia’s cultural heritages through her hospitality industry, cultural tourism and educational tours to the historic and cultural sites of the nation.
The country can introduce the new projects that were developed in eco-resort centers across the country. Ethiopia will have the opportunity to introduce the modern eco-tourism parks and resort areas along with the achievements of the National Green Legacy Initiative. The Adwa Memorial Museum, science Museum, Gulele Botanical Garden, Entoto Park, the National Museum and other centers of tourist attraction in Addis Ababa could be interesting spots to visit by the participants of the festival.
Ethiopia can share the nation’s experience in corridor development and ventures in developing clean and green cities in Africa.
Ethiopia has been providing scholarships for African students and have come a long way in promoting gender parity and creating an empowering atmosphere for women in the country. The youth who were participating on the festival had the opportunity to visit some of the universities and institutes of higher learning in the country to be able to evaluate the level on which Ethiopia has reached and her aspirations to develop an educational system tailored to the needs of the country.
On the other hand, the participants of the festival would be able to see the diverse nature of the Ethiopian cultural heritages which prove the nation to be Africa in the miniature.
By all standards, Ethiopia has now become a leading country in promoting not only cultural pan Africanism but also economic pan Africanism in which Ethiopia is playing a pioneering role by sharing hydropower resources with a number of neighboring countries. The Ethiopian Airlines Group which is connecting Africa coast to coast and one of the sponsors of the festival is already playing a major role in introducing the African culture to the rest of Africa and the world.
It was expected that both local and international media outlets would do their best in broadcasting the events in the festival to the entire world and did accordingly, thus marketing diverse African cultural heritages hither to not deeply known across the world.
Ethiopia needed to take the initiative in suggesting pertinent and applicable strategies on which Africa can contribute to the enhancement of global culture through such festivals, trade fairs and cultural exchange tours.
The nation needs to closely work with UNECA and AU in establishing permanent continental creative arts’ centers and promoting cross cultural education tours among the youth in Africa.
The author believes that pan African universities that are operating across the continent need to contribute their part in further developing African cultural exchange programs and research initiatives that can increase the visibility of the African continent.
BY SOLOMON DIBABA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 15 NOVEMBER 2024
