Rosalind McLymont, author, executive editor of The Network Journal, CEO and publisher of AfricaStrictlyBusiness.com, this week received a Certificate of Excellence from the Global Alliance of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent in Accra, Ghana. McLymont was in Accra as a delegate to the 4th World Summit of Mayors and Leaders of Africa and of African Descent from June 1-3.
McLymont, who also was a delegate to the second??African and African Diaspora mayors and leaders summit in Dakar, Senegal, in 2012, was invited to make remarks at the final plenary of this year’s gathering.
“Both the invitation to speak and the certificate caught me completely by surprise,” says McLymont, who spoke to TNJ by email from Accra. “There are so many outstanding individuals here who spoke, including former Ghanaian President Flight Lieutenant (Ret.) Jerry Rawlings; Dr. Julius Garvey, son of Marcus Garvey; the Vice President of Honduras; and all of the mayors, ministers of government, private sector and academic leaders — I felt so low down on the totem pole. Nonetheless, it was an honor and I am deeply humbled by both gestures, as I am humbled to have been invited to join the U.S. delegation.”
McLymont’s involvement in Africa is more than four decades long. She taught French, English and history in high schools in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1973 to 1980; reported on U.S. trade with Africa for The Journal of Commerce newspaper under the paper’s ownership by the Knight-Ridder Corp. and by the Economist Group; authored the award-winning, first “rebranding Africa” novel, Middle Ground, and the nonfiction title Africa Strictly Business, The Steady March to Prosperity; served as an entrepreneurship development consultant for the UNDP’s Africa Bureau Gender Program; and served as an executive board member of the Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation. She also served for two terms on the Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee of the Export Import Bank of the United States.
“I believe in the importance of an economically strong, self-serving Africa to the physical and psychological wellbeing of the people of Africa and to people of African descent worldwide,” McLymont says. “I am really happy to see all of these mayors and leaders coming together year after year to share experiences, best practices, and support for each other as they work toward the common goal of economic empowerment for their respective constituencies.”
The 4th World Summit of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent, was organized by the Global Alliance’s U.S. secretariat, the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network Inc. (ARDN), in partnership with the City of Accra, Ghana, the National Association of Mayors of Predominantly African Descendant Municipalities (AMUNAFRO, in its Spanish acronym), and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).??It was hosted by the Mayor of Accra, Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, with the blessing of Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama, under the theme, “Sustainable Human Development and Economic Empowerment for Africa and the Diaspora.”
President Mahama, then vice president of Ghana, served as chairman and keynote speaker of the first Africa edition of TNJ’s signature 40 Under Forty Black Achievers Awards Program, held in Accra in 2010.
The New York-based ARDN is headed by Senegalese-born Djibril Diallo, Ph.D., senior adviser to the executive director of UNAIDS. The organization has established ties with key African-American groups from which it receives technical support. These groups include the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Education, comprising the presidents of Historically Black Colleges and Universities; the National Association of Black Journalists; the National Newspaper and Publishers Association, comprising more than 300 owners of African-American news outlets; the Congressional Black Caucus; the NAACP; and the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
The 5th World Summit of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent will be held in Bahia, Brazil, May 23-25, 2016.
