Jobs not Aid

From its inception AFFORD questioned what development could mean and could be:

“Development is a difficult concept to define…perhaps we could start by attempting to place development in its historical context. Africans have always had prime responsibility for shaping their own destiny…So AFFORD’s main interest is in helping to build the sort of institutions that people can use to effectively advance their own interests in developmental terms…Again, thinking historically, we know that Africans away from the continent-in the diaspora-have long played important parts in African affairs and that is a tradition we wish to continue, in the best spirit of that tradition…Thus for AFFORD, Africans in the diaspora are very much part of Africa’s development and should play a more central role…So, in sum, for AFFORD, development is a people-centred, holistic process that involves people talking together, working together to make the choices that best suit their interests taking into account the diverse and legitimate views that exist.”

AFFORD, 1997:4

Key to AFFORD’s work has been the desire to change how Africa as a place is seen and positioned, particularly in the UK and Europe. Part of this agenda, as well as shifting the focus of what development can mean, has been AFFORD’s work focusing on job creation and investment, rather than aid. AFFORD recognised that the diaspora could contribute to job creation and business development in a variety of ways, detailed in the documents here:

Archival material