Africa Day 2017: Record with 15,000 visitors
Africa Day 2017 (May 25-28) ended on Sunday in Hamburg with another record number of visitors. Over 15,000 visitors came to the four-day intercultural event, which took place for the sixth time on the Wandsbeker market square in a tent city with an open-air stage. “Africa Day is a celebration of African cultures and, with its colorful, musical and culinary diversity, a special form of getting to know each other and integration,” says Sylvaina Gerlich, board member of the integration association IMIC eV and organizer of “Africa Day 2017”.
Under the patronage of the Hamburg entrepreneur Rolf Salo (Salo AG), Africans, Afro-Germans and Hamburg residents celebrated a rousing party in sunny weather, with many prominent guests such as the former First Lady of the Republic of Ghana Dr. Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, Integration Minister Aydan Özoguz and artists such as the Obama Prize winner Okyeame Kwame (Ghana), René Tenenjou (Lion King / Cameroon) and Nana Achampong (Ghana).
Discussions included the G 20 summit with guests such as Prof. Christa Randzio-Plath, former minister Dr. Abdul-Rashid Hassan Pelpuo and Prof. Seth N. Asumah (State University of New York). There was agreement on the result: Africans should confidently rely on independence and African countries should assert their interests together. Previously, “Africa Day” opened for the second time with an “Africa Day Business and Investment Forum” in Hamburg’s Grand Hotel Elysee (May 24). Around 100 entrepreneurs from Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Togo, Cameroon, Niger, Burkina Faso and Germany, among others, discussed investments in Africa and medium-sized business commitment. “Networking between entrepreneurs and political decision-makers was the focus. The aim is to create meaningful projects and joint ventures that create jobs in Africa and for migrants in Germany,” says Frank Heinrich, advisory board member of IMIC eV.
The organizer of “Africa Day” is IMIC eV (Intercultural Migrants Integration Center eV), whose board Sylvaina Gerlich and her team have been inviting people to the event since 2012. The “Africa Day” is part of the cultural and integrative offering of the Migrant Center IMIC eV Sylvaina Gerlich, member of the Hamburg Integration Advisory Board and deputy. Chairwoman of the Wandsbek Integration Advisory Board: “Every year, Africa Day commemorates the founding day of the African Union by the heads of state and government of thirty independent African states on May 25, 1963.” The non-profit association IMIC eV advises and supports migrants in almost all social areas areas and accompanies you in contact with authorities and institutions. For example, tutoring offers, language offers such as German and local language courses, PC courses, senior citizens’ meetings and information events contribute to integration. With its integration work, especially in the African communities with a total of around 65,000 Africans and Afro-Germans in Hamburg, IMIC is established in the group of social NGOs in Hamburg and is experiencing constantly increasing demand.
