Preparations In High Gear For Brazil -Africa Forum 2022

By Ajong Mbapndah L [caption id="attachment_100364" align="alignnone" width="1190"] Prof Joao Bosco Monte hopes that the 2022 Forum will rekindle the bonds of friendship between his country and Africa[/caption] After two years of virtual events, the Brazil African Forum will return to in person sessions come November 2022 in São Paulo. In the midst of unprecedented challenges, Prof João Bosco Monte ,President of the Brazil African Institute- IBRAF has remain steadfast in making the case for stronger ties between Brazil and Africa, Disappointed that the President of Brazil has not visited Africa, Prof Monte hopes that the 2022 Forum will rekindle the bonds of friendship between his country and Africa. In the following Q and A, Prof João Bosco Monte sheds more light on the upcoming Forum and other developments from IBRAF.  The Brazil Africa Forum has been scheduled for November 29th-30th. How prepared is the Institute to host this year’s event? The Brazil Africa Forum 2022 will take place on November 29th and 30th in São Paulo and will be very welcome to happen presently after 2 years of virtual events. The idea is to have important leaders from many parts of the world, not only Brazilians and Africans, but also representatives of governments and civil society. Still, we count with NGO's and the private sector to discuss opportunities for cities in Brazil and Africa and other regions. The theme is sustainable cities, global challenges and local solutions. How does this tie in with the vision of your institute? This year the theme will be Sustainable Cities: Global Challenges, Local Solutions, which is very important not only for Brazil or Africa but for many locations around the world. We'll be discussing opportunities and activities related to sustainability of cities and we understand this topic is very timely because we need to understand how urban necessities should be implemented and the Brazil Africa Forum will bring the moments and space to discuss these specific issues. The entire team of Brazil Africa Institute is working together to see how we can facilitate the agenda of what is going to be discussed during the days of the event. [caption id="attachment_100368" align="alignnone" width="624"] The Brazil Africa Institute opened its first headquarters in Africa in 2018 in Accra Ghana in the presence of former President John Kufuor seated in this file picture[/caption]  May we know some of the highlights of the 2022 forum and the key personalities who have so far expected to answer present? We are very happy with the response coming from many authorities that accepted the invitation to participate as speakers at the Brazil Africa Forum 2022. So far, we have the  confirmation of important figures like Benedict Oramah, the president of Afreximbank, Donald Kaberuka, former president of African Development Bank and Maria Helena Semedo, deputy director FAO and Ylias Akbaraly, CEO of Sipromad Group, among others. May we know how the current President of Brazil is doing with forging stronger bonds with Africa? The President of Brazil never had the opportunity to come to Africa or to visit Africa and this is a worrying movement because it shows the current government doesn't give the attention the African continent deserves. We see that the Brazil Africa Forum will give the message that Brazil should reconnect with Africa in a very pragmatic way. The discussions that we are going to raise will establish a new direction that Brazil and Africa should have together and bring the potential and opportunities we see in front of us. We hope that in the Forum it is possible to plan a bright and better future for Brazil- Africa relations for the years to come.   Looking at the history of the Brazil Africa Institute and your leadership, may I ask you the areas of progress and satisfaction, and some of the challenges you have had to grapple with? From the very beginning, at the foundation of IBRAF, the objective was to connect Brazil and Africa and emphasize how crucial is to see good experiences from both sides. We had some challenges at the beginning as every new organization when start its operations, but now it is easier to understand the directions we need to follow to stimulate the good relations and the engagement between Brazil and Africa. One thing that I understood earlier is that we cannot do things alone and we have some many partners of the Brazil Africa Institute that came on board in our activities in the last 10 years. It's very good to be recognized as the institution that promotes Brazil and Africa relations with a high level and assertive platform. This brings us the sense we should be together to go further, and this is the idea we have in Brazil Africa Institute. We should engage more and more partners from Brazil, Africa and other regions to achieve the goals we established since the very beginning and put together the two sides of the Atlantic in order to learn from each other the best way to accomplish sustainable development.  To Africans, any direct pitch you want to make to them on why partnership with Brazil should get more consideration and what more could be done on their end to maximize opportunities that such a partnership may offer? Every time I have the opportunity to speak with our brothers and sisters from Africa about the tremendous potential between Brazil and the African continent, I keep insisting to them that they should give us the opportunity to know more about the continent. I see that Africa has a great potential and I see the opportunities the continent might have to offer to Brazil. That is something I continue emphasizing whenever I have the appropriate moment to discuss the initiatives to stimulate partnerships in Brazil and Africa.  [caption id="attachment_100369" align="alignnone" width="602"] Prof Monte with the first batch of the Agro-Commodities Study Tour delegate in Brazil. The Brazil Africa Institute remains pivotal in fostering bonds of friendship and cooperation with Africa[/caption]  For those interested in participating at the Brazil Africa Forum 2022, what do they need to do to get an invitation? For those who want to participate in the Brazil Africa Forum 2022 we recommend to visit the event website and fill the registration form. In case more information is required for the invitation, we have a specific channel for this purpose. www.forumbrazilafrica.com   What next after the Brazil Africa forum 2022, what other initiatives will you be working on? To better understand IBRAF's initiatives, we have divided the activities into 4 pillars:   1- Training and Capacity Building - We promote technical training in Brazil, bringing young Africans to knowledge and exchange information with some private and public organizations. On the other hand, we send Brazilian experts to Africa in order to have conversations and deploy knowledge too. 2- Research and Studies - We do have some researches in cooperation with partner organizations in Brazil and in Africa. 3- Portal ATLANTICO - It is a portal where we distribute some materials, information, interviews and showcases of success and good practices in Brazil, Africa and beyond to our network. 4- Events - Besides the Brazil Africa Forum, which is our flagship, we organize  some other small activities in Brazil and Africa.