AFRICA Down Under Conference - There is Nothing for AFRICA without AFRICANS

The 19th edition of Africa Down Under (ADU) Conference will be held on 1-3 September 2021 at the Pan Pacific, Perth (Australia). According to ADU,  virtual access including live streaming will be made available for all companies and stakeholders based offshore who are unable to travel to Australia due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Paydirt Media stated on its Conference Page that, "ADU is the leading forum for Australian-African business and government relations and was first launched to raise awareness of Australia’s interests in African mining and energy"

However, ADU has released their presenter highlights (below) with no single black African on the list yet this yearly conference is about investing in African mining.

The African-Australian women who have engaged in a two days discussion, are infuriated by the lack of diversity on the ADU 2021 presenter highlights. COVID-19 restrictions are no excuse, there are virtual tools to overcome this and Africans do not need excuses anymore. This list reminds us of The Berlin Conference - The Scramble for Africa and it gives a wrong portrayal of the aims of ADU in promoting Australian-African business and government relations.

Meanwhile, we do applaud Paydirt Media`s efforts in creating a melting pot for pro Africa-Australia relations; we would love to see this reflected in this year`s conference. We therefore call upon ADU organizers to change this list to include African representatives; we want to see this list coloured up into black and white. 

Please, sign this petition if you believe that ADU Conference presenter highlights should be coloured up into Black and White.

Thank you for supporting this cause!!

Kulo Akado    Contact the author of the petition