Africa Day 2021: Her Excellency Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao’s Speech

African Day, also known as African Liberation Day is the day where Africans across the world celebrate the hard-fought  freedom from colonial powers. On 25 May 1963, representatives of thirty African nations met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, hosted by Emperor Haile Selassie. By then more than two-third of the continent had achieved independence, mostly from imperial European states. At this meeting, the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was founded, with the initial aim to encourage the decolonisation of Angola, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). The organisation pledged to support the work conducted by freedom fighters, and remove military access to colonial nations. A charter was set out which sought to improve the living standards across member states. Emperor Selassie exclaimed, "May this convention of union last 1,000 years. Africa Day continues to be celebrated both in Africa and around the world, mostly on 25 May. 

 

In 2021 African communities across the world decided to come together to celebrate and commemorate African day on Clubhouse (CH) - an audio based social media platform. A 24 hours commemoration marathon was hosted in the “Africa Day Club” on CH. The event brought together Africans residing in the continent and Africans in the rest of the world. 

 

Africa Day 2021 also featured incredible speakers including Her Excellency Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao.