The point of departure for the 9th conference of SSIA is the dispersal of Somali speaking people beyond the boundaries of the Republic of Somalia that collapsed as a state in 1991. Somali people have always lived beyond the territory of the Republic of Somalia, especially in the neighbouring states of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Additionally, the Ogaden war (1977-1979), and the Civil Wars from 1988 and up till today caused millions of Somalis to flee and migrate throughout the region of the Horn of Africa - and further abroad to Europe, North America and other destinations. This dispersal of Somalis and the migrations of people originating from the former Republic of Somalia have been intimately linked to the still ongoing conflicts in the Horn of Africa, and are related to the complex processes of reconciliation and state formation. The scope of the Conference will therefore include all of the Horn of Africa as well as Somalis in the wider Diaspora. It will encourage papers that, from various perspectives, approach cross-cutting issues, relate to the linkages between migration, development and processes of state-formation and identity, and which take a regional (Horn of Africa) view on the emergence of transboundary political formations. Complete program and registration information will be available April 2004. The event organiser can be contacted by e-mail: [email protected]

Recent and more detailed analysis of the 2001 British Census data has thrown up a few surprises. Perhaps most striking of all has been the rise of the number of “Black African” (a term used by the Census) people living in London. Currently, at 378,933 people, “Black Africans” make up some 5% of the London population (and have now overtaken “Black Caribbean” people to take position behind Indians as the second largest ethnic minority group in London). The “Black African” group is set to be the fastest growing minority group in London, almost doubling in size between 1991 and 2011. In at least four districts of London, Africans make up more than 10% of the local population. The Greater London Authority (the pan-London body with responsibility for the capital) has noted the significance of these developments and has made moves to explore how it can engage more effectively with African communities in the city.

Ten million Africans now constitute an invisible nation that resides outside Africa. Although invisible, it is a nation as populous as Angola, Malawi, Zambia or Zimbabwe. If it were to be a nation with distinct borders, it would have an income roughly equivalent to Africa's gross domestic product. Although the African Union does not recognize the African Diaspora as a nation, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) acknowledges its economic importance. The IMF estimates the African Diaspora now constitutes the biggest group of foreign investors in Africa. What few realize is that Africans who immigrate to the United States contribute 40 times more wealth to the American than to the African economy. According to the United Nations, an African professional working in the United States contributes about $150,000 per year to the U.S. economy. Can the “brain drain” be reversed? This is the question posed in a keynote speech to the Pan African Conference on the Brain Drain held in Elsah, Illinois in October 2003. "My answer is: yes. But in order for it to happen, we must try something different," says Philip Emeagwali, who won the Gordon Bell Prize for inventing a formula that allows computers to perform their fastest computations - a discovery that inspired the reinvention of supercomputers. Debate the African Diaspora by reading this speech and sending your opinions to [email protected] for publication in Pambazuka News.