Dear friends,

Since 1994, a year which marked the start of a new era in Africa with the liberation of South Africa, the construction of a new African identity has been simmering in the minds of Africans in the diaspora and on the continent. Whilst many institutions and governments have failed to seize this ideal opportunity and introduce positive and sustainable changes on the continent, Africans living in the developed world have seen their role in nurturing this nascent identity as a leading one. The drive has been to renegotiate, reimagine, and remap how Africans see themselves – emerging from the past, engaging with the present and becoming a common entity which could hopefully be called the United States of Africa and subsequently a true and meaningful “World Community”.

To mark this awareness, with our urge to be actors in this process, and our strong desire to see Africa make the most of its potential, we have decided to organise regular festivals like no other. Indeed our festivals will be about celebration. We will celebrate all that is beautiful about this wonderful continent from her people to her culture, languages and religions. We will contribute to changing the negative image of Africa and encourage Africans and friends of Africa around the world, starting here in Cambridge, to promote it the best way possible so that people begin to see the beauty of the continent, and to help its people in various innovative ways.

Our aim is to redefine the world in which we live and, whilst celebrating diversity, we will also celebrate what unites us as humankind.

Theodore Menelik-Mfuni