Marco Zoppi

On June 12-13, Berlin hosted the latest initiative of the G20 Compact with Africa, an international conference that brought political leaders together under the promising title “Investing in a Common Future”.

The recent debate on African migrants to Europe, oftentimes intertwining with the danger of international terrorism or the increase in national unemployment, imposes a wider reflection on a phenomenon, that of migration, which is far from being simply an 'emergency’.

I recently attended a conference where I had the chance to hear the speech of one Somali diplomat, whose identity or post is not what is important here. What he said, however, matters much more as he has indeed brought on the table many issues concerning the Federal Republic of Somalia’s future.

Many contemporary issues afflicting Africa — my mind goes to political persecutions, lack of economic opportunities and the so-called ethnic conflicts - derive from one great analytical obstacle which is seriously limiting our capacity to elaborate proper solutions: the sanctioning of the nation-

Brazil is intimately connected with Africa: the cultural imprint left by Africans in loco is so vibrant that it has generated the contention according to which Brazil would be conceptualized at its best as an African nation [1].