ABOUT 120 international delegates are expected to converge in the country for the one day high-level Africa Factbook Stakeholders Consultative Conference set for March 5 at Harare International Conference Center.
The conference organiser cum BAR founder and editor-in-chief, Kwame Muzawazi said the conference comes against the background of a need to consult extensively in order to create buy-in and support of key stakeholders in order to ensure that various resources and expertise, on the continent and beyond, are harnessed for the publishing of the Africa Factbook.
Muzawazi said some of the delegates among them diplomats, businesspeople, philanthropists, potential funders, academics and researchers, publishers and statisticians are expected to touch down at Gabriel Robert Mugabe international airport on Sunday
“The Africa Factbook Stakeholders Consultative Conference is going to be a big gathering were at least 120 delegates are expected to attend the event. The African Union, The Southern African Development Community, The Economic Community of West African States, The East African Community, The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, International Monetary Fund, World Bank have all confirmed their attendance,” he said.
“Africa still lacks an authentic and comprehensive home-grown source of data and information and in order to address this information gap, the African Union Commission (AUC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Book of African Records in 2016 which mandated the latter to publish the Africa Factbook.”
Muzawazi said the conference could provide an opportunity to boost the country’s tourism were locals have the opportunity to forge business-related synergies.
“The conference shall also serve as a marketing platform for the project and its products to ensure the Factbook will be widely used. Through the process, BAR seeks to identify the possible collaborations throughout the Factbook compilation process from research, verification, editing, publishing, printing to marketing and distribution,” he said.
He said the African Factbook will be one of the tools of communication available to build a common understanding of key facts about Africa and building continental pride about the history, culture, economic successes and achievements of Africans across various spheres of society.
