Diplomatic World_69

at the very pious Vatican Museum, there are nearly 70,000, not to
mention the many Protestant and Catholic missionary museums
scattered all over Europe: Germany, the Netherlands, France,
Austria, Belgium, Italy and Spain.
THE SECOND PROBLEM IS THAT OF OUR
UNDER-REPRESENTATION ON THE UNESCO
WORLD HERITAGE LIST, WHICH IS THE HOLY
GRAIL FOR TOURISTIC VISIBILITY
Of all the 1,154 sites classified in the list of the material world
heritage of humanity of UNESCO as of 2022, only 106 are located
in Africa. How to explain this? Rather than starting from more
or less credible hypotheses or partisan considerations, it is vital
to know them better. However, one of the main problems preventing
Africa from taking off internationally in terms of cultural
and tourism is undoubtedly this under-representation on the list
of world heritage of humanity and the fact that the vast majority
of its listed cultural works are outside African territory.
Of course, our difficulties in communicating about our monuments
also come from the meagre ministerial budgets allocated
to culture in our countries, which generally do not exceed 2
percent of the national budget. It is easy to understand that it is
almost impossible to work miracles with such limited financial
means.
Perhaps it will be necessary to introduce in the years to come
a form of “positive discrimination of heritage” so that African
countries finally catch up with this delay. In any case, we must
now correct this imbalance. Culture must once again become the
bedrock of the development of a country or a continent, as it was
the case for instance in Senegal in the 1960s.
With Afrique Patrimoine, our objective is to promote and safeguard
historical heritage, as suggested by article 3 of the Charter
for African Cultural Renaissance, set up in January 2006 in
Khartoum (Sudan) during the African Union summit.
The objectives of this Charter are as follows:
• Preserve and promote African cultural heritage through
conservation, restitution and rehabilitation
• Integrate cultural objectives into development strategies.
• Encourage international cultural cooperation for a better
understanding between peoples inside and outside Africa.
We also often deplore the lack of proximity of Africans to world
culture, for lack of economic means, to visit such and such a
museum in New York, Beijing or Paris. It is only by democratizing
access to art that we will offer the world, especially Africa, the
means to improve understanding and respect between peoples.
Heritage is a tremendous catalyst of civic and positive energy
for discovering others, for building oneself, but also for regaining
self-confidence, in short: finding one’s way.
Moreover, according to the report of the General Assembly of
UNESCO (September 2021), there would be, in all and for all,
only four African countries capable of protecting their material
heritage. If this unbalanced distribution is partly linked to Western
criteria that are not really adapted to Africa, it cannot be denied
that it is also due to the lack of will but also of experience of the
African countries.
It is indeed complex to compile a sufficiently credible and precise
registration file to obtain financial assistance or the expertise
necessary for the preservation of a particular site. Proof that
things are not going well is that in 2021, the African continent
as a whole had only two classified heritage sites, the Sudanese
style mosques of the north of Ivory Coast and the national park
of Ivindo in Gabon. In this year, the European continent saw 13
of its presented heritages being classified.
Of course, one cannot measure the heritage interest of a country,
according to its geography. But to have an idea of the proportions,
Italy holds 58 listed heritage sites, against just a handful in
South Africa, which is four times bigger. In addition to this African
under-representation, it should be noted that out of the 52 heritage
sites in danger in the world, 22 are precisely in Africa, that is
to say 44 percent of them. This data are more than alarming and
should logically encourage us to take the problem to the root.
If restitution is an act of reparation and memorial justice,
African works of art must now be visible in Dakar, Tokyo, Paris or
Yaoundé, and in all the capitals of the world. Because it is only in
this case that we can speak of universalism.
Africa is a continent in turmoil with significant population flows,
even if contrary to what is said, migrations to the West are less
important than we think. What is certain is that Africa has an
immense potential. It is important to exchange, to listen to this
youth so that tomorrow we can build this new Africa together,
which will inspire the world. As the current Chairman of the
African Union, President Macky Sall stated in Addis-Ababa
on February 6, 2022, that “Africa cannot be satisfied with the
promise of the continent of the future. We say yes to the meeting
of giving and receiving through the fruitful dialogue of cultures
and civilizations; but not to the civilizational injunction that would
dictate our choices and our behaviour”.
Therefore, if we want to be active players in the new world order
that is looming, we have to be among those who set the rules,
and Africa has its card to play.
Long live Africa, in a world of peace and cooperation!
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