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NG_CITIES.pdf
by Jerry W. Bird
Photos by Muguette Goufrani
With an Africa Travel Magazine
office a few steps from Western Camada's largest
convention center, and our publication warehouse
down the street, a we've represented Africa at many
major events over the past decade. The Municipal
Marketplace and Conference has topped our agenda
each year, but the biggest event in this important
category happened this July with the UN World Urban
Forum3, thirty years after Vancouver hosted the
first UN Habitat, which laid the foundation. The
twin goals of Habitat are "Adequate shelter for
all" and "sustainable human settlements development
in an urbanizing world." Three years earlier, the
United States Conference of Mayors launched a
successful Mission to Africa, as a new sustainable
partnership to meet challenges of Aids pandemic.
Photo: Nairobi, Kenya:
Culture is in the forefront as. Maasai attend a
conference at the InterContinental Hotel, which has
just completed major renovations. In two years,
spending 60 days in the country, we witnessed major
beautification and cleanup projects in this
emerging metropolis, Similar initiatives are
underway in Ghana and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to
name a few we have visited.
These separate events set the
stage for several ongoing projects on our editorial
menu. Today's media spotlight shines on Calabar,
Nigeria, proud host of ATA's 10th Ecotourism
Symposium, followed by Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, site
of ATA's 32nd World Congress, and Kampala, Uganda,
home of the IIPT-ATA 4th Africa Peace Through
Tourism Conference.
In the series, "A Tale of Two Cities," our editors
and candid camera will profile communities in
countries we have visited recently. Examples are
Yaounde and Douala, Accra and Kumasi, Cape Town and
Jo'burg, Nairobi and Mombasa, Lusaka and
Livingstone, Arusha and Dar es Salaam, Casablanca
and Marrakech. Get the picture? What's more, each
city's airport will be profiled in our "Air
Highways to Africa" magazine supplement.
Africa's Mayors play a
starring role
Africa's nominations for World Mayor Awards were
Antananarivo, Madagascar, Johannesburg, South
Africa, Maputo, Mozambique and Tunis, Tunisia.
Other key participants included:Benin - Raoul
Akodjigbe Houessou Mayor of Lokossa, Burkina Faso -
Simon Campaore Mayor of Ouagadougou, Madagascar -
Olga Ramalason. Mairesse d'Antsirabe, Maroc -
Mohamed Sajid, Maire de Casablanca, Namibia -
Rosina Hoabes Mayor of Windhoek, President of
Association of Local Authorities of Namibia,
Senegal - Robert Sagna, Mayor of Ziguinchor,
Senegal - Ahmed Khalifa Niasse, Mayor of Kaolack,
Tanzania - Adam Kimbisa, Mayor of Dar es Salaam,
Tunisia - Mounira Boukmiha, Adjointe au Maire, City
of Tunis, Uganda - James Sseggane, Mayor, City of
Kampala. Representing ATA Canada Chapter, we
welcomed our African colleagues, interviewing them
for the magazine and escorting several groups of
mayors on a cultural tour, which included the
University of British Columbia. This gesture was
one way for us to repay the wonderful hospitality
we have enjoyed in 11 years with the Africa Travel
Association as its media voice Having just returned
from West Africa we were especially pleased to meet
Patricia Appiagyei, Mayor of Kumasi, Ghana's
second-largest city in Ghana (1.5 million).
Abdelkader Sidibe, mayor of Bomako is trying to
develop a school system with only 50 kids per
classroom instead of the current 150-200. The forum
brought together an unprecedented number of mayors
- about 100 of them - and several sessions focused
on city governments.
Right: Mayor Patricia Applagyei
of Kumasi, Ghana's second largest city with Africa
Travel Magazine's Muguette Goufrani and Hon. David
Quay Annang, Municipal Chief Executive of Tema of
Tema, Ghana.
Our Agenda's Top
30 Cities
. Did you know that
since 1976, over 30 African cities have hosted
events by the Africa Travel Association? This
astonishing support represents 22 different
countries - no other travel industry organization
even comes close. What's more, a key reason for
ATA's wide acceptance is the fact that Africans
share in the leadership. For example, our ATA
Presidents are African Tourism Ministers -
responsibility, action and example comes right from
the top.
Please visit our award winning,
Google-friendly website www.africa-ata.org. Search
from over 3,500 pages on Africa travel, trade and
tourism. Learn how our media team can be a reliable
partner on the marketing scene. We invite your
comments, anecdotes and items on the African city
or cities of your choice. E-mail africa@dowco.com
or fax (604) 681 6595.
Links: Sister Cities
International, 1301 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Suite
850, Washington, DC 20004, Tel: 202-347-8630, Fax:
202-393-6524, info@sister-cities.org
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