AFRICAN diaspora convened by mau
Media Coverage spotlighting Minnesota Africans United Support of the USA Expo Bid
While the headline isn't the outcome we were looking for, we proudly participated in this important civic effort to bring a Specialised World Expo to Minnesota in 2027. As you can see above, the Expo isn't coming to Minnesota this time around.
What will continue are our efforts to covene the US and Global African Diaspora toward new collaborations and two way trade opportunities.
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Here's an excerpt from the feature >
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Minnesota Africans United, a coalition of African immigrants across the state, has been lobbying for years on behalf of Minnesota's bid, said Basil Ajuo, the coalition's president and CEO. They pitched the idea to ambassadors and to ministers of foreign affairs and trade in countries across the continent, he said.
"We saw this Expo as a pathway to economic growth, to economic prosperity, for both sides of the Atlantic — for Africa, for America," Ajuo said.
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Click to Read our President and CEO, Basil Ajuo's quote in the Star Tribune article
AFRICAN DIPLOMAT DINNER IN WASHINGTON DC
At the request of our Board Secretary Mark Ritchie, then President of Global Minnesota, a key partner of Minnesota Africans United, we were invited to convene the US African Diaspora in support of the Minnesota USA Expo 2027 Specialised Expo bid, the Official US bid to host a "World's Fair" in America in 40 decades.
In concert with the U.S. State Department, in support of the US Africa Summit with Prosper Africa programs, Minnesota Africans United has been convening the Leaders of the African Continent in support of the US Bid in collaboration with the World's Fair Bid Committee Educational Fund
CULtural Celebration > June 16 Paris
more about OUR CAMPAIGN
proposed host city
Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Our bi-partisan approach to this national-level civic project has convened leaders to our common goal of bringing a world's fair back to the United States. Our congressional delegation has been supporters from the beginning including the crafting and passing of vital legislation. All our US Senators over the past decade. All these efforts resulted in official approval from Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden. And subsequently the support of the U.S. State Department.
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For over a decade WFBCEF has been harnessing the passion of hundreds of Minnesotans and others who love Minnesota. This includes an army of volunteers that have contributed thousands of hours as board members, media professionals, designers, lawyers, and grassroots lobbyists - with crucial help from small but mighty teams of interns, consultants, and staff.
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Convening Support for the USA Expo 2027 Bid
A private vote by the Member States of the Bureau International des Expositions will occur on Day Two of the 182nd General Assembly Session on June 21, 2023, in Paris, France.
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Our goal has been to connect and convey the two-way trade and African diaspora-led investment opportunities that supporting the Bloomington Minnesota USA Bid would provide uniquely to each African member country.
To formally support the effort,in 2021 we developed a collaborative relationship with the World's Fair Bid Committee Educational Fund (WFBCEF), through its Board Chair, Mark Ritchie, one of the co-founders of the USA Expo 2027 Bid who is also a board member of Minnesota USA Expo 2027.
For the past two years, MAU has organized in-person and digital meetings between our African diaspora leaders here in Minnesota with Heads of State, Foreign Ministers, and Ambassadors from nearly every African country with the ongoing support of WFBCEF. These conversations have taken place in Africa, in Paris and here in the United States during special events like the US – Africa Leaders’ Summit held in Washington DC last December.
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This is a very important opportunity to help boost Minnesota’s economic relations with many countries and to bring to light the crucial role of Diaspora-led businesses in securing Minnesota’s economic future and advancing economic development on the African Continent.
Our federal government made significant commitments during the US Africa Leaders’ Summit in terms of both financial resources and political capital. Some of this was motivated by the perception that now is the time for the US to re-assert ourselves throughout the continent. Another motivating factor was the belief that other nations were directly competing with the U.S. for markets, raw materials, and logistical assets putting US firms at a disadvantage.
