Great Museum of Africa to Showcase Diverse Cultural Artifacts

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

The African Union (AU) plans to create the Great Museum of Africa (GMA) as part of the First Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063. The GMA will showcase, protect and promote the rich cultural heritage of the continent, and will be situated in Algiers, capital of Algeria in North Africa.

This AU project aims at creating awareness about Africa’s vast, dynamic and diverse cultural artifacts in areas such as art, music, language and science. It will also be a focal centre for preserving and promoting the African cultural heritage as well as in combating illicit trafficking in heritage resources.

Ambassador Lounes Magramane, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, described the museum as a pillar of the African Union and cultural renaissance, working to strengthen efforts in building a unified and prosperous continent, capable of protecting its identity, its rich historical heritage and its cultural legacy.

Ambassador Minata Samate Cessouma, Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development (HHSD), expressed gratitude to the Government of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria for the hospitably and for the commitment to ensure that the Great Museum of Africa museum project becomes a reality.

Samate Cessouma further reminded that the establishment of the Great Museum of Africa is driven by the recognition of the intricate relationship between the protection of cultural diversity and promotion of cultural pluralism, on the one hand, and development of the continent on the other.

It is anchored on the understanding that protection, preservation and promotion of cultural heritage is jointly shared by the citizens, society and the African states. The African Union (AU) is an organization uniting independent African states established in 1963, and headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Courtesy: Modern Diplomacy