Back to Africa mission for Diaspora: under the auspices of the African Union, the Diaspora African Forum Mission based in Ghana has become a catalyst for the return of Diasporan Africans to the motherland. Kwadwo Gyan-Apenteng reports from Accra.

Based at the Dubois Centre, itself a hub for pan-Africanism in Ghana, the Diaspora African Forum Mission (DAFM) plays a unique role in reinforcing the link between the African Diaspora and the motherland, in keeping with Marcus Garvey's "Back to Africa" campaign, Kwame Nkrumah's pioneering role for pan-Africanism, and the current vision of the African Union.

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During his reign as chair of the AU Commission, the former Malian president, Alpha Oumar Konare, made it clear that one of the AU's top priorities was to embrace and encourage Diasporan Africans to come home and fully participate in the social and economic development of their motherland.

This view was echoed at a recent conference in Accra by Dr Erieka Bennett, head of the DAFM. "Many may not fully recognise," she said, "that the African Diaspora nation is within the top 10 richest countries in the world. We are coming home with remarkable knowledge, talent, skills ...

"We have top scientists, engineers, military advisors, medical doctors, social scientists, teachers, financial executives, and hard workers. We have worked in top institutions, both in the public and private sectors ... We now add to that knowledge African holistic connection to the land, the language, the culture, the governing bodies, the civil society, and we will make a powerful partner with our brothers and sisters at home."

In front of the DAFM office at the Dubois Centre is a "Sankofa [return and retrieve] Wall" on which plaques are mounted in honour of the ancestors of the returnees.

According to Dr Bennett: "The Sankofa Wall is symbolic for returning Africans. We are using the wall to honour our ancestors."

The Diaspora African Forum was officially launched last year during the golden jubilee celebration of Ghana's independence. The launch ceremony was attended by prominent Diasporan personalities, including Jesse Jackson.

The mission in Accra has been of great support to many returning Diasporans who are either not familiar with the Ghanaian terrain or require certain services.

The mission has also been supporting many rural communities in Ghana, one of which is Bono Manso in the Brong Ahafo region, once the capital of a great Akan empire but now reduced to a mere village.

Diasporan issues gained prominence in June 2001 when the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) convened the first ever OAU Civil Society Conference. A month later, at the OAU summit in Lusaka, Zambia, a proposal was presented to the member states to develop strategies for utilising the scientific and technological skills of Diasporan Africans in the development of their countries. This coincided with the transformation of the OAU into the AU, which was formally launched on 8 July 2002 at the summit in Durban, South Africa.

Following this new development, the first AU western hemisphere Diaspora forum was held in the US capital, Washington DC, in December 2002 to discuss how the Diaspora could play a meaningful role in Africa's development.

A year later, the AU Ministerial Committee recommended that the AU should "invite and encourage the full participation of Diasporan Africans in the building of the AU, in its capacity as an important part of the continent".

The history of Diasporans being urged to return home dates as far back as Marcus Garvey's "Back to Africa" campaign. During Nkrumah's time, W.E.B Dubois and George Padmore returned to Ghana to support Nkrumah's pan-African ideals. Since then, there has been a constant stream of Diasporans returning to the motherland. Notable among them is Dr Lee, an African-American dentist who returned to Ghana during Nkrumah's time and has been living there to this day.

Many of the returnees are involved in community projects, such as supporting schools and hospitals. One of them, Bob Marley's widow, Rita, has become a major fixture in Ghana since she relocated here in the mid-1990s. Having been made a queen at Konkonuru-Aburi near Accra, Rita (now called Nana Rita Marley) supports a number of community projects, including building her own school at Konkonuru. She is a much-loved citizen of the area.

Another useful Diasporan has been Ken Porter, an African-American investor in the diamond business. Diasporan Africans are scattered all over the world as a result of the Arab and transatlantic slave trades. But some Diasporans in the Far East, especially on the Pacific Islands, had been there for aeons before the slave trade.

Basically, Diasporan Africans are descendants of those who left Africa voluntarily or as slaves. But there is another kind of Diasporans: they are continental Africans who left to study abroad or find employment.

This group has since grown, with Diasporan offspring taking on new identities, as often seen at major sports events like athletics, where sometimes all eight athletes in a 100m finals are Africans of different "global" nationalities.