Re-connecting the descendants of Africa who were dispersed across the world through the slave trade and other population movements was the theme presented by Deputy Premier Dr. Brown to a conference of former African leaders in South Africa yesterday.

The Tourism Minister was invited to attend the African Presidential Roundtable in Johannesburg and took the opportunity to speak about engaging the Diaspora in Africa?s development.

?The Diaspora spans continents and oceans and joins a potentially disparate people into a cohesive unit. Our challenge is to engage that Diaspora in meaningful dialogue and more importantly ? action,? he said.

Dr. Brown gave the gathering an insight into the efforts to create the African Diaspora Heritage Trail in Bermuda as both a tourism boost and as a way of ?energising our visitor and spurring him into awareness of his connection to the Diaspora and stimulate him to action in addressing the issues of Mother Africa.?

Those issues range from poverty, famine, and under-development to HIV and Aids, said Dr. Brown, as he addressed former leaders of nations including Botswana, Cape Verde, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia.

He said the Tourism Ministry is seeking to create an African Diaspora Heritage Trail Foundation registered charity that will collect donations from around the world, linking nations that belong to the Diaspora and Africa and providing support.

?I share this experience in the hope others will return to their countries and do similar things in the way of forging structural links and lasting relations with our brothers and sisters throughout the Diaspora and in Africa.?

Dr. Brown also noted that in North America and Europe there was an ?alarming lack? of awareness of the African connection or pride in being descendants of Africans.

He added: ?We must continue to educate our people about their history and encourage in them the desire to consistently learn more. An understanding of the history of Africa will do more to yield positive results in the area of development and will genuinely engage the Diaspora in this process.?

The focus of the conference has also included Africa?s image in the American media and increasing capital flow to Africa.

The former presidents of Tanzania and Ghana, Ali Hassan Mwinyi and Jerry Rawlings, who are attending the conference at the University of Witwatersrand, were involved in a car accident while being escorted by Police to the event.

They were travelling in separate cars which collided yesterday. Mr. Rawlings? wife Nana and former Tanzania president Mr. Mwinyi suffered minor injuries as a result of the collision and were taken to hospital for checks before being allowed to continue on to the conference.

Dr. Brown intends to visit Dubai on tourism business following the conclusion of the conference this week.