Page 102 - 41st Summit Brochure

CONCLUSION
The creation of these cultural networks, however, will only be possible if we bring together the intellectuals
of the region and the PALOP (Portuguese-speaking African) countries in a SADC mini-summit, in addition
to the customary summits of the Heads of State or Government.
It took the Ebola pandemic in three West African countries for Nature itself to prove that Africa's
problems are not the same as those of Europe or North America. Therefore, the socio-economic and cultural
solutions that are elaborated in this African region cannot be the same as in so-called Western Democracy.
Leaders increasingly need to listen not only to their private advisors, but also to the non-partisan
intellectuals who crystallise much of African civil society's aspirations. Ebola has proven that Africa has
reached a critical point where it has to rethink aspects of its cultural heritage, which are no longer in line
with the demographic explosion of large cities such as Luanda.
The historical moment demands a socio-cultural paradigm shift anchored on two poles -- endogenous
development (uncovering the immensity of our invisible problems under the cloak of macroeconomics); and
the fracturing of extemporaneous tradition -- which can lead to true rebirth.
The great and almost unavoidable migratory mobility of Africans has created a history of viral
transmission on the continent, not only of Ebola, which is having a huge impact on almost all dimensions of
development. It is high time to take advantage of this natural, simple, civil society dynamic to create regional
dialogue by spreading the virus of culture in the cross-border and diplomatic circuit.
The African embassies in SADC must become true poles of cultural promotion and exchange. The SADC
and the AU, besides as expressing the language and the political will of the governments, should also express the
cultural language of the intellectuals and artists, from the voices of the countryside to the writers of the city.
The cultural reinsertion of each of the countries in the region is urgent.

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