Video interview with Aziz Salmone Fall – African Social Forum in Dakar 2014

In this video, Aziz Fall evokes the development aid allocated to African countries within the context of the Millennium Development Goals. He returns to the economic definition of development, a definition he thinks is problematic. Aziz Fall explains that in a capitalist system while development serves the interests of the market, its realization contributes to the destruction of social relations and the environment. Sustainable development cannot be effective if it stays subject to a production and consummation mode that remains problematic. Aziz Fall then talks about the role of the African intellectual, who should be deeply rooted in the values of his people. He explains how those who follow the path of the people’s aspirations are marginalized and censored by the proponents of imperialism who stand against change. Knowledge, according to Aziz Fall, is the true weapon of Africans against a political system which is more inclined to serve the needs of capitalism. The pan-Africanist political scientist thus calls Africans to learn several disciplines, in order to change their daily life and that of those around them.

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The interview with Aziz Fall was held as part of the “African Perspectives on Global Challenges in the context of the post-2015 agenda process” project conducted by AfricAvenir International e.V. in 2014/2015. The interview took place during the fourth edition of the African Social Forum, which was held in Dakar from the 15th to the 19th October 2014 under the title “Crises, wars and external military interventions for the control of resources: What is the response of African social movements?” During the forum, Aziz Fall held two conferences, in which he spoke about Sankara and development aid seen from an African perspective.

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For more information, see the project website as well as the African Social Forum website.

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Aziz Salmone Fall

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Aziz Salmone Fall is an Egyptian-Senegalese lecturer and internationalist political scientist. He teaches political sciences, anthropology, international relations and international development at McGill University and the Université du Québec in Montréal, Canada. He describes himself as an international pan-Africanist and has thus developed the concept of “panafricentrage.” His parents, Professor Fawzia Abdel Aziz Mohamed and Salmone Fall, were both committed and renowned pan-Africanists; they notably helped Patrice Lumumba’s family to escape from Egypt after the latter’s murder. Aziz Fall was coordinator of the Quebec network against apartheid and is currently president of the Aubin Fondation and Ryerson Research Center, co-founder and co-coordinator of the left-wing Mouvement des Assises de Gauche in Senegal, as well as founder and member of GRILA (Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa), within which, together with  a group of 21 lawyers and several organizations, he coordinates the first African international campaign against impunity – the case of President Thomas Sankara. During the resolution of the Burundi crisis, Aziz Fall formulated in Geneva the map for the first African intervention force, Africa Pax. Aziz Fall is also the author of numerous specialist articles, among which the annotated critique of the 200 points of the NEPAD.

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For more information, see www.grila.org & www.azizfall.com

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With the kind support of the Landesstelle für Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (LEZ) and Engagement Global.l.