Golden Jubilee:Visits: West Africa visit

West Africa visit



Mawlana Hazar Imam reviews cultural, economic and development work in West Africa


Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Golden Jubilee visit to West Africa was marked by announcements of a number of initiatives under the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), primarily in the areas of culture and economic development. During the nine-day visit from 23rd April to 1st May 2008, Mawlana Hazar Imam visited Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, and was accompanied by Prince Rahim, Prince Hussain and Princess Khaliya for parts of the journey.
The visit to West Africa started in Bamako, Mali, where Mawlana Hazar Imam and his family were received at the airport in a full ceremonial welcome by the President of the Republic, Amadou Toumani Touré, senior government ministers, and representatives of the Aga Khan Development Network in the region. The Nashid al Imamah and the Malian national anthem were played by a military band and Mawlana Hazar Imam inspected a Guard of Honour. The same evening, Mawlana Hazar Imam was awarded the Grand Cross of the National Order of Mali by President Touré during a state banquet at the President’s Palace. The visit to Mali included a stop in Mopti for the reopening of the Great Mosque of Mopti that has been restored by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), and where the AKDN is undertaking several infrastructure and social development projects. Mawlana Hazar Imam also visited Timbuktu, where AKTC is currently restoring the historic 600 year old mud mosque of Djingerey ber.
On 25th April, Mawlana Hazar Imam announced the creation of an Urban Park in Bamako to be undertaken by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The project will involve the revitalisation of existing institutions on the site (the National Museum of Mali, the zoo and botanical gardens) and the creation of new spaces of interest to the public.
During his address at the inauguration ceremony, Mawlana Hazar Imam stated that whilst AKTC remains humble in front of such a massive undertaking, its experience of park projects in Cairo, Kabul, Delhi, Khorog, Zanzibar, Aleppo and Nairobi should be a source of confidence. In his response, the President of Mali expressed his immense gratitude to Mawlana Hazar Imam and expressed: “Everything I have dreamt of for Mali, for my country, at one point or another, you have given to me on a friendly platter.”
The following day, Mawlana Hazar Imam arrived in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to a full ceremonial welcome, including a Guard of Honour and renditions of the Nashid al-Imamah and the Burkina Faso National Anthem. During his visit, Mawlana Hazar Imam and Prince Rahim met with President Blaise Compaoré and government ministers to review the work of the AKDN in Burkina Faso. Together with Prince Hussain and Princess Khaliya, Mawlana Hazar Imam also opened a seminar in Ouagadougou held to celebrate national recipients of the Aga Khan Award of Architecture. Mawlana Hazar Imam later travelled to Banfora to visit the Sosuco sugar plant, a project of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) and one of the largest employers in the country.
The next leg of the West Africa visit was in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire where Mawlana Hazar Imam and Prince Rahim met with President Laurent Gbagbo and government ministers to review the work of the AKDN in the country. In his address at a state dinner, President Gbagbo paid tribute to Mawlana Hazar Imam’s long standing support for Côte d’Ivoire. Mawlana Hazar Imam presided over the signing ceremony to establish the Première Agence de Microfinance in Côte d’Ivoire. This new unit of the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance joins a larger network of agencies which includes branches in Mali and Burkina Faso that were launched in 2006. Mawlana Hazar Imam and Prince Rahim also visited Filtisac Côte d’Ivoire — a manufacturer of jute, polypropylene and polyethylene bags for the agricultural trade. Filtisac is one of the oldest entities of AKFED in the region - Mawlana Hazar Imam was present at its opening in 1965.
As the small Jamat of Abidjan came to the airport to bid Mawlana Hazar Imam “bon voyage”, the Imam departed Côte d’Ivoire on the morning of 1st May for the last leg of this tour of West Africa, Senegal. During a brief official visit to Dakar, Senegal, President Abdoulaye Wade hosted a luncheon for Mawlana Hazar Imam at the Presidential Palace. In Senegal, AKFED operates enterprises that provide packaging for agricultural products, metal drums and plastic molded products.
This memorable Golden Jubilee visit to West Africa allowed Mawlana Hazar Imam to review the work of the institutions over the last 50 years and to launch new and exciting initiatives that will further strengthen and increase the presence of the AKDN in the region.
The Great Mosque of Mopti


It was following a visit to Mali by Mawlana Hazar Imam in October 2003 that an Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) technical team identified the extent and urgency of the structural problems of Mopti’s Great Mosque, also known as Komoguel Mosque. The restoration works carried out between November 2004 and June 2006 were conducted in strict observance of traditional construction techniques.
The Great Mosque of Mopti, which was officially listed as part of the country’s cultural heritage in 2005, is an imposing earthen structure built in the traditional Sudanese style between 1936 and 1943 on the site of an earlier mosque dating from 1908. The restoration work comprised a number of different phases: the complete reconstruction of the roof; stabilisation of the upper part of the building which had been damaged by the inappropriate use of cement in a previous restoration effort in 1978; repairing the earthen brickwork, removing damaged sections and rebuilding them with traditional earthen bricks; applying a traditional coating made by mixing earth with rice husks – called banco pourri – to the external walls; replacing the earth bricks along the building facades; rebuilding the parapet and the pinnacles of the terrace; removing and partly renovating the outer earthen coatings, which were in a state of disrepair; renovating the outer courtyard. Plumbing was installed in the courtyard along with a fountain for worshippers’ use. The interior of the Mosque has also been substantially improved: the floor has been completely rehabilitated; renovation work on the staircase has made it easy to access the terrace; a new PA and electrical system has been installed, including new lights; and there is a new ventilation system. The Mosque has also been given new doors made of high-quality seasoned wood.
This restoration work is, among other projects, a part of a Memorandum of Cooperation signed by Mali’s Ministry of Culture and the AKTC, on 22 February 2006, relating to the conservation of Mali’s earthen architecture. Further initiatives of this kind are planned, notably in Djenné and Timbuktu.


PAMF Ivory Coast


The Premiere Agence de Microfinance (PAMF), launched in the Ivory Coast during the Golden Jubilee visit to West Africa, was set up in Mali and in Burkina Faso in 2006. The Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM) under which PAMF operates, was established in 2005 with the underlying objectives of reducing poverty, diminishing the vulnerability of poor populations and alleviating economic and social exclusion. Today AKAM operates in over 15 countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East, has a portfolio valued at over US$120 million, and as at the end of 2007, had granted 250,000 loans.
In the Ivory Coast, PAMF will begin its operations in the regions of Boundiali and Dianra in the north of the country. By 2012, the plan is to have a total of eight regional agencies, covering the entire country. Loans will be between US$300 – 500 and for a period of six months to two years. Investments in technology will also allow those in rural areas to access loans and will reduce the delay in assessing loan requests and transferring funds. The programme will also provide an insurance scheme for cotton growers, thus helping support seasonal workers to continue to earn an income out of season.