Photos: Decades of pan-African diplomacy
For the first time, we can travel with Tanzanian statesman Dr Salim Ahmed Salim through his notes and photos, some of which are reproduced here.
When they leave office, it is a tradition amongst American presidents to establish a presidential library: a place that collects and preserves all the letters, documents, photographs and videos associated with their administrations.
No such tradition exists in Tanzania, or indeed in most African countries.
Notable exceptions include the archives maintained by the Nelson Mandela Foundation in South Africa, and the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Nigeria.
To that list can now be added the Dr Salim Ahmed Salim Digital Archive: an online repository of the great Tanzanian statesman’s speeches, interviews, correspondence, research and photographs (this can be freely accessed here). Salim was prime minister of Tanzania in 1984, but he made an even bigger impact as secretary-general of the Organisation of African Unity from 1989 until it transformed into the African Union in 2001.
In this capacity, he toured the continent and the world – travelling, literally, through the corridors of power, and meeting some of history’s most iconic people. Now, for the first time, the rest of us can travel with him through his notes and photos, some of which are reproduced here. They offer a rare glimpse into decades of high-level pan-African diplomacy. His son, Ahmed Salim, hopes that other African leaders will copy this approach. “We need to understand what transpired in our history so that we can be better prepared to lead in the future,” he told The Continent.