The Ubuntu Awakening Summit: all brothers and sisters in the diaspora should return home

By Jose Santiago

When Umoja Generational Wealth (UGW), the global community for African and African Diaspora entrepreneurs, business owners and professionals, holds the Ubuntu Awakening Summit 2025 in São Tomé & Principe in August, we intend to deliver.

BACKGROUND

When Europeans started the Trans-Atlantic enslave trade in the XVI century, they created the Trans-Atlantic Enslavement Trade Triangle (Europe, Africa, Americas). Europe, where it started with first the leg (brought to Africa manufactured goods, weapons, even liquor to Africa in exchange for Prisoners of War - POW, slaves) funded and insured by European businesses, monarchs and governments. In Africa, (2nd leg) they would exchange these products for people they enslaved and transported them on ships to various plantations and countries in the Americas (3rd leg). When ships discharged the enslaved people, they would load sugar, rice, indigo, tobacco, cotton, molasses, rum and other commodities and export them to Europe. This was the route used to deprive Africa of well over 20 million of its citizens and their descendants, on many fronts the best ones for over 3 centuries (XVI-XIX). This brought Africans and their descendants to many corners of the world creating about 400 million African Diaspora today.

PROFITS

African enslaved people were very profitable to slave traders because they were the very best in the world in: farming and iron works and able to produce best farming equipment and best crop too. Contrary to popular belief and propaganda, it was not necessarily because of their physical ability.

WHY UBUNTU AWAKENING SUMMIT

Today the African Diaspora is about 400 million across the globe, where most left the continent to the Americas (mainly) against their will through S. Tomé first (by the Portuguese) and then through Ghana, Nigeria etc (by the British). So Umoja Generational Wealth decided to create the first event of its kind (Ubuntu Awakening Summit) where we reverse the transatlantic enslavement triangle journey; leading our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora spiritually, mentally and physically to return (go back home). Umoja Generational Wealth will lead them from Europe (plus rest of world) to the Americas and to Africa, through the same routes which saw them (ancestors) leave and will see the descendants coming back home to Africa. The journey started in Europe, went to Jamaica in 2024, this year (2025) it is bringing our brothers to São Tomé and Príncipe, then Brazil 2026, Ghana 2027, Haiti 2028, Congo 2029, Barbados 2030, Nigeria 2031, USA 2032, and so on. We will carry on this until all brothers and sisters in the diaspora return home.

HOW WILL WE DELIVER ON THIS MAMMOTH TASK?

Through various live activities, during the Summit:

1. Village Wisdom via Circle of Fore – where our elders transferred wisdom, news, events, knowledge, teaching, etc to the younger generation. It was a daily activity in every one of our villages.
2. African Drumming – the village information and communication tool
3. Ancestral Village – how did our ancestors live? Come and experience it for yourself.
4. Ubuntopoly – monopoly under Ubuntu economics
5. Ankhs Maat – Live the origin of yoga.
6. African/Black Woman’s Womb - Origin of humankind through mathematical numbers
7. African/Black Woman’s Hair – Style meaning, beauty and health
8. Sunset and Sunrise Meditation – balance and focus
9. Ubuntu Economics – learn secrets of abundance economics.
10. Business Symposium – network, connect and do business amongst the best and brightest in our mixt.
11. Other activities – like fashion, design, book launch, poetry, music, dance, storytelling, excursions to mystic and historic places, and a lot more.

BUSINESS SYMPOSIUM

We all know that the engine for liberation is financial and economic independence and to achieve that we require tools. One of the most effective tools, for financial and economic liberation is business and trade. Now, we have two big blocks at stake which have a common route, common history and heritage: The Caribbean and Africa. In fact, we are talking about over 1.5 billion people which more than 60% of them are under the age of 24. We are talking about a market in need of pretty much everything but unfortunately not connected. Currently to go from Africa to the Caribbean one must go to Europe or United States of America while a direct connection would simply accelerate the development of both blocks. Current routes are very expensive and labouring which discourage many people specially the ones in business and trade. A connection between the two would immediately create a huge market, great opportunities, reduce trade cost and above all create wealth and financial freedom to its inhabitants.

For the reason above and many more Umoja Generational Wealth decided to create and launch a Business Symposium in parallel with our Ubuntu Awakening Summit where we will put in a room businessmen and women, entrepreneurs, decision makers, youth and other stakeholders with clear view and agenda to formulate, discuss and implement trade relations from the commercial stand point. So, stakeholders like Chamber of Commerce, Business and Trade Associations, Tourism board, Airliners, Business Platforms, Entrepreneurs, Investors, Educators, Manufacturers, Implementers, etc are all invited to participate in the following:

1. Identify and formulate opportunities
2. Draw implementation plan and framework
3. Find partners and connections
4. Set up mechanism to Execute the plan
5. Set up mechanism to monitor and evaluate the plan

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Umoja Generational Wealth will deliver, by the end of the summit, the follow emotions and experiences: great opportunities, abundance, healing, awakening, honour, wealth and security.

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ABOUT THE ORGANISERS

UMOJA GENERATIONAL WEALTH (UGW) specialises in asset-based wealth creation under Ubuntu principles. We take you on a journey from Umoja (Unity) to Umnotho (Prosperity).

OUR MISSION

Educate Africans and African Descendants on Tools and Strategies to Build their Generational Wealth, Power And Prosperity.

OUR GOALS

Create at least 10,000 Africans and African Descendants Asset Based Millionaires Per Year.

OUR VISION

Create 1 billion Africans and African Descendants Asset Based Millionaires by 2070.

ABOUT UGW AWAKENING SUMMIT

THEME: UBUNTU ECONOMICS, CULTURE, HISTORY

DRESS CODE: AFRICAN ATTIRE (M/F)

AUDIENCE: AFRICAN AND AFRICAN DESCENDANTS IN THE CONTINENT AND IN THE DIASPORA

ULTIMATE GOALS: LIVE EXPERIENCES AND EMOTIONS UNDER UBUNTU UNIVERSE

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José Santiago is an accomplished Financial Strategist specialising in Financial Inclusion, Asset Acquisition including Protection for Individuals and Families, with deep knowledge and experience of banking the unbanked, strategic business development, sales and marketing, recruitment and development in payments platforms and other financial services and consultancy sectors both in Africa, continental Europe, UK, Middle East and beyond.

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