The Chief Executive officer (CEO), Brookes Distribution in USA, Reginald Franklin II has rallied fellow African-Americans to consider retreating to Africa to take up investments as well as settlement since they will not be discriminated upon in the continent.
Reginald made the call after a meeting with President Museveni at State House whom he praised for having opened up Uganda to the African Americans to both settle and take up investments.
Reginald has been in the country for an investment tour upon an invitation by Amb. Abbey Walusimbi the Senior Presidential Advisor on Diaspora Affairs.
A few years ago, President Museveni put up a call to all Historical African diasporas to return to Africa and take up investments as well as settlement.
This call has been widely amplified by Isaac Kigozi from the Office of the President who noted that the able leadership of President Museveni has created a conducive environment for all historical African Diasporas to do business and thrive.
Kigozi believes that it’s time for Africans across the world to consider building a strong African by boosting investment and tourism.
“African-Americans are facing a number of challenges due to racial discrimination, it’s time for them to come to Uganda and the region which is open with enormous opportunities. All sectors are open for investment including; Agriculture, Oil and Gas, Health, Education, Logistics, Mining among others,” Kigozi said.
Speaking to the call, Reginald said that the call to all African-Americans is a timely one and should be embraced by all given the challenging times that they have gone through since time immemorial.
The business mogul said that coming to Africa is a relief from the fear and discrimination that he has lived with for years which is faced by other African-Americans.
“You have the ability to say that you are Ugandan but I don’t have the ability to say that I am anything because the America doesn’t want us and we don’t know where to go, we are guessing all the time because we have been kept in a lie for centuries that we are hated by our African brothers and sisters in Africa,” Reginald said.
Reginald who also runs Charlotte Leisure Rentals a real estates Company said that call by Museveni has given him an opportunity to find a place that would welcome him as well as according him a piece of mind.
He said that like any other African American, when he heard the call, he welcomed it though he was scared and nervous, wondering whether he will find people who would welcome him.
“I was scared wondering whether things would work out, I didn’t know if people would receive me, I didn’t know if indeed the place is safe, will I be able to get health care but when you get here, you want to say thank you because the invitation means a lot. Ugandans have welcomed me, they have made me feel home, I have been loved by people, I have been received well, i feel its so much. I am gonna raise my sons from here,” Reginald said.
“As an African brother you don’t know what it means to live in a world that doesn’t love you but fears you and to be in a place where that trauma doesn’t exist, that’s the growth that a man needs to be health, stable.
I watch you guys, police officers, barbers, food workers all living freely in your country and I remember how we are pushed out of shops and public places just because of our skin color,” Reginald added.
The businessman appealed to other African Americans to consider bringing their hard earned money to African to develop the continent and make it more better for their stay.
“Every historical African diaspora should understand that there is nothing to be scared of Africa, you can access medical services, I have seen Ugandans on the streets of Kampala moving freely without being scared like we are on the streets of US,” he noted.
He added that, “We have been sold the wrong dream, we have been sold a negative narrative that Africans are people with no destiny, sick and very poor with no health services, that no body is educated, we have been showed videos of kids being dirty which is not the case; it’s upon us to come back home and make the continent shine.”
The business tycoon is set to invest over $40m for the next five years in Agri-processing and the health sector.
