From the Heart of West Africa - HE Mr Ian McConville, Australian High Commissioner in Nigeria

From the Heart of West Africa HE Mr Ian McConville, Australian High Commissioner in Nigeria Thursday 21 July, 2011 5.30pm – 7pm Dyason House 124 Jolimont Road, East Melbourne

 

No part of the world seems more mysterious or forbidding than West Africa.  Australians think of it as a region of equatorial extremes, of being beset by poverty, disease and conflict.  We reflect on the dismal colonial period including the horrors of slavery, and on a post-independence record that appears to be far from successful.

 

Yet West Africa, for all its problems, has a rich store of humanity, hope and promise.  At the heart of this highly diverse region is Nigeria, a populous giant that is pursuing democracy in the face of many internal tensions, and from whose perspective we will examine the region's progress and focus on where Australia's interests lie.

 

Following two recent AIIAV events on East Africa, we are pleased to turn our attention to another, profoundly different, part of the continent.

 

Mr Ian McConville is Australia's High Commissioner in Abuja, Nigeria, with non-resident accreditation to a wide range of other West African states: The Gambia, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, Niger, Gabon and Benin.

 

He was previously High Commissioner in Mauritius with accreditation to Comoros, Madagascar and Seychelles.  Mr McConville has also served in Phnom Penh and Islamabad and has held a number of senior positions in Canberra with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.