Africa is a very large continent in which IFWEA currently has only nine affiliates. They are based in Kenya, Mauritius, Zimbabwe and South Africa. These existing affiliates have a fairly sound idea of worker education activities in their own countries, but know little of what exists in the rest of the continent. They therefore cannot be considered to be representative of workers’ education organisations in Africa.

Given the turbulent political histories of most African countries, many trade unions and worker organisations struggle to exist under conditions of extreme repression. Others are tied to historical alliances with ruling parties. In most cases, they have lost touch with the interests of the workers which they are meant to represent. Workers' organisations in the various African countries operate under vastly different conditions. This has consequences for workers’ education which requires a level of diversity not common in most European countries.

In a preliminary discussion held by IFWEA’s African affiliates in December 1997, it was agreed that the immediate tasks of IFWEA in the continent will be largely exploratory. We had to admit that we could not seriously claim to represent workers' education organisations in Africa. In fact, we could not even make this claim of our own countries. In South Africa specifically, but also in Zimbabwe and Kenya, there are organisations close to the trade union movement who are not members of IFWEA.

Despite our humble place in the broader scheme of things, we do not intend to let this fact daunt us. We have set ourselves two short term tasks. Firstly, to collect information about the various workers' education organisations in Southern Africa. Secondly, to recruit other organisations in our individual countries to IFWEA. In most cases, existing affiliates have a relatively sound working relationship with these organisations. Prioritising Southern Africa is pragmatic as the majority of existing IFWEA affiliates are based in this sub-region.

The question then needs to be posed: Why do we want to build IFWEA in the region?

What are the advantages of IFWEA membership for African organisations? The answers to these questions are not difficult. The resolutions of IFWEA’s Belfast conference commit IFWEA to developing a global alternative to the neo-liberal economic model and to promoting democracy. These goals lie at the core of all workers' educational activities in Africa. IFWEA provides the necessary international forum for sharing ideas on how they can be achieved, and developing common strategies to tackle these critical tasks.

At IFWEA’s Executive Committee meeting in January this year, IFWEA’s African affiliates proposed running a regional workshop on globalisation. The workshop would aim to develop a common perspective on globalisation, its effects on African countries, and strategies for workers’ education organisations to explore worker orientated alternatives and responses. There was little surprise to find that the Asia-Pacific region had come to the Executive Committee with a similar proposal. The Executive endorsed these proposals as IFWEA’s regional educational activities for the year. Despite the vast differences in and between IFWEA’s regions, globalisation is relevant to all and calls for greater international solidarity and sharing of information.