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Nessia Mhaka
Africa Day should be used as a space to reflect not only on the inspiring milestones that have been achieved by the leaders of the continent since the formation of the OAU now AU, but also on lived experiences, current realities and challenges faced by their motherland, the Khartoum representative in Harare has said.

Sudanese Ambassador to Zimbabwe Abdelbagi H. Kabeir said Africa Day should not only be reduced into a day of festivities, but rather, it should also be used as an opportunity to engage in strategic conversations about the past, the present and the future.

“Africa Day was used to send out a positive message to all nations of the world that, ‘Africa Matters and Africa is the Future’.
“Therefore, it suffices to say that, this day should be used as a space to reflect not only on the inspiring milestones that have been achieved by the leaders of the continent since the formation of the OAU 56 years ago, but also on lived experiences, current realities and challenges faced by their motherland, Africa.

“Africa Day should transcend symbolism, it should move beyond being a symbolic affair.
“Africa Day should not only be reduced into a day of festivities, but rather, it should also be used as an opportunity to engage in strategic conversations about the past, the present and the future. It should be a day when Africans assess and reconstruct their past, understand the present, tell new narratives, churn out new ideas and craft new visions for a peaceful and prosperous continent,” he said.

Ambassador Abdelbagi H. Kabei said it was time for Africans to develop good governance and leadership that propel the continent to greatness and allow its citizens to participate in global economy.

“Africans have to develop the governance and leadership to develop their continent. Good governance enhances democracy as well as efficiency in the economy.

“Within each African country, this is important so that African people should claim ownership and inclusive participation in globalisation.

“Africa has to develop an economic transformation and a sustained economic growth, an economic structure which reflects the relative contribution of the different sectors of the economy in terms of production and factor use.

“That structural transformation can be looked at as the change in the sectorial composition of output, and that of the sectorial pattern of the employment of labour, as the economy develops,” he said.

His Excellency said that Africa boasts of a cornucopia of natural resources that should benefit its populace.
“Africa’s natural resource sectors must be socially and environmentally accountable, implying increased public participation, so that a broader share of citizens contributes to policy and benefits from economic and social returns in the natural resource sector including gainful employment.

“We require policies that encourage innovation and that establish local content goals which would ensuring backward and forward linkages to promote internally articulated economies and continental value chains,” he said.

The Khartoum representative said money alone is not enough to arrest African problems but good management practices were a requirement for development.

“Africa suffers from an acute shortage of able local managers.
“Management is hardly mentioned in African development debates, it is simply taken for granted and yet it is clear that the quality of management is the foundation of success because it determines what economists call absorptive capacity.
“Without proper on-the-ground management, money alone cannot solve problems,” he said.

His Excellency said peace and security provide a conducive environment for development.
“Peace and security for development is not often regarded as a function of peace in both development theory and development discourse. Internal security and external security should be crucial considerations in the pursuit of development alternatives,” he said.