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Herald Reporter

The Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda is in Nigeria where he is attending the inaugural Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments (CoSAP) which began yesterday in Abuja.

Running under the theme, “Enhancing Africa’s Post-Covid-19 Economic Recovery Through Parliamentary Leadership”, the conference was officially opened by the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.

The CoSAP idea was mooted in 2020 with a mandate to facilitate increased deliberation, collaboration and cooperation among speakers, heads of parliaments and national assemblies across Africa.

In the wake of the debilitating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic which ground the world to a halt, parliaments worldwide are expected to take a leading role in the recovery agenda of their nations.

The task is more pertinent to the African continent whose economies took a severe knock from the effects of the scourge.

Advocate Mudenda is part of the plenary session on “Investing in Human Capital Development: Legislative Priorities in the Covid-19 Era”.

Some of the topics under discussion are; Africa’s debt trap, implications, imperatives and impact in the Covid-19 era; and national budgeting and effective legislative oversight in the Covid-19 era, among others.

The overall agenda of the programme revolves around the need for speakers and heads of parliaments across Africa to collectively address challenges, devise joint solutions and mobilise collective action to advance the continent’s growth, stability and development.

Following the launch of CoSAP, the founding members initiated the African Speakers Debt Cancellation Campaign Initiative (DCCI) and advocacy, birthed as a means of establishing a cohesive Pan-African parliamentary voice to support the global campaigns lobbying for Africa’s debt cancellation in light of the effects of  Covid-19 on African economies.