By Stephen Asante/Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Accra, Sept. 21, GNA – Pan-Africanists, technocrats and development analysts are calling on African leaders to uphold the vision and development philosophies of the continent’s two greatest thinkers of all time.
The beliefs, Pan-Africanist ideals and strong leadership qualities of the two iconic figures – Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah ((September 21, 1909 – April 27, 1972), and Nelson Mandela (July 18, 1918 – Dec. 5, 2013) were relevant to the continent’s Agenda 2063, they asserted.
Ms. Grace Janet Marson, South Africa’s High Commissioner to Ghana, said it was imperative for the continent to work assiduously to remain strong, united, resilient and influential global player and partner.
Speaking at the opening session of the Nkrumah-Mandela Leadership Conference, in Accra, she described the two personalities as “an enduring inspiration to us all”.
They exemplified what determination and unity of purpose could bring in transforming the African society for the better.
“Their legacies continue to live among us,” the High Commissioner said.
The two-day Nkrumah-Mandela Leadership Conference is being organised in Ghana as part of activities marking the Nkrumah Memorial Day.
“The Osagyefo and the Madiba: Global Africa in Search of Transformational Leadership in 21st Century”, is the theme for the programme.
It is under the auspices of the Kwame Nkrumah Centre for Ideology, Governance and Leadership, University of Ghana Institute of Africans Studies, and Africans Rising, a Pan-African Movement.
The event is set in line with the African Union’s (AU) 40-year transformational agenda for the continent ending in 2063.
Nkrumah became an international symbol of freedom as the leader of the first black African country to shake off the chains of colonial rule.
In 1952, he became Ghana’s first Prime Minister, and went on to become the country’s first democratically-elected President.
After independence in 1957, he worked to improve living standards at home with his ambition extending beyond national boundaries to the creation of a union of African states.
Nelson Mandela, in 1994, became the first black President of South Africa at age 77, after being incarcerated for 27 years for fighting for change in Apartheid rule.
He believed that everyone should be treated the same.
In a speech at the Conference, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, a medical scientist and former Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, praised Nkrumah for his tenacity of purpose.
His concept of achieving a self-reliant Africa anchored on science and technology was relevant now as it was then, he stated.
The medical scientist asked the authorities and African people to embrace the development ideologies of the two prominent figures, especially in the area of industrialisation.
This is critical to economic development and ownership of the continent natural resources by Africans.
Mr. Kwesi Pratt, a renowned Ghanaian journalist and Pan-Africanist, advised the Africans to be confident and take their destiny into their own hands as this was the path to progress.
Prof. Samuel Ntewusu, Director, University of Ghana Institute of African Studies, in a speech read on his behalf, urged the people to advance the dreams of both Nkrumah and Mandela in making Africa prosperous.
The World Bank, in its recent report, said public debt in sub-Saharan Africa had more than tripled since 2010.
The war in Ukraine halted the fiscal consolidation process of many countries in the region that started in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Weak growth combined with a fast accumulation of public debt has pushed the median public debt-to-Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio from 32 per cent in 2010 to 57 per cent in 2022 (56 per cent in Western and Central Africa; 64 per cent in Eastern and Southern Africa).
The number of sub-Saharan countries at high risk of external debt distress or already in debt distress stands at 22 – up from 20 in 2020.
Africa is a resource-rich continent, accounting for more than 30 per cent of the world’s mineral resources.
However, today, extreme poverty is mostly around Africa, where 23 of the world’s 28 poorest countries are found.
These countries have poverty rates above 30 per cent.
Poverty projections up to the year 2030 (the end of the Sustainable Development Goals) suggest that even under the most optimistic scenario, over 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa will still be in extreme poverty.
GNA