‘Our future rests in our hands’ – PM Desalegn

The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr. Haile Mariam Desalegn has called on Africans to take their future into their hands by harmonising and coordinating the different policies of the Sustainable Development Goals and Africa’s own Agenda 2063.

Delivering the keynote address on Monday at the opening of the Conference of Ministers at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa; Desalegn urged African states to be “strategic, ambitious, rigorous and disciplined” if they are to achieve sustainable and inclusive development for their people.

On his part, the Prime Minister of Congo, Mr. Augustin Matata Ponyo, views government as having a crucial role to play in bringing about sustainable development.

“Many African countries are already on track with transforming their economies. The role of governments in Africa is to offer inclusive and sustainable development, which is important in addressing climate change and economic growth;” he said.

Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, on her part; implored African countries to improve young people’s skills in science and engineering. “With an average of over 90% of graduates in social sciences, Africa’s innovation and scientific skills lag behind;” she said.

She noted that with a burgeoning youth population, Africa has no choice but to look for solutions. She also spoke on industrialisation and economic diversification, on the need to reduce import dependency and on creating regional centres of innovation.

More suggestions on possible solutions came from Mr. Carlos Lopes, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, who noted that “African current growth has not generated sufficient jobs and has not been inclusive enough to significantly curb poverty. Fluctuation in price has made such growth vulnerable.”

Therefore, Africa should look into “structurally transforming, focusing on the potential offered by industrialization.”

Mr. Lopes suggested that Africa considers expanding commodities value chains, and attracting low-value manufacturing from Asia to Africa. He remarked that “transformation will not happen spontaneously but rather as a result of deliberate and coherent policies that are entrenched into a coherent development strategy, enlightened by a transformational leadership.”

Picking up on the theme of leadership, the Vice-President of Namibia, Mr. Nickey Iyambo, told the 800-strong audience “strong leadership is a prerequisite for fostering the continent’s development with healthy economies that grow and end poverty.”

He encouraged African countries to learn from Namibia’s approach by cultivating the African spirit of self-reliance through a wise use of resources.

“Let’s take the torch in our own hand and develop our countries,” he said.

The Conference of Ministers is an annual event jointly organised by the ECA and the AU Commission.

The conference concludes on Tuesday.