The new chairperson of the African Union (AU) who doubles as President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame has confessed that leaders on the African continent have failed to create a pathway to prosperity for their peoples. He said that over the years, leaders of the continent have busied themselves studying how Asians got industrialized, forgetting that such system was no longer tenable for Africa. Kagame, who spoke today, Sunday while taking over the mantle of leadership of the AU from Alpha Conde, President of Guinea, said that technology has evolved so fast that Africa’s window to follow that strategy is narrowing much more rapidly each day.
According to the AU chairperson, the continent is running out of time and efforts must be geared to save Africa from permanent deprivation. “Africa’s defining challenge is to create a pathway to prosperity for our people, especially young people.
“Elsewhere, this has been achieved through industrialization but the growth trajectory that transformed Asia is not necessarily any longer a viable option for Africa, simply because we waited too long to act.
“Technology has evolved so rapidly in recent years, that Africa’s window to follow that strategy is narrowing much more rapidly than previously understood. We are running out of time and we must act now to save Africa from permanent deprivation.”
Kagame stressed that if Africa must take centre stage in up-scaling its development process, it must create a single continental market, integrate infrastructures and infuse technology into national economies.
”Scale is essential, we must create a single continental market, integrate our infrastructure and infuse our economies with technology.
“No country or region can manage on its own. We have to be functional and we have to stay together. The financial and institutional reform of the African Union derives all of its urgency from these realities.”[myad]
