 |
|
L-R: Consul General,
South Africa, Darkey Afrika; MBA
Director, LBS, Dr Uchenna Uzo; Premier of Guateng, David Makhura; High Commissioner, Louis Mnguni; Member
Economic Council (MEC) for Economic
Development, Mr Leobogang Maile
|
The Premier of Guateng, South Africa, David Makhura has
identified inter African co-operation as the major plank for ‘Africa Rising’
and the economic growth of the continent.
Makhura, who delivered a lecture on his visit to the Lagos
Business School (LBS) last Friday, critically examined the narrative of 'Africa
Rising'. He maintained that the various
factors which determine and shape the ‘Africa Rising’ narrative included
production and manufacturing of goods by African countries; youth empowerment;
strong leadership and governance; active participation; and investment by the
middle class in their own countries and other African countries cohesively.
"There is no African country that can advance and make progress without
working with other African countries" he said.
He explained that even though economic growth played a key
role in determining how far Africa has risen, it was not the only factor that
should be considered in the ‘Africa Rising’. "The Africa Rising narrative
misses the point because it does not address the issues we as Africans are
concerned about.
It is not enough to look only into economic growth to
determine the rise of Africa," he affirmed.
With regards to youth empowerment, Makhura stressed that it
was necessity because a common problem in Africa is youth unemployment and
there is a dire need for African countries to develop its human resources as
the youth are Africa's greatest asset. "Africa is a youthful continent;
its youth are its greatest asset. We must continue to invest in our youth as
they are drivers of regeneration," he noted.
In his welcome address, Dr Uchenna Uzo, MBA Director, Lagos Business School, stated
that the visit was in line with the objective of developing responsible leaders
for Africa and the world. He explained that visits such as Makhura’s would
further expose the LBS MBA students (future African business leaders) to
pan-African perspectives of business, cross border opportunities and
connections outside the classroom.
The MBA students expressed gratitude to the Premier for the
lecture and engaged him in healthy discussions bordering on how the LBS MBA was
helping them shape their understanding of the ‘Africa Rising’ concept and how
they hope to be responsible and effective leaders for the growth that Africa is
bound to record.
0 comments:
Post a Comment