Let’s harness Africa’s resources to engender socio-economic development – Dr Awal

Dr Ibrahim Awal, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, has urged African governments to harness the human and natural resources the continent is blessed with to promote socio-economic development.

“Africa has so much resources but benefits a little, therefore, it’s time to seek the opinions of the traditional authorities, religious leaders and civil society organisations to ensure inclusive and sustainable development,” he said.

“In this vein, with the multi-party democracy that most African countries have chosen, it’s imperative to harness its potentials for peace and development on the continent.”

Dr Awal made the call in a speech read on his behalf at the 11th edition of the Pan African Leadership, Investment Summit and Honours in Accra, on Friday.

The two-day summit was organised by the United Nations International Peace and Governance Council of Africa (UNIPGC), on the theme: “Peaceful Co-existence and Synergy for African Development”.

He lamented the insecurity and political upheavals in Sub-Saharan Africa, which was retarding socio-economic progress, and called on the governments to tackle those challenges head-on to ensure peace and development.

Professor Hugh Aryee, the Country Director, of the UNIPGC, Africa, in his welcome remarks, entreated African governments to always factor the views of the masses into decision-making processes to enable the chosen multi-party democracy to thrive.

“The masses at the local and national levels should be involved in the governance processes. The multi-party democracy shouldn’t be about elections alone, but a participatory one where the views of the people are respected,” he said.

Prof. Aryee urged the authorities to develop the political will and commitment to decouple the security services and election management bodies from the political space and manipulations, without which “we cannot build any strong public institutions run on professional values”.

The Global President of the UNIPGC, Ambassador Dr Jonathan Ojadah, took the opportunity to induct the UNIPGC’s regional executives and envoys into office to implement the various development projects.

The United Nations International Peace and Governance Council is a global civil society organisation established to accelerate peace, good governance and eradication of poverty across the world.

It is also to strengthen government’s efforts to handle civil and ethnic conflicts and inter-state wars, as well as the negative impact of civic globalisation, terrorism and human rights abuses.