Osinbajo says capacity building, political stability, economic integration key to Africa’s devt.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday identified human capital development, political stability and economic integration as central to the rapid development of Africa and the emancipation of its people from poverty.

Osinbajo said this in Ndola, Zambia, at the inauguration of the $420 million cement plant and 30 KV coal-powered station built by Nigeria’s foremost businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

The vice president said that the continent needed to free itself from issues that impoverished the people and begin to use its resources to develop the continent.  Cue in audio I

“One of the key challenges to rapid growth in Africa is extreme poverty; Africa unfortunately remains the poorest continent in the world; the implications are illiteracy, poor health, and low income per capita.

“Consequently, despite our large population our markets are not deep; most cannot afford goods and services; this is a cross-cutting Africa problem but the only solution is substantially investing in human capacity development.

“We simply must spend money on the people; we must spend more on education, technology and healthcare; we must invest in technology, infrastructure to enable our bright boys and girls to hone their skills in the competitive world of technology.

“We must provide benefit for the disabled poor, the elderly poor and otherwise vulnerable; we cannot afford to leave any one behind.“

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The vice president also stressed the need for the integration of African economies and cooperation between member countries.

He said: “With 54 countries and well over a billion people, and the economic bloc cooperating through enabling trade agreements, collaborative tariff regimes, multilateral trade concessions and agreements will open up the fastest growing economy in the world.“

He said that intra-African trade was low at the moment with and identified Europe, America and Asia as the continent’s strongest allies.

Osinbajo added that Africa must challenge its policy intellectuals, entrepreneurs and politicians to think through what seemed to be the most logical course of action.

He identified “neighbor principle“, a legal jargon, as one that could ensure that the continent derived maximum benefits from proximity and affinities.

“Enough has been said about Africa Economic integration, it is time to act,“ he stated.

The vice president hailed “the wind of democracy blowing across the continent“ as one that could ensure stability.

He said that a big correlation existed between development and the stability engendered by free choice of leadership.

“The rule of law, protection of the right to private property and respect for the sanctity of contract are institutional pillars of liberal democracies that today guarantee an environment where commerce, industry and professional practice can thrive and bring the much needed jobs to millions of our people,“ he said.