Former President Goodluck Jonathan has advised African leaders to prioritise inclusion, legitimacy and economic empowerment as a means of ensuring political stability and sustainable development.
The former president also urged African nations to invest in education, digital infrastructure, and skills development to be able to transform the continent’s youthful population into a force for innovation, leadership and global competitiveness.
According to a statement by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, the former president made this call in a keynote speech he presented in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Jonathan made the speech at the launch of a report on ‘Advancing Inclusive Development: Policy Options for Burkina, Faso, Guinea, Gabon, Mali and Niger’ produced by the African Union Commission, UNDP’s Africa Facility to Support Inclusive Transitions (AFSIT) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).
Jonathan, who insisted that the future of Africa can no longer be left to chance, declared that governance must be rooted in legitimacy and inclusion.
To address instability, he charged African leaders to take decisive steps to build a continent that is strong, self-reliant and prosperous by governing wisely and investing in economies that create jobs, industries and sustainable wealth.