Africa-Press – Botswana. Gross bureaucracies that continue to impede development and deny Africans well-deserved livelihoods need to be eliminated, says President Advocate Duma Boko.
When giving nuggets of wisdom to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretary general, Mr Wamkele Mene and his team, he said that eliminating red tapes that has stalled progress among African Union member states for years on end should be a top priority for the African Union (AU) organ.
The meeting was held Friday on the sidelines of the inaugural AfCFTA Digital Trade and Services Forum that ended on Saturday in Lusaka, Zambia.
“As leaders, we have to wrestle with restless populations who have been under-served for a very long time,” he said.
He added that the resultant pressures sometimes force some leaders to adopt populist solutions that never work.
Thus, he called on the AfCFTA secretariat to collaborate with member states to devise better ways to spur further developments throughout the continent.
President Boko pledged Botswana’s commitment to the AU agenda and praised the AfCFTA secretariat for its unmatched and tireless efforts in moving the AU agenda forward.
He reflected on past challenges and pointed out to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the continent failed to utilise US$250 million mobilised by the private sector, a situation he attributed to excessive bureaucracy. “This placed the continent under strain,” he said, saying that a repeat of such a failure must be avoided.
President Boko also advocated for more synergies between the governments and the private sector.
“There is no meaningful engagement, and we need to put in motion ways in which governments engage with the private sector at the national level,” he said, underscoring the importance of incorporating private sector contributions into Africa’s development agenda.
President Boko provided an example, explaining how Botswana had tackled this issue by postponing the commencement of its National Development Plan 12 to ensure that all stakeholders, including the private sector, could contribute meaningfully.
In response, Mr Mene thanked President Boko for his commitment to furthering Africans’ development and for acceding to the invitation to officiate at the inaugural AfCFTA Digital Trade and Services Forum.
He said the forum was imperative for the continent’s future, especially as it appealed to Africa’s technologically savvy and digitally innovative youth.
“It is important that we create a meaningful space for the private sector to chip in,” he said, adding that reforms needed to be effected for the sake of progress.
Mr Mene also highlighted the movement of persons across the continent as a key concern for the private sector, viewing it as a barrier to investment that needed a long-term solution.
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