The former president of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa (L) speaking to media in Dar es Salaam after finishing the High-level Dialogue which was organised by The Mandela Institute for Development Studies (MINDS) based in Johannesburg. (R) is the founder and Executive Chairman of MINDS, Dr. Nkosana Moyo. Picture by Cathbert Kajuna.
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The
former president of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa yesterday (14th March
2014) hosted various African thought leaders from trade, industry,
political, civil society, consultants plus six former heads of state in
an informal dialogue that discussed the pace of economic development in
the continent.
Speaking
to media in Dar es Salaam Mr. Mkapa said the one day High-level
Dialogue was organised by The Mandela Institute for Development Studies
(MINDS) based in Johannesburg and sought to address ways in which to
make interaction between different sector leaderships more efficacious
for African Development within countries and across the continent.
“We
fully appreciate the fact that economic integration is a major driver
of the development process in our countrys. We discussed at length
various factors that drive this process forward. This is a totally
informal dialogue by people that are concerned and interested in the
pace of integration in Africa from obstacles, how we can overcome them
and achievements we seek to find,” said Mr Mkapa.
Among
those who took part in the closed door dialogue included six former
Head of State and Government, namely former Presidents Joachim Chissano
of Mozambique, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Festus Mogae of Botswana,
Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Pedro Pires of Cape Verde, and Benjamin
Mkapa of Tanzania.
They
were joined by the President of the African Development Bank, Dr.
Donald Kaberuka plus forty other distinguished invitees - former civil
servants, CEOs, academics and some civic society thought leaders from
various regions of the continent.
According
to the founder and Executive Chairman of MINDS, Dr. Nkosana Moyo, the
institution is an ‘Pan-African Think Tank’ born out of the realisation
that Africa’s development efforts have a tardy impact, and that the
dialogues can help Africa take ownership.
“The
MINDS think tank was set up with the aim of creating a space/ platform
to give sector leaders an opportunity to meet amongst ourselves and
discuss issues of relevance to the development of the continent to
identify any obstacles that are present and try to work out possible
solutions to those obstacles,” Dr. Moyo said.
“In
terms of the people that are invited to the dialogues, we include
politicians, civil servants, private sector, civil society, women and
youth. These stakeholders are involved in identifying obstacles to
Africa’s economic development, trying to formulate response to the same
and lobbying those currently running the continent to try and getting
those policies formulated which are responsive to implementation of
possible solutions,” he elaborated.
“Some
of the issues addressed just to name a few, was the philosophy of
economic integration since the Lagos plan of action, how far has been
achieved since then to now, is the spirit still there? What can be done
to give more momentum? We also went into the concept of development
corridors in Africa for instance Maputo, Mtwara corridor, north- south
corridor e.t.c. What state are they in, is the implementation vigorous
enough, to what can be done to step that forward,” explained former
Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa.
MINDS
received explicit endorsement by the late President Mandela as its
founding in 2010. He said:- It is my hope that the Mandela Institute for
Development Studies ( MINDS) will make a real difference in the
resolution of the challenges that confront Africa through vibrant and
robust debate, interrogating current paradigms and offering new
approaches.
Ms
Graca Machel, Mr Ali A. Mufuruki and Ms Sarah Mankaer serve on the
Board of MINDS. It has an Advisory Board comprising Dr. Kaberuka, Dr.
Ngozi Okonjo-Eweala, Mr Francis Daniel, and Mr Ayed Nouredinne.
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