Business
Obasanjo Lists Path To Africa’s Dev
A political leadership with
vision and capacity to manage the process of change is crucial in tackling Africa’s development challenges and transformation.
Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, said this in a paper he presented on Tuesday in Havana, Cuba, and made available to newsmen in Abuja.
In the paper entitled, “Africa: Looking Back and Moving Forward,” Obasanjo said African leaders must demonstrate the necessary political will in the transformation of the continent.
“ Those who aspire to lead must have an irreducible minimum and reasonable level of education, experience, exposure, moral strength and character,” Obasanjo said.
He said Africa’s friends must recognise certain peculiarities of the African environment that are crucial in “enabling us realise the best that is embedded in us.”
Obasanjo said such understanding could forge the mutually-beneficial partnership that could accelerate the development of the thinking process as well as engender progress in Africa. He said a democratic society founded on equity, truth and egalitarianism was fundamental to economic progress.
The former president said empirical evidence suggested that inequity and injustice breed conflict, strife and war.
He said countries with deficient basic governance would never be able to undergo sustained economic development.
“Apart from some dots of darkness here and there, Africa can be said to be exiting from all the vices which had befallen it in the past,” he said.
Obasanjo said the most worrisome crises facing the continent like civil strife and collapsed states were being tackled.
He cited Rwanda, Liberia and Sierra Leone as some states being rebuilt in this drive.
Obasanjo further said that democratic institutions were being rebuilt as the culture of war was being replaced with that of peace in many other countries.
“ Africa presently has a new opportunity to reposition itself in the world economic and social equation,” he said.
He described the current century as an ecological one, adding that predictions indicate that it would favour Africa.
“Payment of tuition fees for undergraduate/postgraduate studies shall be subject to a maximum limit of $25,000.00 per semester,” the Manual states.
The expansion of international card limits also reflects growing confidence among lenders that foreign exchange liquidity has improved enough to support retail dollar transactions.
Speaking recently at the BusinessDay 14th Annual CEO Forum in Lagos, CBN Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN said buying and selling activities now increasingly determine outcomes in the foreign exchange market, unlike in the past when market participants relied heavily on routine Central Bank interventions.
According to Cardoso, Nigeria’s net foreign exchange reserves have risen from just over $3 billion at the start of the reform programme to more than $40 billion, while gross reserves have climbed to about $52 billion, providing stronger confidence for investors and enabling the Central Bank to reserve interventions for periods of market stress rather than day-to-day liquidity management.
The restoration and expansion of international naira card spending limits are increasingly being seen as one of the clearest signs that the benefits of the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are beginning to reach households, students and businesses making legitimate cross-border payments.
The Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, WEC, Dr Angela Wilkinson, disclosed this in a statement, last Thursday.
“Nigeria’s participation comes at a pivotal time as the country seeks to expand energy access, strengthen energy security, accelerate gas development and mobilise the capital required for industrialisation and sustainable economic growth.
“WEC Nigeria will convene leaders from across the energy ecosystem, apply the WEC’s globally recognised Energy Trilemma framework to Nigeria’s unique context, and promote evidence-based dialogue, practical collaboration and informed policymaking.
“It will also ensure that Nigerian and broader African perspectives contribute meaningfully to global energy conversations,” she said.
Wilkinson expressed confidence that Nigeria would play a significant leadership role at the World Energy Congress scheduled for Riyadh in April 2027 and beyond.
The statement also quoted the Chairman of WEC Nigeria, Isa, as describing the country’s participation as an opportunity to deepen national and African leadership within the global energy community through practical solutions tailored to regional development priorities.
He said the platform would promote collaboration across sectors and attract sustainable investments into Nigeria’s energy sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of WEC Nigeria, Wunti, was quoted in the statement as saying that the council would connect leadership, evidence and investment to build a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system.
“This system will be capable of driving economic growth and shared prosperity.”
According to him, the platform will also connect Nigerian institutions and businesses with international knowledge, technology, partnerships and investment opportunities through the World Energy Council’s global network.
Recall that WEC, founded in 1923, is the world’s oldest independent and impartial community of energy leaders and practitioners, advancing informed, collaborative and practical action across the global energy system.