Africa Has No Time For Non-Performing Leaders - Akufo-Addo

The 2012 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, says Africa�s young and enthusiastic �Facebook generation� has no time for non-performing leaders but are only interested in leaders who can deliver opportunities and prosperity to Africa�s long suffering people. According to Nana Addo, with Africans now expressing their impatience with non-performing leaders through the ballot box, what was needed to move Africa forward was value addition, starting with the addition of value to Africa�s human capital through �an education system that provides every child with the skills to realize their full potential.� Nana Addo made the observation Wednesday in London when he delivered the 2012 Oppenheimer Lecture on the theme �The future of democracy in Africa and the Arab Spring.� It was organized by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The presence of a confident, educated workforce on the African continent to be able to compete effectively in the global economy, according to Nana Addo, should be the number one priority for Africa. �That is why, for my part, I have made education the foundation for my vision to build a knowledge-based, industrialised economy in Ghana. Access to free, quality, basic universal education is our key to effective participation in the new global economy�, Nana Addo emphasised. According to the NPP flagbearer, Africa�s human potential has not yet been developed to match and capitalize on the continent�s rich resources, adding that, until African bridge this gap, �we are squandering opportunities that could move us forever away from a culture of handouts to a culture of hand-ups and the creation of dignified and confident societies.� To ensure the rapid development of Africa�s human resource capability Nana Addo stated that Africa needs to enhance transparency and accountability in its governance structures and build strong institutions that can fight corruption. In addition to these, the rapid expansion of the needed infrastructure on value for money basis, investing in Africa�s human capital, and the transformation of stagnant, jobless economies built on the export of raw materials and unrefined goods to value-added economies that provide jobs to build strong middle-class societies was a priority, according to Nana Addo. Nana Addo further urged African leaders to make a commercial shift from travelling to Asia or Europe to buy finished products �for our local markets to acquiring knowledge, tools and inputs that will enable us to produce our own finished products�.