President Hakainde Hichilema has called on African leaders to embrace a new paradigm anchored on trade, investments and partnerships to end poverty on the continent.
President Hichilema says Africa must be tired of talking about its potential because it needs to be actualized now.
In his maiden address to the African Union assembly at the 35th ordinary session currently underway in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, President Hichilema said Africa is endowed with vast resource to produce foods and other needs.
He, however, lamented the lack of value addition adding that increased value addition has the potential to lift Africans out of poverty and develop the continent.
The President further called for value addition of African raw materials before being exported.
President Hichilema, who is among the three newly elected African leaders making a maiden appearance at the AU Assembly, stated that challenges of instability, corruption and poverty need to be fought with vigor and change the narrative.
He said the current crop of African leaders has a new opportunity to be a generation of leaders that will thrive on economic success and change narrative once and for all.
The President said that instability anywhere is instability everywhere hence needs to be curtailed.
The President said the Assembly’s theme, “Building Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Strengthen Agriculture, Accelerate Human Capital, Social and Economic Development,” aligns with his administration’s key priorities of dev
development which is increasing contribution of agriculture to economic growth.
He also stated that African leaders should not expect to be respected by citizens if they cannot respect the rule of law.
Earlier, during the official opening of the assembly Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called on the African Union -AU- to establish a continental media house that wilol diffuse negative publicity by Western media.
He lamented that the stereotype kind of reporting in Africa as being a hub of poverty, disease, wars and hunger by the western media is retrogressive and portrays a wrong image.
Mr. Ahmed said the AU continental media house should give as many voices as possible to share the various opportunities that Africa offers.
He also called for the continued push for Africa’s representation on the United Nations Security Council and other organs.
Mr. Ahmed said the huge population of young Africans is key in driving the continent’s prosperity.
And AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat said Africa’s greater challenge remains realisation of the autonomy of its economy.
He, however, noted that expansion of acts of terrorism of the economy has been a challenge to economic and social development.
Mr. Mahamat also added that growing interest in Africa has not so much been in favour of Africa’s development.
He, however, challenged African leadership to mobilize resources to harness the continent’s potential by taking appropriate decisions that stakeholders expect them to take.
The AU Commission Chairperson further stated that the African Medicines Agency -AMA- is ready to play an active role in fighting disease outbreak and promote manufacturing of medicines and vaccines in Africa.
And UN Secretary General Antonio Guterez, who was virtually represented by his Deputy Amina Muhammed assured the AU of the UN’s support in its transformative agenda of Africa.
He noted the need to boost supply of Covid vaccines while appealing to developed countries to support production of vaccines in Africa.
Mr. Guterez also stated the need to fight climate change saying Africa only contributes about 3-percent of global emissions despite being the most affected.
And outgoing AU Chairperson Felix Tshisekedi handed over power to Senegalese President Macky Sall with a call on ensuring that all deliberations are concluded within two days.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sall thanked South African President Cyril Ramaposha with support of the AU Commission and African CDC in ensuring availability of Covid vaccines for the continent.
Mr. Sall further called for maintenance of dynamism in fighting diseases on the continent and establishment of an African pharmaceutical industry.
The new AU Chairperson however lamented that Africa lags behind in development despite vast potential, 1.3 billion population, 60 percent of arable land and vast mineral wealth.
He said the continent has the necessary potential to ensure the conditions change.
Busy globe trotting when he has big problems to solve in his own country.
The fight against corruption is dead.
The corrupt PF regime will never see a day in court and stolen money will never be recovered. The oppressive laws have not been repealed.
Meanwhile prices are going up.
Back to the drawing board in 2026.
Without the Architect the OAU aka AU is gone. It died in 2011 with him and with all freedom fighters. Y’all contemporary leaders are too junior to understand or achieve the AU dream.
Going to a conference to tell people things that have been told for the past decades. Wasting time and money. Even mulioleka would have represented us to merely read a speech
HH7 its all good going to all these conferences producing all these soundbites like you were doing in Glasgow at the Climate conference but when you get home you are cowering from tackling critical issues that have great impact on the local environment like Forest 27 and Mining in Lower Zambezi an issue that you should have dealt with before you went to this talk shop called the AU …I mean there is war in Ethophia all the leaders are afraid to address the issue.
Look at the shameless UK based impostor he is forgetting that LAZY LUNGU was charactering a Boeing to fly his girlfriends to DC to go and party …this is a President who used to fly to Swaziland to go and watch half naked 18 year old girls and never talked about the economy publicly as he didnt have clue.
@ Tarino Orange. Totally agree with you, UK impostor choked with reality of things
This guy surprises me. You have failed to make Zambia actualize the mining potential to make its citizenry rich how should you even dream of an entire continent.
I hope those leaders in attendance wont end up like the 2.8million lied to Zambia.
UK IMPOSTER ???
THE F00LL IS SITTING IN LUSAKA WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO
BUT TALK RUBBISH
No masking??? Pfizer must be so disappointed…
Meantime the Kwacha is continuously depreciating, currently K18.225 to the dollar.
I have been looking at comments posted on your various stories over the last few months and have regrettably come to the conclusion that your readership are of very low intelligence and your opposition politicians are *****s.
Shut up KZ , our HH means well for the country and Africa. Your PF only brought tears,wastage,corruption and poverty for 10yrs.
It’s should start here at home in our agricultural sector we need to be seen in the agricultural outlooks global and in Africa like kenya and Tanzania amongst the top 4 commercial crops and meats including fisheries that so some development of recent Crops such crops as wheat maize rice leading rather than lagging in contributions to global food balances it cause for new innovative ways towards agricultural activities and it’s value chains We need to up the contributions in poutry,wheat,rice,maize,oils seeds,sugar,cotton and other value crops being counted in global food buskets like Brazil Is Paraguay Ukraine Brazil Argentina Mexico the EU increasing entrants in such apart from TZ in maze and Kenya To up productivity requires Investments in land and Technologies
Sounds like what Museveni says every year but never does. Mr President, you need to report on what you have done not theory.
I can smell rotten cow dung in here. Oh wait that is right, it’s the f00Iish upnd diasporans commenting above
Well said #5 Tarino Orange and #11 Napthali too.
You can emphasize the African potential as much and as many times ……the real problem is the lack of leadership to lead innovation by individual African countries.
@ Barotse : no wonder your surname is 1964 you are too outdated and backward. What report of achievement can a president give in his 5 months of office? You yourself u ve been an illegal alien there Canada for decades what have u achieved? U don’t even own a thatched house in Zambia. Yet u are be criticizing some1 that even the Business world there in Canada have heard of, HH. Yourself nobody even recognizes u, u can’t even go back home for fear of home affairs arresting u at the airport.
It’s simply improving the agricultural productivity index in our farming blocks and be counted as a leader in net exports of agricultural exports Current our productivity is at 2.2 MT of maize,Meat a small 328.7 Thousand tonnes and milk 453 and sugar 447.8 TT That explains the urgency focus on the sector and contribution to global food balances Without any stratergies focus and investments there will not be any meaniful economic developments on these other similar sectors to reduce poverty and net export The statistics data and managerial skills must improve It’s also an issue of SDG 2 Chapwa nomba
HH begins negotiations with some Zambians in the diaspora to come home and assist rebuild