Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, says knowledgeable leadership committed to good governance remains critical to fulfilling Africa’s growth ambitions.
Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, said the vice president said this at a virtual lecture to the 2023 Africana Conference of the Fletcher School, Tufts University, U.S.
The title of the lecture is, “Africa 2050: Making Growth Work.”
Osinbajo addressed a wide range of issues affecting Africa’s development.
He said that though situations of wars, pandemic, political strife and energy crisis, among other factors, were inhibiting development in the continent, leadership remained key.
“Africa’s growth ambitions will surely need knowledgeable leadership committed to good governance.
“Apart from the serendipity of getting the right leaders at the right time, the things I have spoken about fall within the purview of national governments.
“The reality though is that getting the right mix, timing and sequencing of development policies and implementing them successfully remains a major challenge.”
The vice president restated his view that Africa had the potential to become the first truly green civilisation – the first civilisation on earth to use renewable fuel for purposes of a transformative economic journey.
According to him, with the lowest carbon emissions, Africa can develop by deploying and using green energy effectively and by mobilising its young population to promote green manufacturing on a scale that would make it the global green factory of the world.