[ 2012-07-08 ]

African gov'ts should enhance entrepreneurial capacity of their citizens, Kufuor
Former President, John Agyekum Kufuor has
commended the African Development Bank (AfDB) for
diversifying its base to cater for the private
sector in Africa and enhance their capacities.

He said by opening up to the private sector, the
bank, which dealt almost exclusively with
governments and the public sector in the past, was
laying the foundation for building a strong and
competitive entrepreneurial class worthy of
competing evenly on the international stage.

Former President Kufuor was speaking on:
"Challenges and Opportunities of Entrepreneurship
and Capacity Development in Africa," at the
Eminent Speaker's Forum of the AfDB at its
headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia on Friday, a
statement signed by Mr Frank Agyekum, Spokesperson
to the former President said.

The function was chaired by Dr Donald Kaberuka,
President of AfDB and attended by the bank's top
hierarchy, financial experts, the banking
community and diplomats.

Former President Kufuor said although Africa
abounds in entrepreneurial talents, the continent
lacks the technical know-how and informative
knowledge of the market to take advantage of the
benefits of globalization.

"The indigenous entrepreneur by himself is so
seriously handicapped by history and lack of
practice. But his failure, automatically, is also
the failure of his nation which becomes the
dumping ground for imports which could otherwise
have been produced competitively locally and which
would have enhanced job-creation and employment.

"Therefore, it behoves the public sectors of the
economy to join forces to strengthen and deepen
entrepreneurial capacity as the main agency for a
nation venturing into the international market
successfully," he said.

The former President said for Africa to get and
secure its fair share of the market, it may be
necessary to enter into partnerships that ensured
know-how, capital and market for competitive
advantage.

He said: "The critical mechanism to enlist such
partnership is efficient and effective negotiating
skills, which governments within their regulatory
authorities should assist their private sectors
with as they enter into partnerships with their
foreign counterparts.

"The opportunities that would issue from the
institutionalization and practice of the concept
of Public-Private Partnerships as the cornerstone
of Africa's development will be legendary.

"The continent abounds in practically all the raw
materials requisite for sustained industrial,
agrarian and economic transformation for its
people's.

"It has the potential to become the single biggest
market in the world in the foreseeable future.
This is why it is being courted from the East and
West. Now more than ever, it requires leadership
of insight both in its political as well as its
financial and intellectual institutions to guide
and mainstream itself into globalization."

Former President Kufuor earlier on Thursday had
separate meetings with Dr Ben Jafaar, President of
the Constituent Assembly, which is drawing up a
new constitution for Tunisia, and Mr Beji Caid
Essebsi, who became Prime Minister in the wake of
the Tunisian crisis that precipitated the Arab
Spring and helped to bring the country back to
normalcy.

Former President Kufuor will arrive in Shanghai,
China Sunday for the second China-Africa Forum

Source - GNA

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